US Army to arm UAVs with xenon-based paralysis inducer

While places like Australia and Raleigh might be flooding certain areas (or in the Aussie's case, the whole continent) with more energy-efficient light, the US Army is looking to counteract those uber-green intentions by busting out a 7.5-million candlepower strobe floodlight system to be used as a "non-lethal crowd-control device." The government has awards Pennsylvania-based Peak Systems a contract to fabricate a modified Maxa Beam searchlight that will be xenon-based, sport strobing capabilities, and will act as an "immobilization system /deterrent device" on large crowds. Furthermore, this behemoth of a flashlight will be flanking an unmanned aerial system, presumably to cruise over a rioting crowd (or platoon of foes) and theoretically flash bomb them until they suffer from "short-term paralysis." While the idea sounds like a logical way to slow down millions of oncoming soldiers whilst at war, what happens with those baddies come over the hill rocking welding masks or ultra-tinted Thump shades?

[Via Wired]

[hanibal @ Feb 22nd 2007 6:12PM]

dear dumbass,
let me know how that works out for you.
As a frame of refrence, the sun is ~ .0012% this bright.
let me know how your oakleys work!

[holycow90 @ Feb 22nd 2007 2:05PM]

Or mirrors...

[s i d @ Feb 22nd 2007 2:10PM]

so we r free to riot in daylight ? they should make a piercing sound based system but then again deafening us would me their bullshit speeches/ warnings void i guess

[Shane @ Feb 22nd 2007 2:12PM]

Giant strobe lights, huh?

Throw in some loud music and thumping bass (the military has experimented with those methods as well) and it sounds like a good way to start a rave... :-)

[F1ghter @ Feb 22nd 2007 2:26PM]

If you can't beat 'em,

PARTY!

[pete @ Feb 22nd 2007 2:33PM]

No Cyberdine references?
You guys are slacking.

[R @ Feb 22nd 2007 2:49PM]

lol. "A CONTRACT like THIS right now"...keep up the good work Engadget!

[Joseph Cooleth @ Feb 22nd 2007 2:52PM]

I was just about to buy a 15 million candlepower flashlight last week. It was $40 at Sports Authority. I like flashlights.

I guess the only thing I need is to make it strobe and I can control my neighbors and their all night raves.

[paul34 @ Feb 22nd 2007 3:12PM]

I, for one, welcome our...

oh, forget it.

[Joseph @ Feb 22nd 2007 5:00PM]

The title should read:
INTEL to arm SERVERS with xeon-based paralysis inducer

[Joseph @ Feb 22nd 2007 5:02PM]

What will they do when a blind crowd gets out of hand?

[Joseph @ Feb 22nd 2007 7:25PM]

I would imagine it doesnt need to be "Ultra-bright" it just needs to fluctuate enough that your eyes have difficulty adjusting.

again, it would need to be a combination of the contrast.
I.E. at night in the desert, it doesnt need to be that strong. During daytime, it would need to be 100 times stronger.

Wonder if there will be any law suits from fried retinas. It would be like watching an arc-welder.

[lejupp @ Feb 23rd 2007 9:19AM]

> the sun is ~ .0012% this bright.

So this thing is as bright as 7,5 million candles. 7,5*10^6 * 0,0012 / 100 = 90. So you say the sun is as bright as ninety candles?

[jmchez @ Feb 22nd 2007 9:25PM]

Glasses dark enough to protect you will make bump into everything each time the thing gets turned off or in betwen strobes.

[Joseph @ Feb 23rd 2007 12:11PM]

Not if they are strobing sunglasses. Then the Gubment would be Effed.

[mentalsticks @ Feb 23rd 2007 4:16AM]

Frankly i think this entire UAV thing is an incredibly dangerous development. The risk to human life is an important deterrent to war, and as soon as this risk is out of the way then there's just no reason not to fight. At the moment one of the main reasons why the US population wants the troops out of Iraq is the loss of American lives, not of Iraqi/civilian life. What if this is no longer an issue? To me this crowd control device is just the next step.
(This is not meant as America-bashing or anything. It could be any other country)

[Andrew Fong @ Feb 23rd 2007 11:19AM]

Ermmm ... but for the insurgents not caught in the strobelight, wouldn't the giant light make the UAV a really easy target?

[Leadhyena @ Feb 23rd 2007 9:18PM]

What about the liabilities involved in running a strobe light at any intensity in front of any large crowd, where at least one person there could have seizures from said exposure? (You'd think that Nintendo had drilled that possibility into our heads by now.)