MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga., Jan. 25 (UPI) -- The U.S. Air Force has demonstrated a new type of vehicle-mounted ray gun that causes an instant intense burning sensation to those in its beam.
The non-lethal system is called Active Denial Technology and was designed to stop or deter a person as far as 700 yards away by making them feel as if they are about to catch fire.
It was demonstrated Wednesday at Moody Air Force Base in Georgia, where journalists volunteered to be zapped. All of them immediately darted out of the beam as it hit them.
Traveling at the speed of light, the energy reaches the subject and penetrates less than 1/64 of an inch into the skin, quickly heating up the skin's surface to a sensation of 130 degrees but does not leave a burn, GlobalSecurity.org reported.
In July 2005, it was planned to have the devices operating in Iraq by the end of this year but officials said deployment won't take place until 2010.
Global Security said there are still uncertainties as to how the ray would work in fog, heavy rain or sea spray and whether it could damage human eyes.
