| MOUT - Military Operations on Urban Terrain
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"According to United Nations estimates, the urban population of developing countries worldwide increases by about 150,000 people each day, with the most pronounced growth occurring in Africa and Asia. By the year 2025, three-fifths of the world's population "five billion people" will live in urban areas."
PAUL K. VAN RIPER - Lieutenant General, U.S. Marine Corps - Commanding General - Marine Corps Combat Development Command
[A Concept for Future Military Operations on Urbanized Terrain - 25 July 1997 ]
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so three-fifths of the world's population "five billion people" will live in urban areas... and the Military planned to be fighting in them, in 1997? In Paris?
so why is Iraq such a quagmire?
It's a force multiplier...the worse it gets - the more toys they can justify using & experimenting with on that 'terrorist' enemy
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Flashback The Iraq revolt
American 'civilians' killed, mutilated in Falluja were mercenaries
Were they actually testing Weapons on the public?
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photo gallery of FALLUJAH AS
4 US CITIZENS [black ops] ARE AMBUSHED
Soldiers of good fortune
Privatizing War: Blackwater Mercs Die for Profit by URI DOWBENKO
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"The four dead people worked for Blackwater Security Consulting, a firm based in North Carolina, USA that 'has its roots in the Special Operations Community'. Blackwater will deploy "with little notice in support of US national security objectives, private or foreign interests". So what were privatised American Special Forces doing in Falluja?
Officially, they were "providing convoy security for food deliveries in the Falluja area".
This obviously begs the question 'who is dependant on food deliveries and why?', but even if we assume the absolute truth of the official explanation, mercenaries in Iraq are known to be carrying out far less benign deeds.
In February the Ecologist reported that 'private security consultants' in Iraq were testing special bullets that penetrate steel but 'explode' on contact with human flesh causing horrific injuries. They were testing them on real life Iraqis. Moscow Times Journalist Chris Floyd comments "these mercenaries are not always bound by the laws, regulations and codes of honour that govern regular military forces, so they're free to do any dirty work the [US] administration wants kept off the books"
Tom Gittoes
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corporate dry-bys test weapons?
When the security companies kill people they just drive away and nothing is done.
A "trophy" video appearing to show security guards in Baghdad randomly shooting Iraqi civilians has sparked two investigations after it was posted on the internet, the Sunday Telegraph can reveal. The video, which first appeared on a website that has been linked unofficially to Aegis Defence Services, contained four separate clips, in which security guards open fire with automatic rifles at civilian cars. All of the shooting incidents apparently took place on "route Irish", a road that links the airport to Baghdad.
The road has acquired the dubious distinction of being the most dangerous in the world because of the number of suicide attacks and ambushes carried out by insurgents against coalition troops. In one four-month period earlier this year it was the scene of 150 attacks. In one of the videoed attacks, a Mercedes is fired on at a distance of several hundred yards before it crashes in to a civilian taxi. In the last clip, a white civilian car is raked with machine gun fire as it approaches an unidentified security company vehicle. Bullets can be seen hitting the vehicle before it comes to a slow stop. There are no clues as to the shooter but either a Scottish or Irish accent can be heard in at least one of the clips above Elvis Presley's Mystery Train, the music which accompanies the video.
Last night a spokesman for defence firm Aegis Defence Services – set up in 2002 by Lt Col Tim Spicer, a former Scots Guards officer – confirmed that the company was carrying out an internal investigation to see if any of their employees were involved. The Foreign Office has also confirmed that it is investigating the contents of the video in conjunction with Aegis, one of the biggest security companies operating in Iraq. The company was recently awarded a £220 million security contract in Iraq by the United States government. Aegis conducts a number of security duties and helped with the collection of ballot papers in the country's recent referendum
Lt Col Spicer, 53, rose to public prominence in 1998 when his private military company Sandlines International was accused of breaking United Nations sanctions by selling arms to Sierra Leone.
The video first appeared on the website www.aegisIraq.co.uk. The website states: "This site does not belong to Aegis Defence Ltd, it belongs to the men on the ground who are the heart and soul of the company." The clips have been removed. The website also contains a message from Lt Col Spicer, which reads: "I am concerned about media interest in this site and I remind everyone of their contractual obligation not to speak to or assist the media without clearing it with the project management or Aegis London.
"Refrain from posting anything which is detrimental to the company since this could result in the loss or curtailment of our contract with resultant loss for everybody."
Security companies awarded contracts by the US administration in Iraq adopt the same rules for opening fire as the American military. US military vehicles carry a sign warning drivers to keep their distance from the vehicle. The warning which appears in both Arabic and English reads "Danger. Keep back. Authorised to use lethal force." A similar warning is also displayed on the rear of vehicles belonging to Aegis.
Capt Adnan Tawfiq of the Iraqi Interior Ministry which deals with compensation issues, has told the Sunday Telegraph that he has received numerous claims from families who allege that their relatives have been shot by private security contractors travelling in road convoys. He said: "When the security companies kill people they just drive away and nothing is done. Sometimes we ring the companies concerned and they deny everything. The families don't get any money or compensation. I would say we have had about 50-60 incidents of this kind."
A spokesman for Aegis Defence Services, said: "There is nothing to indicate that these film clips are in any way connected to Aegis."
Last night a spokesman for the Foreign Office said: "Aegis have assured us that there is nothing on the video to suggest that it has anything to do with their company. This is now a matter for the American authorities because Aegis is under contract to the United States." -Telegraph via guerrillanews.com
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Army sends riot-control kits to Iraq, Afghanistan
By Frank Misurelli PICATINNY ARSENAL, N.J. (Army News Service, Oct. 19, 2005)- The first shipment of 68 special sets of non-lethal riot and crowd control items should now be in the hands of U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to Kevin T. Wong, an official with the Office of Project Manager for Close Combat Systems here who oversees the program.
The first kits were shipped to selected units in Iraq and Afghanistan in July in response to an urgent requirement request from field commanders. The Army is planning to purchase a total of 438 kits, he said.
Officially known as a non-lethal capabilities set, each kit contains five different commercial and government items as well as several new innovative technologies.
A NLCS is designed to support a 30-Soldier platoon and contains of mix of counter-personnel and -material systems, protective equipment, enhancement devices, training devices and allocations.
Among the counter-personnel items found in each kit are 12-gauge, 40 mm and 60 mm non-lethal munitions or grenades. These items permit commanders to apply military force in crowd and riot control conditions while reducing risks to noncombatants.
Counter-material devices contained in an NLCS kit include tire spikes, known as caltrops, and a portable vehicle-arresting barrier, which is a containment net that can stop a speeding vehicle. Both are used to deny vehicles access to critical facilities at roadblocks and checkpoints.
