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posted by janrinok on Monday April 30 2018, @10:28PM   Printer-friendly

Popular Mechanics reports

Pioneered by the defence department's Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Program (JNLWD), the new direct energy weapon has the ability to stop a cart in its tracks without harming the vehicle or its driver.

"The jammer works by targeting the car's engine control unit causing it to reboot over and over, stalling the engine. Like an invisible hand, the microwaves hold the car in place." David Law, who leads JNLWD's technology division, said in March: "Anything that has electronics on it, these high-powered microwaves will affect. As long as the [radio] is on, it holds the vehicle stopped."

[...] "The RFVS system uses high-power magnetron tubes to generate intense RF pulses that interfere with a vehicle's electronics, rendering it temporarily inoperable. The engine cannot be restarted while the RF is on but is readily restarted once the RF is turned off. Thus, the RFVS system allows for the maintenance of a safe keep-out zone in situations that might otherwise require the use of lethal force. The defined measure of success for this system is a demonstrated, effective capability against more than 80% of the candidate target-vehicle-class list, which includes passenger cars and large vehicles."

A video shows demonstrations of the weapon against cars and boats.


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  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 01 2018, @07:33AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 01 2018, @07:33AM (#674067)

    It beats the alternatives, which generally require ammo.

    They say that about every "non-lethal" weapon. In the end, the lethal ones gets used just as much, and the "non-lethal" ones end up replacing something less harmful.

    Tasers are replacing handcuffs, not guns, and this will probably end up replacing road closed signs.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 01 2018, @09:22AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 01 2018, @09:22AM (#674084)

    The issue is cost and possibly maintenance. Ammo costs money. Guns need frequent cleaning. Landmines need to be replaced.

    It mostly doesn't matter if the tool is lethal or not. It just needs to stop the invasion. Lethal causes debris (bodies), which can be a biohazard. On the other hand, lethal means they don't try again, and it reduces the population. It's a wash. Either will do.

    The goal is to be efficient and effective.