US Military Unveils New Non-Lethal Weapon

The US military has developed a new non-lethal weapon that makes people feel they are burning when struck by the beam it emits.

The weapon, dubbed the Active Denial System (ADS), uses a millimetre wave beam and has a range of 1,000 meters. It was demonstrated to senior US military staff at a base in Quantico, Virginia, United States last week.

The beam only penetrates 1/64 of an inch into the skin and is considered to be completely safe, despite the fact that its power is 100 times higher than that of a regular microwave.

According to the US Department of Defense Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate, "it could be used across the military spectrum of operations, perimeter security, crowd control, entry control points."

The ADS has been in development for 15 years, and it was briefly deployed in Afghanistan but never used in combat.