ZzzzzzzzAP! RAY GUN!

Posted on 24 April 2009 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I want one of these.   I will use it while driving the 789.


While the US Air Force is dead set on shooting down missiles with airborne lasers, it looks like their colleagues in the Army are busy cooking up a little something called the Multimode Directed Energy Armament System (see our artist’s conceptual rendering, above). According to Wired, this device uses an ultra-short pulse laser to create an ionized channel through the air, which it can use to send bursts of energy, conduct electricity, or act as a waveguide for an intense pulse of microwaves. If you’re looking to knock out an IED, an oncoming vehicle, or an enemy combatant, this bad boy should do the trick just fine. The Army’s Armament Research Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) plans on having a working prototype operating in a the real world sometime in 2011.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
This entry was posted in Just Too Cool. Bookmark the permalink.

8 Comments

  1. Edward Martin says:
    24 April 2009 at 12:51 PM

    “phasers on stun”

  2. Andrew, UK and sometimes Canada says:
    24 April 2009 at 1:09 PM

    Does it take out cordless clip-on-mics and speaker-systems in liturgically dubious situations?

  3. Ohio Annie says:
    24 April 2009 at 1:12 PM

    Or cell phones in cars?

  4. Cathy_of_Alex says:
    24 April 2009 at 2:09 PM

    Comes in handy for zapping squirrels that nest in your car!

  5. tertullian says:
    24 April 2009 at 2:30 PM

    If you insist on a Corvette-based ride,why not the Bertone Mantide just unveiled at the Shanghai Auto Show?

    http://www.insideprojectm.com/

  6. Bob A says:
    24 April 2009 at 3:33 PM

    Hmmm, wonder if it will work on cell phones?

  7. Matthew W. I. Dunn says:
    24 April 2009 at 10:10 PM

    I want one of these. I will use it while driving the 789.

    You’ll need a ray gun to zap all those people laughing at you driving around in such a butt-ugly car.

  8. irishgirl says:
    27 April 2009 at 9:46 AM

    Hey, this would be good to zap out Taliban crazies!

Comments are closed.