Active Denial System - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Active Denial System (ADS) is a non-lethal, directed-energy weapon

Directed-energy weapon

A directed-energy weapon emits energy in an aimed direction without the means of a projectile. It transfers energy to a target for a desired effect. Intended effects may be non-lethal or lethal...

developed by the U.S. military

United States armed forces

The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...

. It is a strong millimeter-wave transmitter primarily used for crowd control

Crowd control

Crowd control is the controlling of a crowd, to prevent the outbreak of disorder and prevention of possible riot. Examples are at soccer matches, when a sale of goods has attracted an excess of customers, refugee control, or mass decontamination and mass quarantine situations . It calls for gentler...

(the "goodbye effect"). Some ADS such as HPEM ADS are also used to disable vehicles. Informally, the weapon is also called the heat ray. Raytheon

Raytheon

Raytheon Company is a major American defense contractor and industrial corporation with core manufacturing concentrations in weapons and military and commercial electronics. It was previously involved in corporate and special-mission aircraft until early 2007...

is currently marketing a reduced-range version of this technology. The ADS was deployed in 2010 with the United States military in the Afghanistan War

War in Afghanistan (2001–present)

The War in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, as the armed forces of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Afghan United Front launched Operation Enduring Freedom...

, but was withdrawn without seeing combat. On August 20, 2010 the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department announced its intent to use this technology on prisoners in the Pitchess Detention Center in Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

, stating its intent to use it in "operational evaluation" in situations such as breaking up prisoner fights.

Effects

The ADS works by firing a high-powered beam of electromagnetic radiation

Electromagnetic radiation

Electromagnetic radiation is a form of energy that exhibits wave-like behavior as it travels through space...

in the form of high-frequency millimeter waves at 95 GHz

Hertz

The hertz is the SI unit of frequency defined as the number of cycles per second of a periodic phenomenon. One of its most common uses is the description of the sine wave, particularly those used in radio and audio applications....

(a wavelength of 3.2 mm). Similar to the same way that a microwave oven

Microwave oven

A microwave oven is a kitchen appliance that heats food by dielectric heating, using microwave radiation to heat polarized molecules within the food...

heats food, the millimeter waves excite

Excited state

Excitation is an elevation in energy level above an arbitrary baseline energy state. In physics there is a specific technical definition for energy level which is often associated with an atom being excited to an excited state....

the water and fat molecules in the body, instantly heating it and causing intense pain

Pain

Pain is an unpleasant sensation often caused by intense or damaging stimuli such as stubbing a toe, burning a finger, putting iodine on a cut, and bumping the "funny bone."...

. (Note that while microwaves will penetrate human tissue and remove the water to "cook" the flesh, the millimeter waves used in ADS are blocked by cell density and only penetrate the top layers of skin

Skin

-Dermis:The dermis is the layer of skin beneath the epidermis that consists of connective tissue and cushions the body from stress and strain. The dermis is tightly connected to the epidermis by a basement membrane. It also harbors many Mechanoreceptors that provide the sense of touch and heat...

, so it will not damage human flesh.) However DNA damage caused by these weapons is unknown and could lead to malignant cancers in operators and targets. Such is the nature of dielectric heating

Dielectric heating

Dielectric heating, also known as electronic heating, RF heating, high-frequency heating and diathermy, is the process in which a high-frequency alternating electric field, or radio wave or microwave electromagnetic radiation heats a dielectric material. At higher frequencies, this heating is...

that the temperature of a target will continue to rise so long as the beam is applied, at a rate dictated by the target's material and distance, along with the beam's frequency and power level set by the operator. Like all focused energy, the beam will irradiate all matter in the targeted area, including everything beyond/behind it that is not shielded, with no possible discrimination between individuals, objects or materials, although highly conductive materials such as aluminium cooking foil should reflect this radiation and could be used to make clothing that would be protective against this radiation. As demonstrated on Discovery Channel

Discovery Channel

Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...

's "Future Weapons", all living things in the target area receive a similar dosage of radiation.

A spokesman for the Air Force Research Laboratory

Air Force Research Laboratory

The Air Force Research Laboratory is a scientific research organization operated by the United States Air Force Materiel Command dedicated to leading the discovery, development, and integration of affordable aerospace warfighting technologies; planning and executing the Air Force science and...

described his experience as a test subject for the system:

"For the first millisecond, it just felt like the skin was warming up. Then it got warmer and warmer and you felt like it was on fire.... As soon as you're away from that beam your skin returns to normal and there is no pain."

