AC-130J Gets a Ray Gun
10th August 2015
The U.S. Air Force is planning to install the microwave ADS, or Active Denial System (which transmits a searchlight sized beam of energy that makes people downrange feel like their skin is on fire) on several of its sixteen new AC-130J gunships. This would provide air force gunships with a non-lethal weapon for the first time. This may not work. That’s because ADS has been ready since 2007 but has never been used. In 2012 a possible reason for this was revealed. It seems that ADS performs poorly in the rain (or fog, mist, or snow). This is a common problem with microwaves and lasers, which are broken up by all these forms of precipitation. Tests of ADS during rainy conditions found that the pain turned to a warm comfortable feeling (especially in the cold and damp). Moreover, the microwaves only work on exposed skin, which means during cold or inclement weather (when people cover up) ADS is less likely to have much impact. Apparently it was believed that it would not take the locals long to figure all this out and improvise effective countermeasures. Thus this aspect of ADS, long suspected by scientists and engineers, was kept secret until 2012.