The NLCS also contains face shields, shin guards and body shields that give troops the means to avoid bodily injury during civil confrontations. Each kit also is equipped with voice amplification devices for communication and high intensity lighting to illuminate operational areas. They also include training items for instructing Soldiers in the proper use and deployment of NLCS equipment. Recently added to the NLCS is the M2 vehicle lightweight arresting device. The VLAD can stop and capture a 5,500-pound wheeled vehicle traveling at 30 miles per hour within a 200 feet distance without permanent or serious injury to occupants.
The NLCS kits are packaged in large, weatherproof containers that are transported easily to the mission site. They can be used in a variety of situations requiring enhanced security.
www4.army.mil/
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Non-lethal weapons provide the means to control the situation in a manner that adheres to the principle of restraint, without excessively constraining the freedom of action of the military force. Used properly, non-lethal weapons provide the tactical commander with broader options in applying graduated levels of force to meet the threats common to peace operations. Non-lethal weapons in the hands of trained soldiers can save lives and reduce the violence often associated with confrontations between unruly mobs and peace operations forces.
LTC Martin N. Stanton identified certain characteristics of civil disturbances which he used to profile riots in third-world countries based on his studies of recent peace operations in Somalia, Haiti, and Bosnia-Herzegovina. According to LTC Stanton, third-world country civil disturbances are characterized by the following:
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Riots tend to be massive. Generally, rioters significantly outnumber riot-control forces. In Bosnia-Herzegovina, it was common for a platoon of soldiers to be given the mission of controlling several hundred angry civilians.
Riots can be lethal. Many riots turn lethal as one side takes advantage of the situation and tries to harm individuals or members of other groups. An example of this is the displaced person resettlement attempts in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Bosnian Muslims, crossing the zone of separation to resettle in their former homes, were severely beaten by Bosnian Serbs who did not want them to resettle on the so-called Serb side of the zone of separation.
Riots are often carefully organized by factional leaders; they are not just spontaneous outbursts by the local populace. Examples include: (1) Peace operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina where a local political party paid civilians to demonstrate against the newly elected government. The local political party also used buses to transport demonstrators to the site of the demonstration. (2) According to news reports, groups organized and instigated civil disturbances in Seattle, WA, to protest U.S. support of the World Trade Organization.
Riots may involve large numbers of women and children. Demonstration organizers understand the reluctance of U.S. forces to risk injury to women and children. For this reason, organizers encourage women and children to take part in demonstrations to protect armed fighters or gunmen in the crowd.
Riots are likely where there is no functioning government and no law enforcement. In regions where government officials are ineffective or apathetic, there is no law and order. In some instances, local officials and police orchestrate civil disturbances and encourage the citizenry to riot and demonstrate. In many civil disturbances in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Bosnian Serb police did little to assist U.S. forces in riot situations.
Today, most peace operations involve forces from various nations. When the forces of these nations are combined in executing a peace operation, it is likely there will be several perspectives on how riots and civil disturbances should be controlled. Multi-national forces differ in their doctrine and training, especially in the use of force.
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U.S. Army Field Manual 19-15, Civil Disturbances, 1985, is the current doctrinal reference on civil disturbances.
Most tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTP) addressed in this manual were developed from experiences gained during domestic riots in the 1960s. Many of the formations that are discussed in the manual are based on four-platoon companies. Today, the modified table of organization and equipment (MTOE) of most Army units has only three platoons per company. The manual also does not take into account the new technological advances in non-lethal weapons and munitions. Non-lethal weapons "include methods for individual and crowd control, ways to separate belligerents from other belligerents and from non-combatants, and ways to monitor the separation."4There is no Army doctrine on the use of non-lethal weapons and munitions. The manual must be updated to include doctrine and TTP on the use of the new non-lethal weapons that are available today. Forces currently conducting peace operations continue to identify and develop new TTP to deal with the civil disturbance threat. The Army is also looking into new non-lethal technology and how to employ non-lethal weapons and munitions.
U.S. forces will almost certainly be involved in peace operations in the future. In his recent book, Future War: Non-Lethal Weapons in Twenty-First Century Warfare, COL John B. Alexander, states:
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"There is a great deal of debate about the appropriate role for America to play on the world's stage. Some argue that we should stay close to home. We should, they say, only use our military force when our national interests are directly threatened. The reality is that we have been involved in peace support operations, we are involved in peace support operations, and we will be involved in peace support operations. It is up to the President and Congress to determine when and how to apply force. These challenges will not go away. In fact, they will probably multiply with the devolution of other former nation-states into subelements. What is absolutely clear is that, to meet the challenges of the future, we urgently need non-lethal weapons options. Once developed and provided to our troops, non-lethal weapons will offer a wider range of responses to these difficult situations."
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- globalsecurity
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Beyond the Rubber Bullet
The Pentagon's effort to create nonlethal weapons that hurt but don't kill has set off its own fire storm
By LEV GROSSMAN Posted Sunday, Jul. 21, 2002
The U.S. armed forces don't do much shooting anymore. Even in Afghanistan, they engage in more advising and guiding than gunplay. Soldiers today are asked more often to keep the peace or defuse demonstrations, and the last thing they want in those situations is to fire a lethal weapon. That's why the Pentagon is spending more and more research-and-development dollars on weapons that stun, scare, entangle or nauseate - anything but kill.
The U.S.'s nonlethal-weapons programs are drawing their own fire, mostly from human-rights activists who contend that the technologies being developed will be deployed to suppress dissent and that they defy international weapons treaties. Through public websites, interviews with defense researchers and data obtained in a series of Freedom of Information Act requests filed by watchdog groups, TIME has managed to peer into the Pentagon's multimillion-dollar program and piece together this glimpse of the gentler, though not necessarily kinder, arsenal of tomorrow.
DIRECTED ENERGY WEAPONS
Imagine a cross between a microwave oven and a Star Trek phaser: a tight, focused beam of energy that flash-heats its target from a distance. Directed energy beams do not burn flesh, but they do create an unbearably painful burning sensation. The Air Force Research Laboratory has already spent $40 million on a humvee-mounted directed-energy weapon. Expect to see it in the field by 2009.
ANTITRACTION MATERIAL
Sometimes keeping an enemy down but not out is good enough. The Southwest Research Institute in Texas has created a sprayable antitraction gel for the Marines that is so slippery it is impossible to drive or even walk on it; one researcher describes it as "liquid ball bearings." Spray the stuff on a door handle, and it becomes too slippery to turn. The antitraction gel is mostly water, so it dries up in about 12 hours. It is also nontoxic and biodegradable.
MALODORANTS
Working for the Pentagon, the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia has formulated smells so repellent that they can quickly clear a public space of anyone who can breathe - partygoers, rioters, even enemy forces. Scientists have tested the effectiveness of such odors as vomit, burnt hair, sewage, rotting flesh and a potent concoction known euphemistically as "U.S. Government Standard Bathroom Malodor." But don't expect to get a whiff anytime soon. Like all gaseous weapons, malodorants once released are hard to control, and their use is strictly limited by international chemical-weapons treaties.
