You’re minding your own business – albeit in a war torn country. You are on your way to work when you hear gunfire, so you naturally duck and try to find cover. Suddenly, you’re hit with incredible searing pain. You stumble back, and suddenly the pain is gone. This is now the reality – Raytheon (a US based defence company) has built a weapon that fills the gap between ‘shout and shoot’.
Whilst this technology is pretty cutting edge, there’s been some discussion about it for some time. Silent Guardian (one of a range of products for non-leathal defence) projects a beam of microwave energy at a frequency of up to 94GHz up to a range of 250 metres. Testing shows that it can penetrate even tiny cracks in clothing/barriers to ensure that it hits the target.
Raytheon states there is no comparison between the defence products it manufactures and that of microwaves and their radiation – and in fact to receive a burn one would have to be in the ‘firing line’ for over 4 minutes – a long time of agony by anyone’s estimation. The weapon works by stimulating the nerves in the first layer of skin of 0.4mm, even if you’re right up to the source of the beam.