U.S. Could Use Energy Weapons in Iraq Next Year
By REUTERS, NEW YORK
U.S. forces could be less than a year away from using energy beam
weapons against insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan, a Defense
Department official said Sept. 8.
The U.S. Army says it wants the short-range, nonlethal directed
energy weapons to help deal with crowds and warn suspects in close
situations without immediately resorting to gunfire.
The weapons project an invisible beam of energy through millimeter
waves smaller than radio waves or microwaves causing a burning
sensation and disabling but not killing the victim. The Department
of Defense is hoping the weapons will lessen damage to buildings
and prevent unnecessary civilian casualties.
The weapons have been developed by U.S. defense contractor Raytheon
Co., which delivered a prototype to the Defense Department earlier
this year.
While development of the weapons has received federal funding, its
too soon to tell how profitable the project might be.
The weapons are to be integrated into a range of new high-tech
systems that are being mounted on a Stryker combat vehicle, which
is made by General Dynamics Corp.
The Defense Department aims to produce a full prototype vehicle by
December and test up to three of those vehicles in Iraq or
Afghanistan by next summer if everything falls into place, said
the Defense Department official, who asked not to be named.
The development of the new range of weapon systems code-named
Project Sheriff is being overseen by the Defense Departments
Office of Force Transformation, which was created to introduce new
technology to the U.S. military.
This system will protect U.S. and allied warfighters operating in
dangerous urban settings while reducing the number of civilian
casualties, Mike Booen of Raytheon said in a statement on Sept.
8.
