Step Right Up: Public Demonstrations of Raytheon’s Directed Energy Pain Gun
September 26th, 2007Will it re-heat your freedom fries?
Via: Daily Mail:
“Where do I put my finger? There … OK? Nothing’s happening … is it on?”
“Yes, it’s on. Move your finger a bit closer.”
“Er … ow! OW!” Not good. I try again. “OWWW!” I pull my hand away sharpish. My finger is throbbing, but seems undamaged.
I was told people can take it for a second, maximum. No way, not for a wimp like me.
I try it again. It is a bit like touching a red-hot wire, but there is no heat, only the sensation of heat. There is no burn mark or blister.
Its makers claim this infernal machine is the modern face of warfare. It has a nice, friendly sounding name, Silent Guardian.
I am told not to call it a ray-gun, though that is precisely what it is (the term “pain gun” is maybe better, but I suppose they would like that even less).
And, to be fair, the machine is not designed to vaporise, shred, atomise, dismember or otherwise cause permanent harm.
But it is a horrible device nonetheless, and you are forced to wonder what the world has come to when human ingenuity is pressed into service to make a thing like this.
Silent Guardian is making waves in defence circles. Built by the U.S. firm Raytheon, it is part of its “Directed Energy Solutions” programme.
What it amounts to is a way of making people run away, very fast, without killing or even permanently harming them.
That is what the company says, anyway. The reality may turn out to be more horrific.
I tested a table-top demonstration model, but here’s how it works in the field.
A square transmitter as big as a plasma TV screen is mounted on the back of a Jeep.
When turned on, it emits an invisible, focused beam of radiation – similar to the microwaves in a domestic cooker – that are tuned to a precise frequency to stimulate human nerve endings.
It can throw a wave of agony nearly half a mile.
Because the beam penetrates skin only to a depth of 1/64th of an inch, it cannot, says Raytheon, cause visible, permanent injury.
But anyone in the beam’s path will feel, over their entire body, the agonising sensation I’ve just felt on my fingertip. The prospect doesn’t bear thinking about.
“I have been in front of the full-sized system and, believe me, you just run. You don’t have time to think about it – you just run,” says George Svitak, a Raytheon executive.
Silent Guardian is supposed to be the 21st century equivalent of tear gas or water cannon – a way of getting crowds to disperse quickly and with minimum harm. Its potential is obvious.
Related: Say Hello to the Goodbye Weapon
I can see the use of this ending up like the Tazer – perceived as a “harmless” weapon, so it goes from subduing violent attackers to simply zapping whoever looks at you funny.
My questions:
– Does this device cause damage to the cornea (eye)?
– What if this is used on crowds of people, triggering a stampede during which people die?
– What would the effect be on someone who cannot move out of the path of the beam? (Psychological, if not physical damage)
– Could the beam be shielded or reflected? Could our tinfoil hats finally be of use?
Excruciating pain is never harmless.
[Background Music: “Lucky”, Britney Spears]
I don’t see what you people are getting so worried about. Our government only plans to use it on the zombies anyway. Like, anyone who’s really informed would know THAT.
http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/residentevilextinction/