nuove armi

[Comitato Paul Rougeau - RM <prougeau at tiscali.it>]

Da CNN, 3 agosto 2004

Military readies directed-energy weapons


(AP) -- A few months from now, Peter Anthony Schlesinger hopes to zap a
laser beam at a couple of chickens or other animals in a cage a few dozen
yards away.

If all goes as planned, the chickens will be frozen in mid-cluck, their leg
and wing muscles paralyzed by an electrical charge created by the beam,
even as their heart and lungs function normally.

Among those most interested in the outcome will be officials at the
Pentagon, who helped fund Schlesinger's work and are looking at this type
of device to do a lot more than just zap a chicken.

Devices like these, known as directed-energy weapons, could be used to
fight wars in coming years.

"When you can do things at the speed of light, all sorts of new
capabilities are there," said Delores Etter, a former undersecretary of
defense for science and technology and an advocate of directed-energy weapons.

Directed energy could bring numerous advantages to the battlefield in
places like Iraq and Afghanistan, where U.S. troops have had to deal with
hostile but unarmed crowds as well as dangerous insurgents.

Aside from paralyzing potential attackers or noncombatants like a
long-range stun gun, directed-energy weapons could fry the electronics of
missiles and roadside bombs, developers say, or even disable a vehicle in a
high-speed chase.

The most ambitious program is the Air Force's Airborne Laser, a plan to
mount a laser on a modified Boeing 747 and use it to shoot down missiles.

At the same Air Force Research Laboratory in New Mexico, researchers
working with Raytheon Co. have developed a weapon called the Active Denial
System, which repels adversaries by heating the water molecules in their
skin with microwave energy. The pain is so great that people flee immediately.

"It just feels like your skin is on fire," said Rich Garcia, a spokesman
for the laboratory who, as a test subject, has felt the Active Denial
System's heat. "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 Humvee-mounted Active Denial weapon is expected to be given to all
services by the end of this year for evaluation, with a decision about
deployment expected by the end of 2005.

But the idea of using directed energy against humans is creating debate
fueled by deaths allegedly caused by Taser stun guns and the alleged abuse
of Iraqi prisoners -- which put the military's respect for human rights
under a microscope.

Some experts believe the use of directed energy will be limited by
international law and treaties.

"Although it seems like it would be more desirable to disable rather than
to kill them, the problem is there are all sorts of treaties in place that
limit how you can disable noncombatants," said Loren Thompson of the
Lexington Institute, a defense think tank. "It's kind of perverse, but
sometimes the backlog of old laws can get in the way of being humane."

Military officials believe the intended uses of the Active Denial System do
not violate any international laws or treaties and do not cause any
permanent health problems.

"You can rest assured that with this system, when it finally is deployed,
we will be very, very clear about what the intended uses are and what is
clearly outside of bounds," said Marine Corps Capt. Daniel McSweeney,
spokesman for the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate. "It's not intended
to be used as a torture device. That goes against all the design intentions
and parameters."

Research into side effects of weaponized directed energy began in the late
1990s at the Air Force's Brooks City-Base in San Antonio. Researchers began
by reviewing studies of radio-frequency energy involved in military
communications, radar and other technologies, officials say.

Human testing of the Active Denial System began after researchers concluded
it could be used without permanent harm. More than 200 volunteers --
including some in their 70s -- from various military branches and
government agencies were zapped with the system, on average about three
times each.

The results showed no lingering health problems, officials say.

"This type of device doesn't penetrate very far," said Lt. Col. William
Roach, chief of the radio frequency branch of the Air Force Research
Laboratory.

But the fact that studies on directed energy's human effects haven't been
released to the public has some outside the government worried.

Dominique Loye of the International Committee of the Red Cross has pleaded
for more disclosure of directed-energy research and independent
investigation into possible side effects.

Directed energy may cause "new types of injuries we're not aware of and may
not be capable of taking care of," Loye said. "The message we try to put
across is: 'We understand some companies are investing money, so maybe it
will be worthwhile for you to start the investigation as early as possible
and not to invest millions and millions and then 10 years down the line
find out your weapon will be illegal."'

The weapons' developers, on the other hand, pitch them for their lifesaving
potential.

The pinpoint accuracy of a laser could eliminate collateral damage caused
by missile explosions, the argument goes, and stun gun-like weapons could
save lives in hostage or bomb-threat situations. Directed energy also has
the potential to explode roadside bombs or mines from a distance.

"You're dealing with the ability to pre-detonate the majority of improvised
explosives that are used right now," said Pete Bitar, president of Xtreme
Alternative Defense Systems, an Anderson, Ind., company that is developing
a rifle-sized directed-energy gun for the Marines.

The device works by creating an electrical charge through a stream of
ionized gas, or plasma.

Bitar says it could be tuned to target the electronics of a vehicle or
explosive device, or tuned to temporarily paralyze voluntary muscles, such
as those that control arms and legs. The involuntary muscles, like heart
and lungs, operate at a different frequency.

So far, this and a handful of similar weapons are only in the prototype
stage. Production models, if approved by the military, would not be ready
for a few years.

The device being developed by Schlesinger's company, HSV Technologies Inc.
of San Diego, will operate similarly to Bitar's, except the electrical
charge will be created by an ultraviolet laser beam, rather than plasma.
He, too, says the device is designed for non-lethal purposes only.

"Later on, as certain agencies or law enforcement gets involved in this,
and they see the need for lethality, I'm sure that can be developed later,"
Schlesinger said. "It could induce cardiac arrest, for example. But that is
not our patent, and not our intent."

Still, that potential is sure to make opponents of directed energy skeptical.

"It's encouraging that the U.S. is searching for more humane weapons," said
the Lexington Institute's Thompson. "But it's very hard to convince other
countries that our goals are ethical."

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Copyright 2004 The Associated Press