Police prepare stunning e

[pjn@nworks.com]

 In> IT COULD be the end of the car chase as we know it. With the
 In> automotive equivalent of a stun gun, science fiction is coming
 In> to the aid of law enforcement.  
 In> A high-powered electrical device under development at the
 In> Pentagon's Army Research Laboratory in Adelphi, Maryland, is
 In> to be tested by police and border patrol agents and could be
 In> in use by next year.  
 In> The car stopper works by focusing an intense electromagnetic
 In> charge on the electronic systems that manage most modern
 In> engines, disabling them and paralysing the car. In the jargon
 In> of its inventors, the 150 kilovolt charge is a nemp, or non-nuclear
 In> electromagnetic pulse. Contractors are bidding to produce a
 In> police version.  
 In> Very precisely directed beams are required, but even then
 In> there will be problems. A pulse powerful enough to disable an
 In> engine at any reasonable range would also be likely to disrupt
 In> communications, damage television and radio sets, disable computers
 In> and even stop heart pacemakers. There is also the danger of
 In> loss of control when a car is being driven at high speed. 

 In> Counter-measures would include using old-fashioned engines
 In> with no electronics, or perhaps surrounding the most delicate
 In> components with shielding. The best might be to get hold of
 In> one of the stun guns and use it to disable pursuing police vehicles.  

 Is there any dif between this and a HERF gun?


 P.J.
 pjn@nworks.com



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