NATO recently demonstrated a device they’ve been working on that can stop a suicide bomber’s approaching vehicle dead in its tracks before it reaches its intended target.
Control panel of the electromagnetic ray gun.
The jammer releases a high-intensity electromagnetic beam that interferes with the controls of the car, thus resulting in the engine shutting off and the vehicle rolling to a stop.
Beyond cars, the device has also proven effective in disabling remotely detonated bombs by jamming radio signals, disabling pirate ships, and even shutting down drones.
NATO is unfortunately (though understandably) keeping the components that make up this technology under wraps. The physics behind it, though, is fairly well understood: simply design a beam generator with enough energy that can be directed toward a specific location. Doing this, more or less, fries the electronics within the vehicle, which results in the disabling of the engine.
The device is being worked on by Diehl Defense (NATO is sponsoring it), and tests are expected to conclude some time in 2014. There are still some hurdles to clear, though, as evidenced in the video below. Chief among them — the fact that all of the tests feature clear targets. If a suicide bomber were to approach a checkpoint in, say, a crowded marketplace, and this device was fired at the car but winds up disabling the wrong vehicle, accidents could occur, which could endanger local civilians.
That said, this technology still offers a solution to a war tactic that’s become far too common of late, and that’s a step in the right direction.
To learn more about it, check out the video that NATO put together below:
Via: nato.int
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