PROJECTILES
No one likes rubber bullets - not the people being fired at nor the people doing the firing. "It's very easy to put out an eye, to blind someone," says Glenn Shwaery, director of the Nonlethal Technology Innovation Center. "How do you redesign a projectile to avoid that?" The answer is, with softer, flatter bullets, beanbags and sponges that spread out the impact and hit like an open-handed slap from Andre the Giant. Shwaery's team is looking into an even more radical solution: "tunable" bullets that can be adjusted in the field to be harder or softer as the situation warrants. "We're talking about dialing in the penetrating power," he says. ?It's the difference between 'Set phasers on stun' and 'Set phasers on kill.'"
WEBS AND NETS
Spider-man has competition. A firm called Foster-Miller, based in Waltham, Mass., has created the WebShot, a 10-ft.-wide Kevlar net. Packed in a cartridge and fired from a special shotgun, the WebShot can entangle targets as far away as 30 feet. Bigger nets can work on bigger targets. The Portable Vehicle Arresting Barrier, developed for the Pentagon by General Dynamics in Falls Church, Va., is a tough, elastic web that springs up from the ground in an instant to block a road. It can stop a 7,500-lb. pickup truck traveling 45 m.p.h. and then wrap around it to trap the occupants inside.
REAL RAY GUNS
Further out on the horizon, the line between weapons development and science fiction becomes perilously thin. Mission Research Corp. of Santa Barbara, Calif., is working on a pulsed energy projectile (PEP) that superheats the surface moisture around a target so rapidly that it literally explodes, producing a bright flash of light and a loud bang. The effect is like a stun grenade, but unlike a grenade the pep travels at nearly the speed of light and can take out a target with pinpoint accuracy. Or picture this: a flashlight-size device, currently in development at HSV Technologies in San Diego, that transmits a powerful electric current along a beam of ultraviolet light. Shine that light on a human target, and you have a wireless taser that can paralyze targets as far away as 2 km.
DRUGS, BUGS AND BEYOND
Even their supporters agree that "nonlethal weapons" is a dangerous misnomer and that any of these devices has the potential to injure and kill. What is more, some of them may not even be legal. Over the past three months, a chemical-weapons watchdog organization called the Sunshine Project has obtained evidence that the U.S. is considering some projects that appear to take us beyond the bounds of good sense: bioengineered bacteria designed to eat asphalt, fuel and body armor, or faster-acting, weaponized forms of antidepressants, opiates and so-called "club drugs" that could be rapidly administered to unruly crowds. Such research is illegal under international law and could open up terrifying scenarios for abuse. "This is patently quite dangerous and irresponsible," says human-rights activist Steve Wright, who, as director of the Omega Foundation, works with Amnesty International to monitor nonlethal weapons. "What the U.S. invents today, others, including the torturing states, will deploy tomorrow." Just how much is that magic rubber bullet worth to us? Maybe some science fiction should remain fictional. - With reporting by Mark Thompson/Washington - .time.com
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Ray guns
(U.S. World News Report, July 1997)
For many people, the "ray gun" is the stuff of science fiction. It has been thought that there were too many obstacles in developing such a weapon. From all the possibilities of non-lethal electromagnetic weapons, the use of microwaves was labeled as the least feasible. One of the largest problems has been range. A microwave beam designed to heat someone standing 300 yards away could possibly kill someone standing 10 yards away. This problem combined with the fact that electromagnetic fields weaken very rapidly over distance also brought about the quest of a suitable power source. Finally, the described beams seemed almost impossible to aim.
However, setting your phasers on stun may not be too far away. After 10 years of highly classified research and development, the United States Air Force, Marine Corps, and the Pentagon have announced what they have termed as the "Vehicle-Mounted Active Denial System" or VMADS. Unveiled in the March 5, 2001 issue of Marine Corps Times, it has been hailed as "the biggest breakthrough in weapons technology since the atomic bomb". This new directed energy beam works by using our own natural defense mechanism of pain against us. Just as you jerk your hand away from a hot light bulb, the beam would have the same effect. It heats the surface of the skin to make the person feel a sensation equal to about 130 degrees Fahrenheit, yet it leaves no permanent damage.
How it works
The active-denial system works by transmitting a narrow electromagnetic beam to the adversary, heating up the surface of the skin. It works much like a microwave oven works. The electromagnetic energy which falls near the microwaves on the electromagnetic spectrum forces the water molecules in the skin to vibrate with a higher energy. This causes the skin to heat up rapidly which creates a burning sensation similar to placing your hand on a hot light bulb. However, it is not a simple militarized form of a microwave oven. The system fires shorter directional waves that are at higher frequencies than microwave oven. Because of this, these waves can penetrate clothing.
The beam is transmitted at the speed of light from something that looks like a satellite dish measuring 10 feet by 10 feet. Officials say that the energy from the beam penetrates less than 1/64 of an inch, ruling out permanent damage to any vital organs within the body. Theoretically, the energy from the beam is less harmful than getting a suntan, although perhaps not as pleasurable. To clarify, the beam does not burn its victims. According to Col. George P. Fenton of the Marine Corps, director of the Department of Defense's Joint Non-lethal Weapons Program in Quantico, Va., "It's not designed to burn. It's a heat-induced sensation. It's safe, absolutely safe. You walk out of the beam and the pain goes away. There are no lasting effects." The range of the beam still remains classified along with its exact frequencies, wavelengths, and amplitudes, but project officials have said that the range exceeds 750 meters.
Current plans designate the Active Denial System to be mounted on top of High Mobility Multi-purpose Wheeled Vehicle or the HMMWV (Humvee). However, the Pentagon is also considering hand-held and plane-mounted versions. The field ready version could be ready by 2009.
History behind the Machine
Although the Marines unveiled it and will probably be the first to use it, it was actually the Air Force who began initial research. The active denial system was researched in a combined effort between two teams from the Air Force Research Laboratory (one from the Directed Energy Directorate and one from its Human Effectiveness Directorate) and the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate. The new technology is a result of 10 years of highly secret research and $40 million of taxpayer money. Over the next 5 years, the project for further development is budgeted at $26 million.
Testing
(A demonstration version of the ADS) The active denial system has so far been tested on 72 people since 1994 on Brooks Air Force base. Only one minor injury has occurred out of the 6,500 tests conducted. In these tests, subjects were exposed to the beam for an average of less than 10 seconds, and the sole person injured merely received a nickel sized burn when the tester programmed the weapon incorrectly.
The VMADS system was being tested on Kirtland Air Force base in New Mexico where the subjects have been human volunteers and goats. All testing has been done with strict observance of all laws, procedures, and regulations regarding human and animal experimentation. The military continues testing as it also abides by all of the United States' treaty obligations.
