Raytheon's Active Denial System has attracted more publicity than concrete user interest since it was unveiled five years ago, but that is about to change. This morning at the Association of the US Army meeting in Washington, DC, Raytheon land combat vice-president Jim Riley said that ADS - branded Silent Guardian by Raytheon - is set for export. A US ally has ordered four systems and a (possibly US) law enforcement agency has ordered one more.
Raytheon
Raytheon is not providing further details as yet. Riley's statement was a mild "oops" in that a release on the sale had been prepared for issue last week, but had been pulled back by the Pentagon. But the news marks the first operational sale for a directed energy weapon of any kind.
Silent Guardian uses 94-GHz millimeter-wave radio energy to create an intense burning sensation on the subject's skin. Testing has shown that it causes no permanent injury, the developers say. The main developmental challenges have been involved with making the system mobile. The current system is containerized and transportable, rather than being integrated on a vehicle - the Hummer-mounted prototype did not have adequate power and cooling for sustained operations in hot climates.
