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New gun incapacitates without killing

Jul-25-2005 » Filed Under: Stryker Vehicle

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By Steven Komorow, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Troops in Iraq will soon be shooting an experimental weapon that fires an invisible beam of energy instead of bullets to repel insurgents without killing civilians.

Millimeter-length radiation fired by the Active Denial System penetrates just below the surface of the skin to cause an excruciating burning sensation until it is turned off. Extensive testing has shown no lasting damage, the military said.

The weapon will be demonstrated in public this summer and in Iraq within months. It is the first in what could become a catalog of energy beams that aim to ease one of the war's toughest problems.

Troops guarding checkpoints, bases and convoys regularly face oncoming people or vehicles of uncertain intent. Troops open fire rather than risk a bomb attack. [...]

The ADS follows more than a decade and $50 million of research into millimeter-wave weapons. The Army plans a version for its Stryker vehicles, and the Air Force is developing an airborne variant. [...]


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