Microwave weapons!!

High-power microwave weapons – full power ahead?

Snippets from a janes article –

Two HPM weapons are claimed to be ready for full-scale development. The USAF started developing the Active Denial System (ADS) in the mid-1990s, with Raytheon as prime contractor. Known as the ‘pain ray’, or even less officially as the ‘people zapper’, the ADS uses an HPM beam to heat the outer layer of human skin – producing an intolerable, but supposedly harmless, burning sensation.

Another HPM weapon that is close to fielding, according to Raytheon, is the Vigilant Eagle anti-missile defence system. Based on a classified precursor, Vigilant Eagle is intended to defend aircraft against man-portable air-defence systems (MANPADS). It could be either an alternative or a complement to installing infra-red countermeasures on the aircraft themselves.

“We have tested high-power microwave countermeasures in real environments, versus real missiles and it has proven effective,” said Mike Booen, vice-president of directed energy programmes at Raytheon’s Missile Systems business. The background to Vigilant Eagle is shrouded in secrecy, but Booen states that Raytheon HPM weapons “have operated in the field, against real threats” and that the company has been working on Pentagon HPM programmes for more than 10 years.

http://www.janes.com/defence/news/jdw/jdw060825_1_n.shtml

Courtesy – Pirate (alert5) , Janes !!