Concerns
Human rights activists have objected to the weapon, saying that it could cause blindness. Military officials say that people would close their eyes quickly before any damage to their eyes would occur. However, other vital safety questions have also been raised. What affect does the system have on pregnant women and children? Will the beam have effects on the subjects other than the sensation on their skin? What happens when a person is exposed to the beam for a long period of time?
The answers are not yet known or perhaps they are not yet unclassified. Only time will tell if this weapon becomes the way militaries and law enforcement agencies work to combat a new type of disorder.
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Herding people with silent sound
You are CATTLE to them
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Test subjects can't see the invisible beam from the Pentagon's new, Star Trek-like weapon, but no one has withstood the pain it produces for more than three seconds.
People who volunteered to stand in front of the directed energy beam say they felt as if they were on fire. When they stepped aside, the pain disappeared instantly.
The long-range column of millimeter-wave energy is known as the "Active Denial System" for its ability to prevent an aggressor from advancing. Senior military officials, who plan to deliver the device for troop evaluation this fall, say years of testing has produced no sign it will lead to health effects beyond perhaps causing skin to temporarily redden.
[...snip...]
Introduction of such a device in either noncombat or wartime situations could raise thorny questions: Would it be acceptable to inflict so much pain on unruly protesters? How would such a weapon be viewed if used on crowds in Third World countries? Would it violate international humanitarian principles if used in battle? Might it be used secretly during interrogations to torture suspected terrorists into cooperating?
Sacremento Bee
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Sweeping stun guns to target crowds
Weapons that can incapacitate crowds of people by sweeping a lightning-like beam of electricity across them are being readied for sale to military and police forces in the US and Europe.
At present, commercial stun guns target one person at a time, and work only at close quarters. The new breed of non-lethal weapons can be used on many people at once and operate over far greater distances.
But human rights groups are appalled by the fact that no independent safety tests have been carried out, and by their potential for indiscriminate use.
The weapons are designed to address the perceived shortcomings of the Taser, the electric-shock gun already used by 4000 police departments in the US and undergoing trials with some police forces in the UK.
It hits the victim with two darts that trail current-carrying wires, which limit its range to a maximum of seven metres (see graphic). As a single shot, short-range weapon, the Taser is of little use in crowd control. And Tasers have no effect on vehicles.
Ionised gas
These limitations are beginning to be overcome. Engineers working for the US Department of Defense's research division, DARPA, and defence companies in Europe have been working out how to create an electrically conductive path between a gun and a target without using wires.
A weapon under development by Rheinmetall, based in Dorf, Germany, creates a conducting channel by using a small explosive charge to squirt a stream of tiny conductive fibres through the air at the victim (New Scientist print edition, 24 May 2003).
Meanwhile, Xtreme Alternative Defense Systems (XADS), based in Anderson, Indiana, will be one of the first companies to market another type of wireless weapon. Instead of using fibres, the $9000 Close Quarters Shock Rifle projects an ionised gas, or plasma, towards the target, producing a conducting channel. It will also interfere with electronic ignition systems and stop vehicles.
"We will be able to fire a stream of electricity like water out of a hose at one or many targets in a single sweep," claims XADS president Peter Bitar.
New Scientist
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As politicians at the Republican National Convention use microphones to make themselves heard
from the podium, other sounds in and around the event will be emitted in cutting-edge audio
technology.
Outside the convention hall, New York City police plan to control protesters using a device that directs
sound for up to 1,500 feet in a spotlight-like beam. Meanwhile, a display of former Republican presidents
inside the hall will feature campaign speeches that are funneled to listeners through highly focused
audio beams.
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"These are totally different from the way an ordinary speaker emits sound," said Elwood (Woody) Norris,
founder and head of American Technology Corp. of San Diego. "It's like it's inside your head."
Norris, an intrepid entrepreneur who has no college degree but more than 43 patents to his name, invented
both the crowd control tool, called the Long Range Acoustical Device (LRAD), and the display audio
technology, called HyperSonic Sound (HSS).
Both technologies feature unprecedented manipulation of sound, but for very different purposes. And
while both technologies have unique, "gee-whiz" factors, some remain uneasy with the idea of using
sound to control crowds.
"It produces sound in a way that for most people will be a novel experience, so I think it has potential
to create confusion and panic," said Richard Glen Boire, founder of the Center for Cognitive Liberty and
Ethics in Davis, Calif. "It can't be identified, it's an invisible force." -
Via Truthout
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from ACTIVE DENIAL TECHNOLOGY Directed Energy Non-Lethal Demonstration 2001:
Testing
Humans and animals are being used in the test program. All testing is being conducted with strict observance of the procedures, laws and regulations governing animal and human experimentation. The tests have been reviewed and approved by a formal Institutional Review Board with oversight from the Air Force Surgeon General's Office. The testing is being conducted by the Air Force Research Laboratory's Human Effectiveness Directorate.
Military and civilian employees have volunteered for these tests. Prior to participating in the program, all volunteers are fully informed of the purpose and nature of the tests and of any reasonably foreseeable risks or discomforts expected from the research. Other than minor skin tenderness due to repeated exposure to the beam, there are no lasting effects. An institutional review board has determined that the risk level is minimal. No pay is received for participation, and volunteers may withdraw at any time with no negative personal or professional ramifications. Many of the project scientists are volunteers for the study. These tests, which are being conducted at Kirtland Air Force Base south of Albuquerque, New Mexico, employ more realistic military field conditions, following several years of successful and safe laboratory testing. These field tests are the first to expose an entire test subject to the energy beam.
These tests will demonstrate the technology, gather additional data on effects in realistic conditions, and allow the military benefits to be assessed. - via mindcontrolforums
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Nonlethal weaponry - Sandia researchers Willy Morse and James Pacheco fine-tune the small-sized Active Denial System. (Photo by Randy Montoya)
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June 30, 2005 - Team investigates Active Denial System for security applications
Millimeter-wave device puts the 'heat' on adversaries
Nonlethal weaponry - Sandia researchers Willy Morse and James Pacheco fine-tune the small-sized Active Denial System. (Photo by Randy Montoya)
Download 300dpi JPEG image, "nonlethal-weaponry.jpg," 988K (Media are welcome to download/publish this image with related news stories.)
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - A multi-organizational team is adapting for DOE use a technology that can help keep security adversaries out of DOE sites that contain nuclear assets. The DOE Office of Security and Safety Performance Assurance (SSA) is exploring the potential to use directed energy weapons technology sponsored by the Department of Defense (DoD), named Active Denial Technology (ADT), to help protect DOE nuclear assets. SSA is sponsoring Sandia National Laboratories, a National Nuclear Security Administration lab, to investigate how the technology can be used on adversaries by developing a new small-sized Active Denial System (ADS) to meet the unique and rapidly evolving security needs of DOE. To help solve the many technical issues associated with this challenge, Sandia has partnered with Raytheon and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), because both organizations have significant experience with earlier ADS system developments.
