Directed Energy Weapons / Mikrowellenwaffen in Scientific American

Scientific American und NewScientist sind die renommiertesten und weitverbreitetsten Wissenschaftsmagazine (jeweils Print und online), die allgemeinverständlich über wissenschaftliche und technische Erkenntnisse und Entwicklungen berichten.

Scientific American bringt nun (6.9.2011):
9/11, Ten Years Later
"The attacks on September 11, 2001, profoundly influenced the direction of science and technology. What's been learned since those events, and how they have shaped our lives...
Scientific American takes a look at some of the more significant developments in military technology occurring in the wake of September 11, 2001."
Bei den waffentechnischen Entwicklungen der letzten zehn Jahre bringt Scientific American an erster Stelle Directed Energy mit Laser- und Mikrowellen-Waffen:
Post-9/11 Technology [www.scientificamerican.com]
"Directed energy
Some of the military's research seems to come straight from the pages of science fiction. Lasers that attack enemy targets and disrupt missile guidance systems are closer than ever to seeing combat, as are "active denial systems" that emit 95 GHz millimeter-wave directed energy as a form of crowd control...
Raytheon is also developing an active denial system that emits a focused beam of microwave energy that travels at the speed of light, heating the water in a person's outer layers of skin and producing an intense burning sensation designed to stop crowds or combatants in their tracks without killing them. Microwaves can also be used as a weapon by stimulating portions of the ear around the cochlea, creating extremely high and uncomfortable noise levels in the skulls of targeted individuals.
The high-powered microwave systems "make you feel like you're getting a sunburn," says U.S. Air Force chief scientist Mark Maybury. "If you're trying to defend against or clear a way through an unruly crowd, you don't want to shoot into that crowd. This is an example of how, as we move to very low and eventually zero tolerance for collateral damage, we're going to see more and more of these tools."
The military has yet to use active-denial technology; one such system was sent to Afghanistan but later recalled. The Defense Department did not provide specifics about its reason for not using the system."

Siehe auch in Scientific American, February 18, 2003:
"Do Microwave Weapons Kill?
Although high-powered microwave weapons are designed to destroy the electronic equipment used by enemy command centers, their effect on humans in the vicinity is less clear. The U.S. military says HPM weapons are non-lethal, but that doesn't mean free from harm. The U.S Marines Corp. is currently developing a microwave-based weapon that inflicts a brief, intense burning sensation on the target's skin similar to touching a hot light bulb. Mounted on Humvee, the weapon is designed for crowd dispersal. The temperature settings are variable, however, and can be set as high as 130 degrees F. Given that temperature variability, it's possible that someone in the path of a HPM burst might be cooked like a meal readied by a microwave oven. Meanwhile, scientists at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee have proposed building an electromagnetic pulse weapon that would disrupt a person's short term memory and cause him to lose control of involuntary body functions. So whereas a HPM weapon's lethality is uncertain, it's definitely going to hurt, leaving the victim incapacitated for a short period of time. --Frank Vizard"