Israelis develop portable ‘pain ray’

Prototype of the new Israeli Active Denial System. Image via Ariel University Center of Samaria

Scientists at an Israeli university in the West Bank are developing a microwave-based “pain beam.” The proposed weapon won’t just be a remote, projectile-less weapon that inflicts intense temporary pain. It will also be portable.

Research taking place at the Ariel University Center of Samaria aims to create what is called a Man-Portable Active Denial System “based on new research to manufacture small-scale portable gyrotrons.” The goal is to create a small, focused beam that penetrates human skin at a depth of less than 1/64th of an inch. When this beam comes in contact with the skin, it will immediately heat all water molecules in the immediate vicinity to approximately 130 degrees Farenheit. According to project coordinator Dr. Moshe Einat, this will cause an “intensely painful burning sensation.”

Despite the sci-fi imagery of the weapon, the Israeli team’s research is based on an attempt to replicate United States military projects. Pentagon scientists have been working on an American pain ray for deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan for the past few years. Although the pain ray has never been deployed on the battlefield to this reporter’s knowledge, Active Denial Systems have been extensively tested by the US military. Apparently, they trick the body into thinking it is on fire:

“It tricks the pain sensors into thinking they’re on fire,” said Rich Garcia, a spokesman for the Air Force Research Laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, N.M.

Garcia knows firsthand. He was among hundreds of test volunteers, standing in a doorway with his back facing the device.

“They did a full body back shot,” he said. “It hit in the small of my back first. 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.”

He said he lunged out of the doorway.

“As soon as you’re away from that beam your skin returns to normal and there is no pain,” Garcia said. “I thought to myself, ‘Why you wimp. You know it’s not causing any damage. You’ll be able to override it.’

In 11,000 test firings on 600 human subjects of the US Active Denial System, only eight suffered second-degree burns and only two required medical attention.

American watchdogs have criticized the US version of the Active Denial System, claiming it could easily be used against civillian populations.

Additionally, Marc Garlasco, senior military analyst for Human Rights Watch, said that the weapon would have limited battlefield applications. (Ironically for a story focusing on Israeli military development, Garlasco was recently in the news due to accusations of Nazi fetishism.)

Most interestingly, the Ariel University team has created a shockingly low-cost weapon. The proposed gyrotron at the center of the Israeli ADS only costs US$250,000 to construct. As Wired’s David Hambling notes, “if a university department can do it in Israel, so can others in Russia, China or anywhere else.”

It can safely be presumed that this project is being developed for the Israeli mlitary. The Israeli Defense Forces have been known in the past for deploying a series of creative non-violent weapons such as the infamous “skunk bomb,” a liquid that sticks to the skin of protesters to create an inhumanly terrible smell for several days. The “skunk” liquid clings to the skin even after intensive showering. This reporter has smelled it in the past and can only liken it to raw sewage. While it’s good in not causing any permanent harm, being near anyone touched by the liquid for 48 hours is unbearably awful.

The most well-known use in the past of these creative weapons by the IDF has been at the anti-occupation protests in Bilin and Nilin.

Prior to this, Dr. Einat was best known for developing an inkjet that could print 1000 pages a minute.