ADS systems are a new class of nonlethal weaponry using 95 GHz-millimeter-wave directed energy. This technology is capable of rapidly heating a person's skin to achieve a pain threshold that has been demonstrated by AFRL human subject testing to be very effective at repelling people, without burning the skin or causing other secondary effects.
The device is an alternative to lethal force.
In the mid 1990s the Air Force funded development of an ADT system demonstrator that was led by AFRL and built by Raytheon in partnership with Communications & Power Inc. (CPI) and Malibu Research. The success of this demonstration system has resulted in several ongoing DoD-sponsored projects, such as the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate's Vehicle Mounted Active Denial System (VMADS) and the Office of Force Transformation's (OFT's) project SHERIFF.
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Steve Scott, manager of Sandia's Access Delay Technology Department, says, "DOE and Sandia have been closely tracking ADT developments and have recognized its potential to enhance the protection of DOE nuclear facilities. This has been confirmed by conducting a feasibility study in 2002, under the supervision of researcher Jim Pacheco."
Acting on the feasibility study's conclusions, SSA's Carl Pocratsky (SO-20) initiated an effort at Sandia to explore and develop a small Active Denial System (ADS) that is more suitable for DOE fixed-site applications. To date, DoD efforts have focused on larger systems, considered by many to be better suited for military applications at extended ranges.
In 2004, the AFRL's Human Effectiveness Directorate (HEDR) completed a study that analyzed pre-existing test data to estimate the potential effectiveness of an ADS that has a smaller beam. Also in 2004, Sandia conducted simulations of how the smaller ADS might be used and how it would perform against adversary attack scenarios within a DOE facility using the Joint Conflict and Tactical Simulation (JCATS) software modeling tool.
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ADS - The new class of nonlethal weaponry uses 95 GHz-millimeter-wave directed energy. (Photo by Randy Montoya)
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"The results of the AFRL small beam ADS effectiveness study and the JCATS study were very encouraging and provided a strong basis for continuing the development of a comparitively small ADS for DOE fixed-site applications," says Pacheco. "Recently there has been significant progress with this project," says Willy Morse, Sandia's principal investigator. "On May 5 we took acceptance of the SSA ADS prototype system built by Raytheon's Advanced Electromagnetic Technologies (AET) Center in partnership with CPI and Malibu Research. Initial characterization and performance tests were completed at the end of May."
On May 19 a memorandum of understanding was completed between DOE-SSA, Sandia, DoD-OFT, and AFRL. This memorandum establishes a formal partnership between the DoD and DOE in developing small-sized ADSs. During the next six months the AFRL's Human Effectiveness Directorate, Brooks City-Base, is being funded by the OFT to complete human effects testing. This testing will use the SSA ADS system to determine its effectiveness for DOD applications and validate the conclusions of the 2004 small-beam-size effectiveness study sponsored by SSA.
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Testing results from Sandia, AFRL, and OFT will guide the operational concept and design of a second-generation small-size ADS system expected to be fielded at several DOE nuclear facilities as early as 2008. DOE-SSA and Sandia will continue to actively seek opportunities to collaborate with other government agencies on technical issues associated with developing and deploying ADS systems.
System uses beam of electromagnetic energy to heat human
Active Denial Technology (ADT) provides an effective nonlethal active-response mechanism to disperse, disturb, distract, and establish the intent of intruders. ADT emits a 95 GHz non-ionizing electromagnetic beam of energy that penetrates approximately 1/64 of an inch into human skin tissue, where nerve receptors are concentrated. Within seconds, the beam will heat the exposed skin tissue to a level where intolerable pain is experienced and natural defense mechanisms take over.
This intense heating sensation stops only if the individual moves out of the beam's path or the beam is turned off. The sensation caused by the system has been described by test subjects as feeling like touching a hot frying pan or the intense radiant heat from a fire. Burn injury is prevented by limiting the beam's intensity and duration.
DoD-sponsored millimeter-wave human effectiveness testing, initiated in 2001, has demonstrated ADT as both effective and safe without any long-term effects. It is expected that the DoD-funded human effectiveness testing of the small-beam ADS by the AFRL HEDR during the next six to eight months will validate its effectiveness and safety as a nonlethal weapon system. - sandia.gov
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High strangeness...could they be testing exotic new weapons on the public?
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Flashback: Moscow theatre seige
Heavily armed Chechen rebels holding nearly 1,000 people hostage inside a Moscow theatre
for the second day on Thursday set a seven-day deadline for Russia to end military operations in
Chechnya and completely pull out its troops, failing which they threatened to blow up the building.
As efforts were on to negotiate with the rebels, believed to be numbering 40-50 and armed with automatic
weapons, grenades, explosive belts, mines and canisters of gasoline, they demanded foreign mediators including
western diplomats and representatives of the Red Cross be sent to talk to them, Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov
said. - source
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Heavy Handed tactics or deliberate 'theatre' to emotionally manipulate?
According to official reports, 129 hostages died as a result of the October theatre siege in Moscow. All but
two of them died of poisoning with what was called ''a special gas'', used to disable the hostage-takers
during the storming of the theatre building on Dubrovka Street.
In its answer to the parliamentary inquiry, the Health Ministry failed to name those who had placed the data
about the gas on a secret list, but said such decisions were outside the ministry?s competence. Similar
inquiries, according to Yushenkov, have been sent by the deputies to the other agencies that were involved
in the Nord-Ost operation ? the Interior Ministry and the Federal Security Service. However, neither of them
has given any answers to the questions posed by the deputies.
Yushenkov explained to Gazeta.Ru that the participants of the counter-terrorist operation have violated
Article 41 of the Russian Constitution, which bans state officials from concealing facts and circumstances
posing hazards to human health and life. What is more, in the deputy?s opinion, the law on state secrets
has also been violated, because information that may shed light on circumstances connected with damage
inflicted to human health cannot be classified as secret.
According to the politician, the special services should have informed doctors and all those tending the
victims of the type of gas used, of its possible effects, and which antidotes had to be used.
And if the substance used by the special services in October was a secret gas, then, in line with the
law on countering terrorism, the authorities did not have the right to use it against civilians in the
first place.
Furthermore, international treaties explicitly ban the use of combat gas. ''Only the Germans used mustard
gas during World War I, and during World War II they used gas in concentration camps. And only in our
country has gas been used against our own citizens, as Tukhachevsky did when he suppressed the insurrection
of the Tambov peasants,'' the deputy fumed.
As the State Duma deputy told Gazeta.Ru, they will now await answers to their inquiries from other
governmental agencies. ''Then we will address the Prosecutor General?s Office, or, on behalf of the aggrieved,
the courts, so that those guilty of concealing information about the gas be found and punished. It is important for us,
that things like this do not happen again.''
