U.S. Military Unveils Heat-Ray Gun to Public

The U.S. Defence Department today unveiled what it called a revolutionary heat-beaming weapon that could be used to control mobs or repel foes in conflicts like Iraq and Afghanistan. The so-called Active Denial System creates an intense burning sensation causing people to run for cover, but no lasting harm, officials said. "This is a breakthrough technology that's going to give our forces a capability they don't now have," Theodore Barna, an assistant deputy undersecretary of defence for advanced systems and concepts, said. "We expect the services to add it to their tool kit. And that could happen as early as 2010." The weapon, mounted on a Humvee vehicle, uses a large rectangular dish antenna to direct an invisible beam toward a target. It includes a high-voltage power unit and beam-generating equipment and is effective at more than 500 metres. Existing counter-personnel systems designed not to kill - including bean bag munitions and rubber bullets - work at little more than "rock-throwing distances," said Marine Colonel Kirk Hymes, director of the Pentagon's Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate. The weapon was shown off publicly for the first time at Moody Air Force Base in Georgia, where it has been undergoing operational tests by the 820th Security Forces Group, which protects US Air Force assets. The directorate invited reporters to be zapped as part of what its spokeswoman, Marine Major Sarah Fullwood, called an effort to "demystify" the technology at issue. At a distance of several football fields, the sensation from the exposure was like a blast from a very hot oven, too painful to bear without scrambling for cover. The burning sensation is achieved by high-power energy waves that heat the skin to 54 degrees Celsius. The pain ended as soon as the target jumped from the line of fire. Documents given out during the demonstration said more than 10,000 people had been exposed to the weapon since testing began more than 12 years ago.