Air Force creates PHaSER weapon to "temporarily blind" enemies, page 1

Looking more like a weapon you would see in "The Fifth Element", the Air Force has created the PHaSER weapon. This gun is however, non-lethal. It works by utilizing a two-wavelength laser system, a system that the Air force would not speak about. The goal of the PHaSER is to "temporarily blind" the enemy, or "dazzle" them. "The brightness and intensity of the light is so much that it obscures your vision and you can't see," said Major Monte Anderson. This does somewhat conflict with Protocol IV of the Geneva Convention which "specifically" banned laser devices that cause permanent blindness. Even though the PHaSER is not meant to blind its' victim a wrong calculation most certain will. Ironically, U.S. did not even sign Protocol IV but agreed to abide by it.

www.msnbc.msn.com

WASHINGTON - It’s the stuff of fiction. A hand held laser weapon with the Star Trek moniker “PHaSER,” developed by the Air Force as a non-lethal weapon capable of being used on the battlefield or on the mean streets of any major city.

Using a two-wavelength laser system — the details of which Air Force researchers declined to discuss — the weapon is intended to temporarily blind an attacker. The Air Force calls it “dazzling” a suspected bad guy.

“When you 'dazzle’ an individual with laser light, it’s pretty much the same effect as if someone shines a flashlight in your eyes,” said Maj. Monte Anderson, project leader at ScorpWorks, an internal division within the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Directed Energy Directorate. “The brightness and intensity of the light is so much that it obscures your vision and you can’t see,” Anderson said. “The intent is to obscure the adversary’s vision so they can’t make you a target.”

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Awesome weapon… the only problem is a decent pair of sunglasses can protect you and it costs a ton of money. I wonder if the design of weapons will follow a similar design as this one? The funny part of this article is that the U.S. did not even sign the protocol IV of the Geneva Convention. When this gun is supposed to “temporarily blind” the enemy, it can also be misused causing full blindness. This to me is fine, go ahead and blind some terrorists they it, but It could be used against us in the future.

[edit on 30-11-2005 by nonpoint]

[edit on 30-11-2005 by nonpoint]

[edit on 8-12-2005 by asala]