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More from: justice for the moscow Theatre hostages
Russia 'ignoring' plight of siege poison victims
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Sunstrike technologies
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XADS was featured recently in the Discovery Channel special "The Science of Star Wars." Highlighted in particular were the TALI (Threat Assessment Laser Illuminator) technology and the PFF (Perimeter Force Field) technology. Click the screenshot to see the video.
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XADS to produce non-lethal 'phasers' for riot control
November 8, 2004
Xtreme Alternative Defense Systems (XADS) Ltd., has been tapped by the U. S. Marine Corps to develop a directed energy weapon for use in riot control and other situations requiring less-than-lethal force. The proposed 'StunStrike' prototype will temporarily disable an enemy combatant without using any form of projectile or other means of direct contact. Pictures are unavailable of the SunStrike but XADS has a working model Personal Defence Laser Pointer (see main picture) on the market to dazzle targets.
Pete Bitar, the weapon's inventor and President of XADS, said that unlike a Taser device, the StunStrike system does not require wires to transmit a non-lethal electric jolt. "This gives the military, police forces, or private security companies enormous flexibility," he said. "It could dramatically alter the nature of law enforcement, war, peacekeeping operations, and other conflicts requiring the deployment and use of physical force."
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[snip]
The development of StunStrike technology will allow military and law enforcement personnel to engage multiple hostiles at the same time with less-than-lethal force. Using industry parlance, hostage situations can be diffused without risk of collateral damage or fatalities. Riot control can be handled with authority, but without causing harm to either police or rioters. The system can also be re-tuned to disable vehicle ignition systems, stopping cars or trucks without destroying them.
Lt. Mike Reed, in charge of the S.W.A.T. team for the city of Anderson Police Department, said, "the StunStrike is potentially a great less-lethal alternative to the weapons currently available to police departments and S.W.A.T. teams. We have been talking to XADS about a longer term relationship to become a test and training site. This could also be, economically speaking, a great opportunity for Anderson and the Department. We're hoping XADS can develop the weapon to its full potential."
- gizmag.co.uk
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Behavioral pain herding in Iraq
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The fuzzy ethics of nonlethal weapons
Pentagon wants to use riot-control agents in Iraq, but critics say it's chemical warfare.
By Brad Knickerbocker | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
As the world waits to hear more from UN weapons inspectors about Iraq's potential for producing chemical weapons, the US itself is pondering the use of chemicals in any conflict there.
Defense officials would like to be able to use nonlethal chemicals to take the fight out of Iraqi soldiers who may be holed up in caves or buildings or mixed in with innocent civilians. But as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld acknowledged in Congressional testimony the other day, the use of riot-control agents and other substances designed to incapacitate people without causing death or lasting injury violates international law - specifically, the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention.
"In many instances, our forces are allowed to shoot somebody and kill them, but they're not allowed to use a nonlethal riot-control agent," Mr. Rumsfeld complained to lawmakers. Some find it ironic, if not incomprehensible, that under the Chemical Weapons Convention, civilian police forces may use chemicals to put down riots but military units may not fire them at enemy soldiers.
On its face, this would seem to be a problem that even arms-control advocates and those opposed to war would like to see rectified. Especially, as President Bush told religious broadcasters this week, because "Saddam Hussein is positioning his military forces within civilian populations in order to shield his military and blame coalition forces for civilian casualties that he has caused."
In an audio broadcast Tuesday, chief terrorist Osama bin Laden seemed to encourage Iraqi civilians to join the fight against a US-led invasion. Bin Laden spoke of "the importance of drawing the enemy into long, close, and tiring fighting, taking advantage of camouflaged positions in plains, farms, mountains, and cities." Hussein reportedly has armed one million Iraqi civilians with rifles and grenade launchers.
Such combat - at close quarters and with civilians and perhaps hostages part of the mix - could call for nonlethal chemical weapons to sort out the real "bad guys" from noncombatants, human shields, and those forced to take up arms.
But others see big problems. For one thing, US allies in the fight - and certainly many in the Arab world - would be opposed to anything that smacks of chemical warfare. "Special Forces no doubt have knockout gas to neutralize bunkers," says Stephen Baker, a retired US Navy rear admiral and senior fellow at the Center for Defense Information in Washington. "But my feeling is that the sensitivities are way too great to use [it]."
Others fear that the use of chemicals to incapacitate enemy troops while saving nearby civilians could be the slippery slope toward the use of more lethal chemicals. They point out that the two major uses of chemical weapons in the 20th century - World War I and the Iran-Iraq War - started out with tear gas and escalated to deadly chemicals.
Also, "nonlethal" weapons can kill people, as Russia found out when it used a gaseous opiate to knock out Chechen hostage takers in Moscow and killed more than 120 hostages in the process. Still, the US military - bolstered by a recent report by the National Research Council urging the military to give greater priority to such devices - continues to push for the development of nonlethal weapons. Research paid for by the Pentagon is under way.
Critics say this already violates international law, including the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention as well as the Chemical Weapons Convention. They worry that in an age of dangerous peacekeeping missions plus unconventional warfare involving armed militias and terrorists, there may be greater pressure to use chemicals and other nonlethal weapons.
The US experience in Somalia in 1993, when a failed peacekeeping mission saw 29 American servicemen (and hundreds of Somalis) killed in violent urban combat, is a case in point.
"After Mogadishu, the Pentagon decided that it was morally, militarily, and legally acceptable to arm itself with supposedly nonlethal biochemical weapons for the purpose of attacking civilians that, in the Pentagon's view, pose a threat to US forces," says Edward Hammond of the Sunshine Project in Austin, Texas, a nongovernmental organization that works on biological-weapons issues.
Mr. Rumsfeld sees the situation in less sinister terms. "There are times when the use of nonlethal riot agents is perfectly appropriate," he says, although legal constraints make for "a very awkward situation."
In order for US troops to use incapacitating chemicals, the president would have to sign a waiver of longstanding restrictions. When US troops pulled out of Vietnam in 1975, then-president Gerald Ford issued an executive order "renouncing" the use of herbicides like the infamous Agent Orange as well as riot-control agents. Such agents can be used in wartime to control prisoners, protect civilians, and carry out rescue missions, but the president must preapprove such use. - csmonitor.com
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Microwave gun to be used by US troops on Iraq rioters
By Tony Freinberg and Sean Rayment, Defence Correspondent (Filed: 19/09/2004)
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. Telegraph UK
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Are they preparing to use these toys on US?
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US buys town for terror training
The United States Department of Homeland Security is buying an entire town in the south-west US for use in its anti-terror training.
