Here at IEN we’ve covered the military in the form of stories on weapons systems, armored vehicles, protective equipment, uniforms and a number of other innovations.
We’ve also done stories on lasers – as weapons, medical devices and manufacturing tools.
However, it’s nice to see that we can still find a way to put a new spin on these two well-covered topics.
The Marine Corps recently unveiled their desire to build a laser-based system for crowd control. Now, before you think they’re simply wanting to put a big laser pointer on the back of a Humvee, check out their specs.
With the stated goals of blinding, disorienting, and possibly burning those who are not-so-peacefully assembled, the sustainable and controllable plasma would be integrated into a small tactical vehicle to deliver "a full spectrum of scalable, non-lethal effects.”
Okay, so it’s still kind of a weapons system.
These non-lethal effects include lasers capable of providing painful thermal discomfort to human skin, and a sonic component that delivers an acoustic sound as loud as a passing Formula 1 race car at full throttle.
The Marines have reportedly been expanding their arsenal of non-lethal weapons as a potential way of minimizing fatalities and damage to surrounding buildings when dealing with hostile crowds – both in urban combat zones, and good will missions.