Many aspects of the research are classified, but AFRL has taken care to include independent evaluation of the maker's claims in the formal test program. According to public releases, there have been over 10,700 "shots" by ADS, and has been deemed safe for use. A Penn State Human Effects Advisory Panel (HEAP) has published findings of research showing

no significant effects for wearers of contact lenses or other eyewear (including night vision goggles
Night vision goggles
A night vision device is an optical instrument that allows images to be produced in levels of light approaching total darkness. They are most often used by the military and law enforcement agencies, but are available to civilian users...

)
normal skin applications, such as cosmetics
Cosmetics
Cosmetics are substances used to enhance the appearance or odor of the human body. Cosmetics include skin-care creams, lotions, powders, perfumes, lipsticks, fingernail and toe nail polish, eye and facial makeup, towelettes, permanent waves, colored contact lenses, hair colors, hair sprays and...

, have little effect on ADSʼs interaction with skin
no age-related differences in response to ADS exposures
no effect on the male reproduction system
developing cancer from exposure is "very unlikely"
no deleterious effect on birth defects
the limit of damage was the occurrence of pea-sized blister
Blister
A blister is a small pocket of fluid within the upper layers of the skin, typically caused by forceful rubbing , burning, freezing, chemical exposure or infection. Most blisters are filled with a clear fluid called serum or plasma...

s in less than 0.1% of the exposures.

The HEAP has concluded that ADS is a non-lethal weapon that has a high probability of effectiveness with a low probability of injury.

The ADS is currently only a vehicle-mounted weapon, though U.S. Marines and police are both working on portable versions.

Contracts

On September 22, 2004, Raytheon was granted an FCC

Federal Communications Commission

The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...

license to demonstrate the technology to "law enforcement, military and security organizations."

On October 4, 2004, the United States Department of Defense

United States Department of Defense

The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...

published the following contract information:

Demonstration

A fully operational and mounted version of the system was demonstrated on January 24, 2007, at Moody Air Force Base

Moody Air Force Base

Moody Air Force Base is a United States Air Force installation located in Lowndes County and Lanier County, about northeast of Valdosta, Georgia, United States.Moody Air Force Base is home to the 23d Wing...

, Georgia, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. A Reuters

Reuters

Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...

correspondent who volunteered to be shot with the beam during the demonstration described it as "similar to a blast from a very hot oven – too painful to bear without diving for cover."

Afghanistan Deployment

On June 21, 2010, Lt. Col. John Dorrian, a spokesman for then NATO forces commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal, confirmed in an e-mail to Wired Magazine reporter Noah Shachtman that the ADS was deployed in Afghanistan. The spokesman added however that the system has not yet been used operationally.

The ADS has been removed from service in Afghanistan as of July 25, 2010. A spokesperson for the United States Department of Defense said "The decision to recall the weapons back to the US was made by commanders on the ground in Afghanistan."

Concepts for Use

ADS has been designed as non-lethal, non-persistent method of crowd control and perimeter defense, "the gap between shouting and shooting." Other crowd control methods - including tear gas, water cannons, slippery foam and rubber bullets

Rubber Bullets

"Rubber Bullets" is a song by 10cc from their debut self-titled album.Written and sung by Kevin Godley, Lol Creme and Graham Gouldman and produced by 10cc, "Rubber Bullets" was the band's first number one single in the United Kingdom, spending a single week at the top in June 1973. It fared worse...

- carry implicit dangers of injury or accidental death, and often leave residue or residual materiel. ADS can be used to disperse a crowd or to move them from an area; a group of people can be dispersed or induced to leave the street without damage to personnel or the environment.

Controversy

The effects of this radio frequency on humans have been studied by the military for years, and much, but not all of the research has been published openly in peer-reviewed journals.

Some critics believe the development of such an expensive and complicated system for a single purpose does not seem plausible, as the water cannon

Water cannon

A water cannon is a device that shoots a high-pressure stream of water. Typically, a water cannon can deliver a large volume of water, often over dozens of metres / hundreds of feet. They are used in firefighting and riot control. Most water cannon fall under the category of a fire...

has proven to be an effective (though occasionally unsafe) riot control tool. Another news article criticized the sheer amount of time it is taking to field this system, citing the potential it had to avert a great deal of pain and suffering in volatile areas around the world.

Although the effects are described as simply 'unpleasant', the device has the ‘Potential for Death’. The beam is claimed to only affect one individual for a short moment, but safety presets and features can be overridden by the operator.