Playas, in the state of New Mexico, will be bought for $5m from the Phelps Dodge mining company, which built it from scratch in the 1970s. The town, once home to 1,000 people, currently has a population of 50. Emergency workers will use the site to simulate suicide bombings, anthrax attacks and water-supply poisonings.
'Ghost town'
A local engineering school, the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, is in charge of the project.
Vice-president Van Romero told BBC News Online that he hoped the purchase would be completed this week.
"Students will use the town to enact scenarios to learn to stop or prevent terrorist attacks before they happen," he said. "It's an urban environment in which we can control everything - the electricity, the water and the people," he added.
Although Playas has been in decline since a copper smelter shut, the isolated town just north of the Mexican border is not a typical ghost town. In addition to 259 ranch-style homes, it features a six-lane bowling alley, a rodeo ring, a helicopter pad, an airstrip, a bar, a shooting range and a swimming pool. The town's remaining residents could be offered work on the project, the New York Times reports.
New Mexico Tech, as the engineering school is known, has trained more than 90,000 emergency workers since the bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building in 1995. It is also currently receiving $20m in grants from the Department of Homeland Security for its antiterrorism programmes.
BBC
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2 1/2 weeks of riots in France:
Ethnic baiting & disruption acheives anti terror laws...
Riots / Warzones stimulated & 'allowed to get out of control' ?
setting a precedent to use the fancy toys...
Paris hit by anti-police riots
By Antoine Lerougetel 2 November 2005
Two boys died on the evening of October 27 while fleeing from the police on a suburban council estate that houses poor and immigrant workers. The deaths of the boys, in Clichy-sous-Bois in Paris' northern suburbs, sparked violent confrontations between mainly immigrant youth and 400 to 500 riot police dispatched by Minister of the Interior Nicolas Sarkozy.
Running battles between the youth and the police continued through the weekend. Some 70 cars and many rubbish bins were incinerated. The police fired around 150 rubber and plastic bullets and an unspecified number of tear gas canisters, and have continued to maintain a heavy presence.
Sarkozy, the chairman of the ruling Gaullist party and leading contender for the candidacy of his party in the 2007 presidential elections, has been building his reputation on an aggressive law-and-order platform. He immediately pledged to beef up the armoury of officers' "non-lethal" weapons. He also announced that seventeen companies of riot police and seven mobile police brigades would be permanently stationed on "difficult" housing estates, and that plainclothes officers would be sent in to identify "gang leaders, drug dealers and ringleaders."
[snip]
Sarkozy has been making provocative statements against youth from the council estates. He has promised to sandblast the "scum" and "gangrene" from the estates. He has also pledged to visit a "difficult" area every week.
Prime Minister Villepin and President Jacques Chirac have made no comment about Sarkozy's provocations. In the government, only the junior minister for equal opportunity, Azouz Begag, has spoken out against Sarkozy. On October 30, he declared: "You must not call the suburban youth 'scum,' you must not tell them that you're going to go for them and send the police against them."
Le Figaro's October 31 editorial expressed a certain nervousness in right-wing circles: "Nicolas Sarkozy's recent statements on the need to 'eradicate the gangrene' in the suburbs and 'clean up the council estates with sandblasters' are ill-considered in form. But in content?"
Taking their lead from France's top cop, the police patrolling the Clichy-sous-bois estates can be seen on a video, taken with a mobile phone, shooting rubber and plastic bullets at very close range and shouting: "Come back you bunch of bastards." - WSWS
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France 'faces real and serious terror threat'
17/11/2005 - France faces a serious and real threat of a terror attack, Interior Ministry Nicolas Sarkozy said today.
"The threat is serious," Sarkozy said in a speech opening a seminar of terrorism. "The risk of violent action on our territory is real."
It was not the first time that Sarkozy or other government officials have said France faced a terrorist threat.
The minister is pushing a bill to boost France's anti-terror legislation, including increased use of video surveillance. - IOL
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Pressing the emotional buttons of the
disenfranchised - allows for the introduction of ever more
draconian laws & technologies for Control & Surveillance
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U.K. rail to install body scanners
LONDON, Oct. 30 (UPI) -- British railway stations will soon install airport-style security checks using body scanners and X-ray machines for increased security.
Following the July 7 London bombings that caused 52 deaths, new rail security will also allow passengers to be frisked and random bag searches made, on the orders by Alistair Darling, the Transport Secretary, the Sunday Telegraph reported.
The security changes will be tried in selected locations on the network and if successful, the government plans to implement the measures at railway stations across Britain and at the subway stations and at other transport interchanges-
science daily
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The ultimate surveillance
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AFRL Developing Technology to Help Military, Law Enforcement See through Walls
ROME, N.Y., Jan. 27, 2003 --- Visions of Superman!!
Engineers at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Information Directorate are pursuing technologies that will allow military peacekeepers and civilian law enforcement personnel to monitor individuals concealed in buildings.
The directorate recently awarded a $2,993,158 contract to Time Domain Corp. of Huntsville, Ala., to produce a portable device capable of detecting human motion behind a wall. The 12-month contract is funded by the Army Night Vision Laboratory at Fort Belvoir, Va., in support of its "Enhanced Through-the-Wall Surveillance for Military Operations in Urbanized Terrain (MOUT) Program.
"We will be getting a portable device weighing about 8 pounds," said Bernard J. Clarke, program manager in the directorate's Information and Intelligence Exploitation Division. "The device, about 14-by-22-by-6 inches and worn on the arm, will detect motion on the other side of a wall using extremely low-power radar."
"Our experience in developing radar technology led to this cooperative work with the Army," Clarke said. "This specific technology detects a 'Doppler shift' in the returned signal to locate movement. If people are not moving, it will not detect them."
The portable size of the unit will allow for use by special forces. It is envisioned for use in urban areas, where military personnel will be tasked to enter buildings for searching and clearing. The technology also has major potential applications for civilian law enforcement agencies, where SWAT or hostage-rescue teams need to determine if someone is on the other side of a wall.
The directorate is also pursing several other technology/phenomenology areas for sensing, with funding from the National Institute of Justice, a division of the Department of Justice.
"We are looking at three or four additional technologies for this purpose," said Clarke. "The technologies we are using to see through walls are the same as we are using for detecting concealed weapons."
Through-the-Wall Surveillance (TWS) research uses a variety of existing sensor technologies and then combines – or fuses – specific data from each for a better image.
The process is not unlike the human body's sensory fusion. If you feel a bite, it might be an animal. If you hear a growl, it's probably a dog. If you see a large canine attached to your leg, your brain tells you that you've just been attacked by a Doberman.
The directorate's TWS technical program has included a variety of radar frequencies, including ground-penetrating, millimeter waves and FM radar. Also considered were applications of acoustic signals and image processing.
Time Domain's portable sensor, scheduled for delivery by next fall, will be capable of detecting the movement of a human body up to 30 feet behind a standard interior wall. The thickness and composition of exterior walls will degrade that capability.
