(special thanks to Trevor for passing along this nugget)
Everyone knows Raytheon, right? Basically, they're an absolute behemoth of a company and their focus is defense technology. They're the world's largest producer of guided missiles, and they also make a crap-load of super high-end electronics... electronics that go into surveillance equipment, radar, satellite communications, you name it.
(one of Raytheon's biggest hits, the Patriot Missile)
So anyway, for the past few years Raytheon has been totally pumped up about lasers. They want to make all kinds of crazy lasers for all kinds of crazy purposes. Well as an offshoot of all this laser R&D came along a little program called Directed Energy Solutions. Now judging by the name alone, you might be able to figure out where they're going with this thing. Raytheon has produced a device called the Silent Guardian which "employs millimeter wave technology to repel individuals or crowds without causing injury". This sounds all well and good, right? Maybe its a sound wave thing, giving rowdy crowds really bad headaches or something. Or maybe it's a little device that produces a "Brown Sound" (no explanation necessary). Wellllll, it doesn't do those things, but rather something a little bit more painful.
See, the Silent Guardian "emits an invisible, focused beam of radiation" which can then "throw a wave of agony nearly half a mile". Basically, it feels like you're on fire. I've never actually been on fire, but I did touch a hot stove once when I was a wee lad and my god it hurts. And it hurts for a long time. So the practical application of the weapon is for military units to mount the thing onto vehicles, and pretty much make anyone that comes near it run away screaming like a little schoolgirl. This sounds kinda sweet right? (cue U-S-A!!, U-S-A!! chants).
When used militarily, it certainly could be sweet. Imagine an embassy in some faraway land is getting attacked by a bunch of hooligans. Cue up the Silent Guardian, and instantly the fools that were dumb enough to try to get close to the building suddenly get the fire treatment and your problem is solved. Or maybe you're transporting some really important person around and you don't want anyone trying anything funny. Turn on the Silent Guardian, and the car or truck basically has its own forcefield. Great.
Now here's the rub. During a presentation at a recent NATO workshop, Raytheon announced that there was an "Impending Direct Commercial Sale" of the device. Let me clarify that last statement. This was not a "Top-Secret Military Sale" or even an "Kinda-Secret Military Sale", but a COMMERCIAL SALE. So, your neighbor that owns the H2 and the 45-foot yacht and also has like $1B in the bank might just be the guy that bought the Silent Guardian. Maybe he'll strap it to the back of said H2 and just roll down Main Street pumping radiation into the good people of your community. Who knows. Point being, this is a little bit weird to say the least.
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