While it is claimed not to cause burn

Burn

A burn is an injury to flesh caused by heat, electricity, chemicals, light, radiation, or friction.Burn may also refer to:*Combustion*Burn , type of watercourses so named in Scotland and north-eastern England...

s under 'ordinary use', it is also described as being similar to that of an incandescent light bulb being pressed against the skin, which can cause severe burns in just a few seconds. The beam can be focused up to 700 meters away, and is said to penetrate thick clothing although not walls.
At 95 GHz, the frequency

Frequency

Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit time. It is also referred to as temporal frequency.The period is the duration of one cycle in a repeating event, so the period is the reciprocal of the frequency...

is much higher than the 2.45 GHz of a microwave oven. This frequency was chosen because it penetrates less than 1/64 of an inch (0.4 mm), which - in most humans, except for eyelids and babies - avoids the second skin layer (the dermis

Dermis

The dermis is a layer of skin between the epidermis and subcutaneous tissues, and is composed of two layers, the papillary and reticular dermis...

) where critical structures are found such as nerve endings and blood vessels.

The early methodology of testing, in which volunteers were asked to remove glasses, contact lenses and metallic objects that could cause hot spots, raised concerns as to whether the device would remain true to its purpose of non-lethal temporary incapacitation if used in the field where safety precautions would not be taken. However, these tests were early in the program and part of a thorough and methodical process to demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of the technology, which has now involved more than 600 volunteer subjects and some 10,200 exposures. As safety was demonstrated in each step of the process, restrictions were removed, and now, according to ADS proponents, there are no restrictions or precautions necessary for volunteers experiencing the effect. Long-term exposure to the beam may cause more serious damage, especially to sensitive tissues, such as those of the eyes. Two people have received second degree burns after exposure to the device. (The actual number of injuries, according to Dr. Stephanie Miller of AFRL/RDHR, is a total of eight—the two previously mentioned, and six others, who healed without medical intervention.)

In addition, some claim that subjects who have body piercing

Body piercing

Body piercing, a form of body modification, is the practice of puncturing or cutting a part of the human body, creating an opening in which jewelry may be worn. The word piercing can refer to the act or practice of body piercing, or to an opening in the body created by this act or practice...

s, jewelry, or tattoo

Tattoo

A tattoo is made by inserting indelible ink into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment. Tattoos on humans are a type of body modification, and tattoos on other animals are most commonly used for identification purposes...

s are likely to suffer serious skin damage. Tattooed people can become ill due to high amounts of toxins released from heated/melted tattoo pigment. Human effects testing on the large-scale version of ADT included more than 11,000 exposures on over 700 volunteers. Both laboratory research and full-scale test results demonstrated that there is only a 0.1% chance of injury from a System 1 or System 2 exposure.

Critics cite that, although the stated intent of the ADS is to be a non-lethal device designed to temporarily incapacitate, modifications or incorrect use by the operator could turn the ADS into a more damaging weapon that could violate international conventions on warfare (although at this time, ADS has gone through numerous treaty compliance reviews and legal reviews by AF/JAO, and in all cases complies with every treaty and law).

Some have focused on the lower threshold of use which may lead those who use them (especially civilian police) to become "trigger-happy", especially in dealing with peaceful protesters. Others have focused on concerns that weapons whose operative principle is that of inflicting pain (though "non-lethal") might be useful for such purposes as torture

Torture

Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...

, as they leave no evidence of use, but undoubtedly have the capacity to inflict horrific pain on a restrained subject. According to Wired Magazine, the Active Denial System has been rejected for fielding in Iraq due to Pentagon fears that it would be regarded as an instrument of torture.

Silent Guardian

Defense contractor Raytheon

Raytheon

has developed a smaller version of the ADS, the Silent Guardian. This stripped-down model is primarily marketed for use by law enforcement agencies, the military and other security providers. The system is operated and aimed with a joystick and aiming screen. The device can be used for targets up to 550 m away.

LA County jail is now installing the smaller-sized unit on the ceiling of their jail.

Michael Hanlon—who volunteered to experience its effects—described it as "a bit like touching a red-hot wire, but there is no heat, only the sensation of heat." Raytheon says that pain ceases instantly upon removal of the ray; still, Hanlon reported that the finger he subjected "was tingling hours later."

Effects

Contracts

Demonstration

Afghanistan Deployment

Concepts for Use

Controversy

Silent Guardian

See also