This specific technology cannot penetrate through metal. But then, Superman couldn't see through lead.
rl.af.mil
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Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency expects the portable Radar Scope to look similar to this model and to be fielded as soon as this spring to help patrols conducting urban operations to sense if someone is inside a building.
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New Device Will Sense Through Concrete Walls
Blackanthem Military News, WASHINGTON, D.C., January 04, 2006 12:07
Troops conducting urban operations soon will have the capabilities of superheroes, being able to sense through 12 inches of concrete to determine if someone is inside a building.
The new "Radar Scope" will give warfighters searching a building the ability to tell within seconds if someone is in the next room, Edward Baranoski from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Special Projects Office, told the American Forces Press Service.
By simply holding the portable, handheld device up to a wall, users will be able to detect movements as small as breathing, he said. The Radar Scope, developed by DARPA, is expected to be fielded to troops in Iraq as soon as this spring, Baranoski said. The device is likely to be fielded to the squad level, for use by troops going door to door in search of terrorists. The Radar Scope will give warfighters the capability to sense through a foot of concrete and 50 feet beyond that into a room, Baranoski explained.
It will bring to the fight what larger, commercially available motion detectors couldn't, he said. Weighing just a pound and a half, the Radar Scope will be about the size of a telephone handset and cost just about $1,000, making it light enough for a soldier to carry and inexpensive enough to be fielded widely.
The Radar Scope will be waterproof and rugged, and will run on AA batteries, he said. "It may not change how four-man stacks go into a room (during clearing operations)," Baranoski said. "But as they go into a building, it can help them prioritize what rooms they go into. It will give them an extra degree of knowledge so they know if someone is inside. "
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Even as the organization hurries to get the devices to combat forces, DARPA already is laying groundwork for bigger plans that build on this technology.
Proposals are expected this week for the new "Visi Building" technology that's more than a motion detector. It will actually "see" through multiple walls, penetrating entire buildings to show floor plans, locations of occupants and placement of materials such as weapons caches, Baranoski said.
"It will give (troops) a lot of opportunity to stake out buildings and really see inside," he said. "It will go a long way in extending their surveillance capabilities. "
The device is expected to take several years to develop. Ultimately, servicemembers will be able to use it simply by driving or flying by the structure under surveillance, Baranoski said.
By Donna Miles American Forces Press Service
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The ultimate crowd control? Remote controlled humans.
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Remote Control for Humans Being Tested
Japan developing remote control for humans
By Yuri Kageyama Associated Press - ATSUGI, Japan - We wield remote controls to turn things on and off, make them advance, make them halt. Ground-bound pilots use remotes to fly drone airplanes, soldiers to maneuver battlefield robots.
But manipulating humans?
Prepare to be remotely controlled. I was.
Just imagine being rendered the rough equivalent of a radio-controlled toy car.
Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp., (search) Japans top telephone company, says it is developing the technology to perhaps make video games more realistic. But more sinister applications also come to mind.
I can envision it being added to militaries' arsenals of so-called "non-lethal" weapons.
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A special headset was placed on my cranium by my hosts during a recent demonstration at an NTT research center. It sent a very low voltage electric current from the back of my ears through my head - either from left to right or right to left, depending on which way the joystick on a remote-control was moved. I found the experience unnerving and exhausting: I sought to step straight ahead but kept careening from side to side. Those alternating currents literally threw me off.
The technology is called galvanic vestibular stimulation (search) - essentially, electricity messes with the delicate nerves inside the ear that help maintain balance. I felt a mysterious, irresistible urge to start walking to the right whenever the researcher turned the switch to the right. I was convinced - mistakenly - that this was the only way to maintain my balance. The phenomenon is painless but dramatic. Your feet start to move before you know it. I could even remote-control myself by taking the switch into my own hands.
There's no proven-beyond-a-doubt explanation yet as to why people start veering when electricity hits their ear. But NTT researchers say they were able to make a person walk along a route in the shape of a giant pretzel using this technique.
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It's a mesmerizing sensation similar to being drunk or melting into sleep under the influence of anesthesia. But it's more definitive, as though an invisible hand were reaching inside your brain. NTT says the feature may be used in video games and amusement park rides, although there are no plans so far for a commercial product. Some people really enjoy the experience, researchers said while acknowledging that others feel uncomfortable.
I watched a simple racing-car game demonstration on a large screen while wearing a device programmed to synchronize the curves with galvanic vestibular stimulation. It accentuated the swaying as an imaginary racing car zipped through a virtual course, making me wobbly.
Another program had the electric current timed to music. My head was pulsating against my will, getting jerked around on my neck. I became so dizzy I could barely stand. I had to turn it off.
NTT researchers suggested this may be a reflection of my lack of musical abilities. People in tune with freely expressing themselves love the sensation, they said.
"We call this a virtual dance experience although some people have mentioned it's more like a virtual drug experience," said Taro Maeda, senior research scientist at NTT. "I'm really hopeful Apple Computer will be interested in this technology to offer it in their iPod (search)."
Research on using electricity to affect human balance has been going on around the world for some time.
James Collins, professor of biomedical engineering at Boston University, has studied using the technology to prevent the elderly from falling and to help people with an impaired sense of balance. But he also believes the effect is suited for games and other entertainment.
"I suspect they'll probably get a kick out of the illusions that can be created to give them a more total immersion experience as part of virtual reality," Collins said.
The very low level of electricity required for the effect is unlikely to cause any health damage, Collins said. Still, NTT required me to sign a consent form, saying I was trying the device at my own risk. And risk definitely comes to mind when playing around with this technology.
Timothy Hullar, assistant professor at the Washington University School of Medicine (search) in St. Louis, Mo., believes finding the right way to deliver an electromagnetic field to the ear at a distance could turn the technology into a weapon for situations where "killing isn't the best solution." "This would be the most logical situation for a nonlethal weapon that presumably would make your opponent dizzy," he said via e-mail. "If you find just the right frequency, energy, duration of application, you would hope to find something that doesn't permanently injure someone but would allow you to make someone temporarily off-balance."
Indeed, a small defense contractor in Texas, Invocon Inc., is exploring whether precisely tuned electromagnetic pulses could be safely fired into people's ears to temporarily subdue them.
NTT has friendlier uses in mind.
If the sensation of movement can be captured for playback, then people can better understand what a ballet dancer or an Olympian gymnast is doing, and that could come handy in teaching such skills.
And it may also help people dodge oncoming cars or direct a rescue worker in a dark tunnel, NTT researchers say. They maintain that the point is not to control people against their will.
If you're determined to fight the suggestive orders from the electric currents by clinging to a fence or just lying on your back, you simply won't move.
But from my experience, if the currents persist, you'd probably be persuaded to follow their orders. And I didn't like that sensation. At all.
- CNN News
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Links and resources
Non lethal weapons
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