Controlling the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum is a major asset in military operations.
The Marines recently demonstrated their painful "heat ray," a weapon that blasts intruders with a wave beam that targets skin and makes victims feel like they've stepped in front of a blazing oven, but without killing them.
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It doesn't cause irreversible damage, but will make someone instinctively back off.
Modern weapons systems employ radio, radar, infrared, optical, ultraviolet, electro-optical, and laser technologies.
"The Russians and the Chinese have designed specific electronic warfare platforms to go after all our high-value assets," said Lieutenant General Herbert Carlisle, the Air Force's Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, as reported by Aviation Week.
The U.S. military is developing cyber-capabilities to gain a tactical edge.
Electronic warfare consists of three subdivisions: electronic attack, electronic protection, and electronic warfare support.
According to U.S. military doctrine for electronic warfare planning, electronic attack (EA) involves "the use of electromagnetic energy, directed energy or anti-radiation weapons to attack personnel, facilities, or equipment with the intent of degrading, neutralizing, or destroying enemy combat capability."
Basically — wipe out the enemy without getting too dirty.
The Marine Corps "Heat Ray" raises the temperature of skin by 130 degrees
But it won't kill you. The Active Denial System (ADS) creates an intense heated sensation lasting 1-2 seconds and is caused by a radio frequency wave, not radiation or microwave.
“You’re not going to see it, you’re not going to hear it, you’re not going to smell it. You’re going to feel it,” said director of the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate, Marine Col. Tracy Tafolla.
The 95 GHz millimeter wave has a range of up to 1000 meters, or 7 football fields. The directed-energy beam only penetrates 1/64th of an inch into the skin.
As a nonlethal weapon, it can be used for crowd control or determining hostile intent before engaging with lethal weapons. ADS can buy life-saving time.
This hand-held laser system can temporary blind you
The Phasr was introduced in 2005 by the Air Force.
As another directed energy weapon, the Phasr employs a two-wavelength laser system that temporarily removes an aggressor's ability to see.
It's like opening your eyes in the middle of the night to someone shoving a blinding flashlight in your face. The Air Force casually calls this effect "dazzling" or "illuminating." Whatever you call it, this hand-held device effectively impairs anyone targeted.
The "Death Ray" can detect and destroy missiles with a deadly laser beam
The U.S. continues to run test flight experiments on the Airborne Laser Test Bed (ALTB). So far, they've worked out this killer firing sequence:
The ALTB uses one of its six infrared sensors to detect the exhaust plume of a boosting missile.
A kilowatt-class solid state laser, the Track Illuminator, tracks the missile and determines a precise aim point.
The Beacon Illuminator, a second laser, then measures disturbances in the atmosphere, which are corrected by the adaptive optics system to accurately point and focus the High Energy Laser (HEL) at its target.
Using a large telescope located in the nose turret, the beam control/fire control system focuses the HEL beam onto a pressurized area of the missile, holding it there until laser energy compromises the missile’s structural integrity causing it to fail.
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