RF Weapons Announced

US military unveils invisible but painful non-lethal electromagnetic ray - China Post

A sensation of unbearable, sudden heat seems to come out of nowhere — this wave, a strong electromagnetic beam, is the latest non-lethal weapon unveiled by the U.S. military this week.

“You're not gonna see it, you're not gonna hear it, you're not gonna smell it: you're gonna feel it,” explained U.S. Marine Colonel Tracy Taffola, director the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate, Marine Corps Base Quantico, at a demonstration for members of the media.

The effect is so repellant, the immediate instinct is to flee — and quickly, as experienced by AFP at the presentation.

Taffola is quick also to point out the “Active Denial System” beam, while powerful and long-range, some 1,000 meters (0.6 miles), is the military's “safest non-lethal capability” that has been developed over 15 years but never used in the field.

It was deployed briefly in Afghanistan in 2010, but never employed in an operation.