NEWS: Microwave Weapon Test Results

GEEK: Microwave Weapon Test Results

The US military has released details of the test results of the "less-than-lethal" microwave weapon they hope to use for crowd control in riot situations. The microwave beam heats up the skin, making targeted people extremely uncomfortable. The theory is that they will move quickly out of the area where the beam is focused, so the weapon can be used from the air to herd large crowds out of or into an area without resorting to methods like tear gas or putting military or police forces in danger.

However, the tests were extremely controlled, and even then some people suffered burns when the microwave beam was accidentally used on the wrong setting.

In theory, people would be able to move out of the beam quickly to avoid injury. However, in close, confused crowds like you'd find in a riot, it's not clear that people will be able to move fast enough or far enough to avoid getting seriously burned.

The military plans to deploy vehicle-mounted microwave "crowd control" weapons in Iraq in 2006.

So lets cook them huh?

My uncle helped develop this. No shit.

Oh well, it burns people....better than being shot.

And if properly used, it should help troops keep better control of crowds, which means more troops coming back home.

Something like this is essential for urban warfare

cuz, you know, burning to death is better than getting shot. much more humane.



oh, yea. why not just deploy the "gay-bomb?" that'd clear crowds fast. >.>

[Edited on Jul 23, 2005 by ashmanonar]

Well, it doesn't specify what kind of burn it is.

Hopefully it's not RF Burns, which basically is like cooking you from the inside out (like a microwave)

What is that? Just like holding up a huge sign announcing "Anyone who doesn't disperse in five minutes is gay!"?

Listening to the radio about this yesterday, they mentioned that they "asked people to remove their contacts and any metal in their body, including change in their pockets."

If you can burn someone's eyes on accident, that's pretty bad. If they get burned because they happened to have their keys in their pocket, that's also pretty bad.

This whole thing seems pretty bad.

What's wrong with the trusty water cannon?

With any new product there are going to be the inevitable mis-steps. They're still in the testing phase of this. The reality is that they're working to build non-lethal weapons to protect US troops. That doesn't seem too bad to me.

From my (limited) reading on these, they make you experience the heat on the skin only. So, if they do burn you, its only skin-deep. Much better than getting shot. a wonderful option if we could assure they wouldn’t be abused.

I am very afraid their non-lethality will make them too tempting an option for use in non-extreme cases.

I still say there's nothing wrong with the water cannon's

Who the hell volunteers to have this sort of thing tested on them?

So it works great... as long as no one has any change, keys, buttons, zippers, glasses, or contacts. The day this thing is turned on American citizens involved in a peaceful protest, and you know that day will come, is the "jump the shark" moment for our country.



[Edited on Jul 23, 2005 by Keith]

i wish i could find it on the site. there's a news story somewhere on here about a chemical weapon that acts as an extreme aphrodesiac, inciting arousal. and apparently this weapon causes you to not distinguish between your choice of sexuality, so anyone around will do.

aptly named by the creator of that other thread: the gay-bomb.

yea, that's where my imagination is leading me. definitely not a pleasant thought.

And somewhere, skankzor will be on a message board saying the protestors obviously deserved it, because the guys manning the pain ray were cops and soldiers, and those guys are never wrong, right?

[Edited on Jul 23, 2005 by Keith]

there are always apologists. always have been, always will be. *shrug*

but as long as someone is there to oppose his opinion, it doesn't bother me that it'll happen. there's always gotta be two sides to an argument, or it becomes real boring real fast.

No one runs from water cannons when your plumbing doesn’t work and you live in the desert

Ranch dressing cannons?

Pig's blood canons.

I had a wet dream about owning one of those.

The problem is that none of these are non-lethal, they are less than lethal, and deployment of existing less than lethal weapons has, for 30 years, been universally abused. Put simply, people regarding them as non lethal has across the board resulted in cavalier attitudes and lack of appropriate restraint in their actual use. In circumstances where the situation would clearly and obviously not warrant the use of deadly force, less than lethal weapons tend all to often to be used indiscriminately, often by people inadequately trained in their use. The list of fatalities, maimings, permanent physical or neurological damage, blindness, deafness and serious injury as a result of rubber bullets, electrical and chemical agents is voluminous. Microwave weapons will be no different.

The technology is fine, its the human factor, as always, that is at issue, not to mention the inevitable civilian deployment for exercise of police powers.

WARNING! May cause telekinesis, pyrokinesis. Remove all change from pockets before operating!

I like the sound of that one!