Microwaves Go To War
By Mike Cotgreave
As the old saying goes, if you want to make an omelette, you’ve got to break a few eggs. The US Department of Defence can now add boiling, frying and scrambling to its list of egg-related combative metaphors with the introduction of a new ‘non-lethal’ weapon.
The recently unveiled Active Denial System fires an invisible beam of electromagnetic energy that creates a sensation of heat sufficiently intense to repel and stun human targets without killing them. Research is also being carried out into so-called Pulsed Energy Projectiles, which, according to one alternative news site, can "fire a laser burst of expanding plasma…designed to create severe and debilitating pain resulting in temporary paralysis." (How it works)
The advances in weaponry development recall more lethal methods of combat from throughout history, such as the ‘sea-fire’ of the ancient Byzantine empire. The semi-liquid mixture, supposedly invented by a Syrian architect named Kallenikos, was pumped through tubes onto opposing armies or enemy ships. Tough to extinguish, the secret weapon was used to destroy the Saracenic fleet in A.D. 674 and counter Arab aggression around Constantinople.
In the crazy old Medieval era of codpieces and feudalism, it was proposed that armour-wearing dogs and birds could be dispatched into enemy territory brandishing spikes and flaming devices, creating chaos and confusion. Which in turn, harks back to the Roman’s use of flaming pigs to frighten war elephants.
Progressive bloggers and critical commentators fear that the non-lethal weapons will be used to quell internal dissent and anti-government demonstrations. Airman 1st Class Eric Schloeffel, a writer for the Air Force News Service says that ADS "could eventually save lives in the Global War on Terrorism."
Hopes that the device will signal the end of bloody armed combat between opposing armies or the shock-and-awe, death-from-above operations of modern warfare are probably over-optimistic. A dead enemy is much more convenient than a lightly toasted enemy, after all.
The recently unveiled Active Denial System fires an invisible beam of electromagnetic energy that creates a sensation of heat sufficiently intense to repel and stun human targets without killing them. Research is also being carried out into so-called Pulsed Energy Projectiles, which, according to one alternative news site, can "fire a laser burst of expanding plasma…designed to create severe and debilitating pain resulting in temporary paralysis." (How it works)
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The advances in weaponry development recall more lethal methods of combat from throughout history, such as the ‘sea-fire’ of the ancient Byzantine empire. The semi-liquid mixture, supposedly invented by a Syrian architect named Kallenikos, was pumped through tubes onto opposing armies or enemy ships. Tough to extinguish, the secret weapon was used to destroy the Saracenic fleet in A.D. 674 and counter Arab aggression around Constantinople.
In the crazy old Medieval era of codpieces and feudalism, it was proposed that armour-wearing dogs and birds could be dispatched into enemy territory brandishing spikes and flaming devices, creating chaos and confusion. Which in turn, harks back to the Roman’s use of flaming pigs to frighten war elephants.
Progressive bloggers and critical commentators fear that the non-lethal weapons will be used to quell internal dissent and anti-government demonstrations. Airman 1st Class Eric Schloeffel, a writer for the Air Force News Service says that ADS "could eventually save lives in the Global War on Terrorism."
Hopes that the device will signal the end of bloody armed combat between opposing armies or the shock-and-awe, death-from-above operations of modern warfare are probably over-optimistic. A dead enemy is much more convenient than a lightly toasted enemy, after all.
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