Microwave gun to be used by US troops on Iraq rioters

Microwave gun to be used by US troops on Iraq rioters
By Tony Freinberg and Sean Rayment, Defence Correspondent
(Filed: 19/09/2004)
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Microwave weapons that cause pain
without lasting injury are to be issued to
American troops in Iraq for the first
time as concern mounts over the growing
number of civilians killed in fighting.

The non-lethal weapons, which use high-
powered electromagnetic beams, will be
fitted to vehicles already in Iraq, which
will allow the system to be introduced as early
as next year.

Using technology similar to that found in
a conventional microwave oven, the beam
rapidly heats water molecules in the skin
to cause intolerable pain and a burning
sensation. The invisible beam penetrates
the skin to a depth of less than a millimetre.
As soon as the target moves out of the
beam's path, the pain disappears.

Because there are no after-effects, the
United States Department of Defence believes
that the weapons will be particularly useful
in urban conflict. The beam could be used
to scatter large crowds in which insurgents
operate at close quarters to both troops
and civilians.

"The skin gets extremely hot, and people
can't stand the pain, so they have to move -
and move in the way we want them to," said
Col Wade Hall of the Office of Force
Transformation, a body formed in November
2001 to promote rapid improvement
across all of the American armed services.

Rich Garcia, a spokesman for the Air Force
Research Laboratory in New Mexico, where
the systems were developed, took part in
testing the weapon and was subjected to
the microwave beam which has a range of
one kilometre. "It just feels like your skin is
on fire," he said. "[But] when you get out of
the path of the beam, or shut off the
beam, everything goes back to normal.
There's no residual pain."

A heated battle on a crowded Baghdad
street last week that left 16 Iraqis dead,
highlighted once again the pressing need
to reduce the number of civilian casualties,
and at the same time prevent further damage
to relations between American troops
and the Iraqi population. American
commanders later admitted using seven
helicopter-launched rockets and 30 high-
calibre machine gun rounds in last Sunday's
incident.

The armoured vehicles will be named
Sheriffs once they have been modified to carry
the microwave weapons, known as the Active
Denial System (ADS). Col Hall said that
US army and US marine corps units should
receive four to six ADS equipped Sheriffs
by September 2005.

The project was initiated only three months
ago but US military chiefs intend to rush
the Sheriffs into the front line, believing
that they can be of immediate assistance.

In another development, the Sheriffs will
be fitted with Gunslinger, a rapid-fire gun
currently under development that will
detect enemy snipers and automatically fire
back at them.

If the Sheriffs prove successful, their use
will be expanded in combat zones. They will
also be deployed for security at ports and
air force bases, and could take part in
border patrols.

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