Photo: www.janes.com
China has recently unveiled its millimeter-wave beam-projecting non-lethal anti-riot system. Similar to the Active Denial System version unveiled by US-based Raytheon, the ground-braking system was revelead at the recent Airshow China 2014 event.
Dubbed Poly WB-1, the new device projects the millimeter-wave beam to heat water molecules just below the skin, thus provoking intense pain. Reports are it has an effective range of 80 meters that can be increased to up to 1 kilometer. It would seem that the Chinese defense manufacturing company is developing the weapon for naval applications, especially since the country has been facing some conflicts in the Eastern and Southern seas.
Since we’re talking about China and defense weapons there’s not a lot of specs about how the system functions, but we can try to guess judging from the US version. Also called the heat ray, the ADS was deployed in 2010 with the United States military in the Afghanistan War, but was withdrawn without seeing combat.
It’s currently only a vehicle-mounted weapon, though U.S. Marines and police are both working on portable versions. The ADS works by firing a high-powered beam of 95 GHz waves at a target, which corresponds to a wavelength of 3.2 mm. It basically works as a microwave oven, exciting the water and fat molecules in the skin and instantly heating.
There is one big difference, however, the weapon was designed in a way that the short millimeter waves will only penetrate the top layers of the skin.
While the U.S. version is mounted on Humvees, the Chinese one seems to use the Shacman heavy duty trucks. In case you saw any resemblence with a familiar truck model it was because there actually is one. These trucks are created in collaboration with the German MAN models.
Well, we can only hope they will never be used on innocent people.
Since we’re talking about China and defense weapons there’s not a lot of specs about how the system functions, but we can try to guess judging from the US version. Also called the heat ray, the ADS was deployed in 2010 with the United States military in the Afghanistan War, but was withdrawn without seeing combat.
It’s currently only a vehicle-mounted weapon, though U.S. Marines and police are both working on portable versions. The ADS works by firing a high-powered beam of 95 GHz waves at a target, which corresponds to a wavelength of 3.2 mm. It basically works as a microwave oven, exciting the water and fat molecules in the skin and instantly heating.
There is one big difference, however, the weapon was designed in a way that the short millimeter waves will only penetrate the top layers of the skin.
While the U.S. version is mounted on Humvees, the Chinese one seems to use the Shacman heavy duty trucks. In case you saw any resemblence with a familiar truck model it was because there actually is one. These trucks are created in collaboration with the German MAN models.
Well, we can only hope they will never be used on innocent people.
Google News