I saw this article on Yahoo News. It's about weapon technology.
Military's Energy-Beam Weapons Delayed
By BRIAN BERGSTEIN, AP Technology Writer
Wed Jul 13,11:56 AM ET
ARLINGTON, Va. - For years, the U.S. military has
explored a new kind of firepower that is
instantaneous, precise and virtually inexhaustible:
beams of electromagnetic energy. "Directed-energy"
pulses can be throttled up or down depending on the
situation, much like the phasers on "Star Trek" could
be set to kill or merely stun.
Such weapons are now nearing fruition. But logistical
issues have delayed their battlefield debut – even as
soldiers in Iraq encounter tense urban situations
in which the nonlethal capabilities of directed energy
could be put to the test.
"It's a great technology with enormous potential, but
I think the environment's not strong for it," said
James Jay Carafano, a senior fellow at the
conservative Heritage Foundation who blames the
military and Congress for not spending enough on
getting directed energy to the front. "The tragedy is
that I think it's exactly the right time for this."
The hallmark of all directed-energy weapons is that
the target – whether a human or a mechanical object –
has no chance to avoid the shot because it moves at
the speed of light. At some frequencies, it can
penetrate walls.
Since the ammunition is merely light or radio waves,
directed-energy weapons are limited only by the supply
of electricity. And they don't involve chemicals or
projectiles that can be inaccurate, accidentally cause
injury or violate international treaties.
"When you're dealing with people whose full intent is
to die, you can't give people a choice of whether to
comply," said George Gibbs, a systems engineer for the
Marine Expeditionary Rifle Squad Program who oversees
directed-energy projects. "What I'm looking for is a
way to shoot everybody, and they're all OK."
Almost as diverse as the electromagnetic spectrum
itself, directed-energy weapons span a wide range of
incarnations.
Among the simplest forms are inexpensive, handheld
lasers that fill people's field of vision, inducing a
temporary blindness to ensure they stop at a
checkpoint, for example. Some of these already are
used in Iraq.
Other radio-frequency weapons in development can
sabotage the electronics of land mines, shoulder-fired
missiles or automobiles – a prospect that interests
police departments in addition to the military.
A separate branch of directed-energy research involves
bigger, badder beams: lasers that could obliterate
targets tens of miles away from ships or planes. Such
a strike would be so surgical that, as some designers
put it at a recent conference here, the military could
plausibly deny responsibility.
The flexibility of directed-energy weapons could be
vital as wide-scale, force-on-force conflict becomes
increasingly rare, many experts say. But the
technology has been slowed by such practical concerns
as how to shrink beam-firing antennas and power
supplies.
Military officials also say more needs to be done to
assure the international community that
directed-energy weapons set to stun rather than kill
will not harm noncombatants.
Such issues recently led the Pentagon to delay its
Project Sheriff, a plan to outfit vehicles in Iraq
with a combination of lethal and nonlethal weaponry –
including a highly touted microwave-energy blaster
that makes targets feel as if their skin is on fire.
Sheriff has been pushed at least to 2006.
"It was best to step back and make sure we understand
where we can go with it," said David Law, science and
technology chief for the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons
Directorate.
The directed-energy component in the project is the
Active Denial System, developed by Air Force
researchers and built by Raytheon Co. It produces a
millimeter-wavelength burst of energy that penetrates
1/64 of an inch into a person's skin, agitating water
molecules to produce heat. The sensation is certain to
get people to halt whatever they are doing.
Military investigators say decades of research have
shown that the effect ends the moment a person is out
of the beam, and no lasting damage is done as long as
the stream does not exceed a certain duration. How
long? That answer is classified, but it apparently is
in the realm of seconds, not minutes. The range of the
beam also is secret, though it is said to be further
than small arms fire, so an attacker could be repelled
before he could pull a trigger.
Although Active Denial works – after a $51 million,
11-year investment – it has proven to be a "model for
how hard it is to field a directed-energy nonlethal
weapon," Law said.
For example, the prototype system can be mounted on a
Humvee but the vehicle has to stop in order to fire
the beam. Using the vehicle's electrical power "is
pushing its limits," he added.
Still, Raytheon is pressing ahead with smaller,
portable, shorter-range spinoffs of Active Denial for
embassies, ships or other sensitive spots.
One potential customer is the Department of
Energy. Researchers at its Sandia National
Laboratories are testing Active Denial as a way to
repel intruders from nuclear facilities. But Sandia
researchers say the beams won't be in place until 2008
at the earliest because so much testing remains.
In the meantime, Raytheon is trying to drum up
business for an automated airport-defense project
known as Vigilant Eagle that detects shoulder-fired
missiles and fries their electronics with an
electromagnetic wave. The system, which would cost $25
million per airport, has proven effective against a
"real threat," said Michael Booen, a former Air Force
colonel who heads Raytheon's directed-energy work. He
refused to elaborate.
For Peter Bitar, the future of directed energy boils
down to money.
Bitar heads Indiana-based Xtreme Alternative Defense
Systems Ltd., which makes small blinding lasers used
in Iraq. But his real project is a nonlethal energy
device called the StunStrike.
Basically, it fires a bolt of lightning. It can be
tuned to blow up explosives, possibly to stop vehicles
and certainly to buzz people. The strike can be made
to feel as gentle as "broom bristles" or cranked up to
deliver a paralyzing jolt that "takes a few minutes to
wear off."
Bitar, who is of Arab descent, believes StunStrike
would be particularly intimidating in the Middle East
because, he contends, people there are especially
afraid of lightning.
At present, StunStrike is a 20-foot tower that can zap
things up to 28 feet away. The next step is to shrink
it so it could be wielded by troops and used in
civilian locales like airplane cabins or building
entrances.
Xtreme ADS also needs more tests to establish that
StunStrike is safe to use on people.
But all that takes money – more than the $700,000
Bitar got from the Pentagon from 2003 until the
contract recently ended.
Bitar is optimistic StunStrike will be perfected,
either with revenue from the laser pointers or a
partnership with a bigger defense contractor. In the
meantime, though, he wishes soldiers in Iraq already
had his lightning device on difficult missions like
door-to-door searches.
"It's very frustrating when you know you've got a
solution that's being ignored," he said. "The
technology is the easy part."
