US Army builds drone-busting 'Phaser' weapon

[UM-Bot]

The futuristic-sounding device is designed to combat the threat posed by cheap unmanned aerial drones.

http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/news/300822/us-army-builds-drone-busting-phaser-weapon

[freetoroam]

Great news, I wonder if they will hire it out or better still make a smaller commercial version. Lucas could do with one of these, it will save him using his bullets.

 

ps: does this mean we can knock out military drones if we can get hold of one of these, or are they the only ones who can spy on people?

Edited November 16, 2016 by freetoroam

[Parsec]

Well, I guess it's a multipurpose weapon, since I don't think that if you aim it towards a person it will be harmless. 

 

Considering it's designed to take down flying drones, the range should probably be some hundreds of meters; add that it can tackle multiple targets at a time and you can easilly fry a small team or squad's guts. 

Unless they are covered or have a thick armor, that is. 

 

That and troops will never fail to have their hot supper ready! 

[paperdyer]

It was only a matter of time until this was invented.  BTW - CBS will be calling to sue over Copyright infringement of the name.

[Noxasa]

And then suddenly drones got EMF shielding technology and billions of dollars in anti-drone research goes down the drain. LOL.

[Galactic Goatman]

"When there's something strange, flying through the air...who you gonna call? Dronebusters!"

 

 

[TheHeisenberg]

 

This can result like what happened with the ‘Manhattan Project’ and its creation of the first functioning atomic bomb.

With the world moving into an era of Internet-Of-Things (IOT), if this technology gets into the wrong hands, we will all be really ******.


Here’s a more indepth article on the ‘Phaser’

How The U.S. Army’s ‘Phaser’ can wipe out an entire fleet of drones with one strike

Further reading – Research Papers on this Technology for anyone interested to learn more.

• http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/cst/bh2010_capozzella.pdf

 

• http://ece.umd.edu/~vlg/MSIC lectures.pdf

 

• http://ece-research.unm.edu/ifis/papers/MTT.pdf

 

• http://www.stopthecrime.net/docs/high power brundeman.pdf

[Lucas Cooper Merrin]

P

10 hours ago, freetoroam said:

Great news, I wonder if they will hire it out or better still make a smaller commercial version. Lucas could do with one of these, it will save him using his bullets.

 

ps: does this mean we can knock out military drones if we can get hold of one of these, or are they the only ones who can spy on people?

lol 

I was hoping for something a little more inconspicuous, this looks like an old Fraser silage trailer with a sky dish on the top, im not having that sitting outside the house, 

[highdesert50]

We have the industrial sized multi-ton fly-swatter to eliminate those nasty little drones. And, for the homeowner, we have a small easy to deploy drone that self destructs with an EMP in the vicinity of the incoming drones. We will also include a radio direction finder to locate the transmitter and also eliminate it with an EMP drone. Or, we could just stop making toy drones if they pose such a universal hazard.

[paperdyer]

21 hours ago, Noxasa said:

And then suddenly drones got EMF shielding technology and billions of dollars in anti-drone research goes down the drain. LOL.

Probably will happen.  No technology lasts forever.  A thin, lightweight shielding would need to be developed or the drone may be too heavy to fly and maneuver properly.

[TaintlessMetals]

Hasn't this tech been around for several years? I remember reading about it being in development the better part of a decade ago.

[DarkHunter]

It has been around for roughly a decade, this is basically nothing more then the active denial system, developed by the same company too, but instead of being pointed at solely ground targets it's aimed up and has radar tracking.

[Parsec]

13 hours ago, DarkHunter said:

It has been around for roughly a decade, this is basically nothing more then the active denial system, developed by the same company too, but instead of being pointed at solely ground targets it's aimed up and has radar tracking.

DarkHunter, since you are quite knowledgeable about this topic, what I wrote about being used against people as well, is realistic/possible/probable? 

[DarkHunter]

1 hour ago, Parsec said:

DarkHunter, since you are quite knowledgeable about this topic, what I wrote about being used against people as well, is realistic/possible/probable? 

It can definitely be used as a weapon system but it isn't a very practical weapon system.

There are multiple reasons why its not a very practical system but the main one being that its just not that lethal.  The active denial system uses short wavelength microwaves to cause the sensation of being burnt but the short wave lengths are only able to penetrate about 0.015 of a inch, basically just under the first skin layer.  Changing it to longer wave length microwaves is extremely easy to do but even at the longer wavelengths it will only penetrate about 0.64 inches into a person and while microwaves can pass through most clothing the microwaves can't pass through thicker walls or the armor used on vehicles.  Even then while it can do serious damage to people it would take some time.  Its not like you can point it at someone, turn it on, and instantly cook them you are going to have to keep it focused on them for awhile before they die.  To top it off while it has passed reviews to make sure it doesn't violate any treaties or laws as a crowd control device using it as a weapon to kill combatants would almost definitely have it violate a few parts of the various Geneva conventions.  

The second major issue is the range of the device itself.  While I don't know the range of this new device the active denial system can be focused out to approximately 700 meters, with systems like this atmospheric conditions can have an impact on range.  While 700 meters isn't insignificant it isn't that great either, almost every vehicle out ranges it not that it is a concern cause it won't penetrate their armor anyway and the anti armor weapons used by infantry either out range it or are just within its effective range.  

The last major issue is the durability of the system in a combat setting.  For this system to work it needs that rather large dish on it to focus and aim the microwaves and it wouldn't really be that hard to damage that critical part with just about any weapon.  Against crowds that are at best just throwing bricks/rocks and Molotov cocktails then it is more then durable enough but when up against explosives or armor piercing rounds it would get shredded rather quickly.

Then there are more minor issues like its size and mobility which doesn't help in making it a practical weapon system.

[Parsec]

11 hours ago, DarkHunter said:

It can definitely be used as a weapon system but it isn't a very practical weapon system.

There are multiple reasons why its not a very practical system but the main one being that its just not that lethal.  The active denial system uses short wavelength microwaves to cause the sensation of being burnt but the short wave lengths are only able to penetrate about 0.015 of a inch, basically just under the first skin layer.  Changing it to longer wave length microwaves is extremely easy to do but even at the longer wavelengths it will only penetrate about 0.64 inches into a person and while microwaves can pass through most clothing the microwaves can't pass through thicker walls or the armor used on vehicles.  Even then while it can do serious damage to people it would take some time.  Its not like you can point it at someone, turn it on, and instantly cook them you are going to have to keep it focused on them for awhile before they die.  To top it off while it has passed reviews to make sure it doesn't violate any treaties or laws as a crowd control device using it as a weapon to kill combatants would almost definitely have it violate a few parts of the various Geneva conventions.  

The second major issue is the range of the device itself.  While I don't know the range of this new device the active denial system can be focused out to approximately 700 meters, with systems like this atmospheric conditions can have an impact on range.  While 700 meters isn't insignificant it isn't that great either, almost every vehicle out ranges it not that it is a concern cause it won't penetrate their armor anyway and the anti armor weapons used by infantry either out range it or are just within its effective range.  

The last major issue is the durability of the system in a combat setting.  For this system to work it needs that rather large dish on it to focus and aim the microwaves and it wouldn't really be that hard to damage that critical part with just about any weapon.  Against crowds that are at best just throwing bricks/rocks and Molotov cocktails then it is more then durable enough but when up against explosives or armor piercing rounds it would get shredded rather quickly.

Then there are more minor issues like its size and mobility which doesn't help in making it a practical weapon system.

Thank you, I always like your thorough analysis!