Star Trek weapon system suffers delayed deliveryPhasers onto stunBy Nick Farrell: Monday 11 July 2005, 06:31[Advert]THE DELIVERY of Star Trek style 'directed-energy’ pulse weapons, which should be literally stunning Iraqis as we speak, has been slowed down by red tape.Apparently, the military has been working on fire power which zaps people with instantaneous, precise, inexhaustible, beams of electromagnetic energy. The good side is that it can be set on stun, so that less people are likely to be killed.According to Reuters, the big idea is being squashed by the military and Congress who have not spend enough on getting directed energy to the front. Some military officials say more needs to be done to assure the international community that directed-energy weapons set to stun rather than kill will not harm noncombatants.Ironically while the weapons might not kill people are being delayed, soldiers are having to use weapons that definitely do kill them.The Pentagon has delayed 'Project Sheriff', a plan to outfit vehicles in Iraq with a combination of lethal and nonlethal weaponry until 2006.Peter Bitar runs Xtreme Alternative Defense Systems, a company which makes small blinding lasers that have been deployed in Iraq, said non-lethal zapping technology is being held back because of lack of funds.He said that technology was the easy part. It was really frustrating when you know you have a solution and it is being ignored because of a lack of cash.Never happened to Captain Kirk. At no point did Scotty say "Sorry Captain, the phasers have not shown up yet, you canna change the laws of pen pushers."
US soldiers get energy weaponsSet for stunBy Nick Farrell: Tuesday 26 July 2005, 08:04THE US army is in the process of delivering "Star Trek" like phaser weapons to its troops on the ground in Iraq.The spinners who brought you the phrase 'collateral damage' to be used instead of the phrase ‘dead civilians’, have dubbed the weapon the 'Active Denial System'.According to USA Today, an ADS beam penetrates the skin less than 1/64th of an inch to create a severe non-lethal burning sensation. Extensive testing has shown no lasting damage, the military said.The INQ reported that the system had been tested by Israeli troops to repel some Palestinians who wanted some land given back to them.The big idea is that it will repel insurgents without creating collateral damage. USA Today says the weapon will be demonstrated in public this summer and in Iraq within months. The prototype, developed for the troops, sits atop a "Humvee" that has a hybrid gasoline electric drive train. The propulsion batteries double as a power source for the gun, which looks like a satellite dish and is aimed with a joystick.USA Today said that it was tested on an egg. Although the person holding the egg recoiled in pain, the egg made no complaint at all.It was later broken open and had not been cooked, so presumably was swished down with a pint of lager.
