- The Observer,
- Sunday March 18 2001
The US Vehicle Mounted Active Denial System (VMADS), a radar dish mounted on the back of a tank or jeep, is interesting British police forces.
The VMADS, or 'people zapper', uses a 'directed energy beam', according to a Pentagon spokesperson. 'When it comes into contact with skin it causes a sensation of heat to an uncomfortable level.' The Pentagon insists the beam causes no permanent damage - no one gets hurt, but the crowd or enemy soldiers retreat hastily.
The weapon harnesses the beams found in kitchen microwaves. Travelling at the speed of light, the energy of the beam penetrates less than a millimetre under the skin, quickly heating the skin's surface. This triggers the body's defence reaction: pain. When the subject moves out of the beam, the pain stops. Scientists will start testing the weapons on goats and humans soon.
Jane's Defence Weekly said recently the 'non-lethal' nature of some weapons 'might ... encourage military forces to use them directly against civilians and civilian targets'.
'It's part of this new political correctness on the battlefield,' said a spokesperson. 'The problem today in situations like Palestine is that you have adversaries mixing with innocent civilians. Forces now need a suite of weapons for different situations. You can score so many own goals by killing innocent civilians.'
Scientists have spent $40 million developing the weapon at the Air Force Research Laboratory, New Mexico. Demand for non-lethal weapons grew after the disastrous US military mission to Somalia in 1993, when marines died because they could not shoot back without hitting civilians.
The VMADS is the most sophisticated development in the search for the ultimate non-lethal weapon. The SAS recently began training with 'glue guns' that fire a web of resin from a gun-mounted aerosol. The resin hardens around opponents, paralysing them.
