A recently declassified US Army report on the biological effects of non-lethal weapons reveals outlandish plans for "ray gun" devices, which would cause artificial fevers or beam voices into people's heads.
The Air Force is surveying industry for high-power microwave (HPM) technologies that could be incorporated into unmanned aerial vehicles, bombs and cruise missiles.
John Arquilla reviews the current defense budget, with a focus on the spending for high-tech, and non-lethal weaponry such as the "Active Denial System."
A laser developed for military use is a few steps away from hitting a power threshold thought necessary to turn it into a battlefield weapon. The Solid State Heat Capacity Laser (SSHCL) has achieved 67 kilowatts (kW) of average power in the laboratory.
Two weeks from now, military leaders will convene in London to discuss the pain beam and the next generation of directed-energy weapons, including microwaves and lasers. One motivator for this discussion is the U.S. military's plan to deploy the Active Denial System, or pain -causing directed energy weapon.
The Defense Department is ready to deploy its Active Denial System, its version of a non-lethal stun gun based on gyrotron energy beam technology.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency rolled out an airborne laser aircraft on Friday, the latest development in a missile-defense system that was once ridiculed as a "Star Wars" fantasy.
Israeli defense officials are debating the future of the mobile tactical high energy laser (MTHEL) missile defense program.
The U.S. and Israel have quietly shelved a project to deploy a high-energy laser weapon for missile defense, citing its bulkiness, high costs and poor anticipated results on the battlefield.
A $7.4 billion Boeing Co. project to put a chemical laser on a 747 jet as part of U.S. missile defence efforts could be delayed under an emerging five-year Air Force budget plan, according to a defence official knowledgeable about the program.