Weekend Fun: The Ray Gun Is Here!
The US military has developed a new Ray Gun weapon that shoots a beam making enemies feel as if they are on fire. The technology is supposed to be a non-lethal way to get enemies to drop their weapons and surrender.
The weapon is not expected to go into production until at least 2010, but all branches of the military have expressed interest in it, officials said. During the first media demonstration of the weapon, airmen fired beams from a large dish antenna mounted atop a Humvee at people pretending to be rioters and acting out other scenarios U.S. troops might encounter. The crew fired beams from more than 500 yards (450 meters) away, nearly 17 times the range of existing non-lethal weapons, such as rubber bullets.
While the sudden, 130-degree Fahrenheit (54-degree Celsius) heat was not painful, it was intense enough to make participants think their clothes were about to ignite. Military officials say it could save the lives of innocent civilians and service members in places like Iraq and Afghanistan.
