Whole piece here:
http://www.de.afrl.af.mil/factsheets/activedenial.html
Active Denial Technology uses a transmitter producing energy at a frequency of 95Ghz and an antenna to direct a focused, invisible beam towards a designated subject. Traveling at the speed of light, the energy reaches the subject and penetrates the skin to a depth of less than 1/64 of an inch. Almost instantaneously it produces a heating sensation that within seconds becomes intolerable and forces the subject to flee. The sensation immediately ceases when the individual moves out of the beam or when the system operator turns it off.
Despite this sensation, the beam does not cause injury because of the shallow penetration depth of energy at this wavelength and the low energy levels used. It exploits the body’s natural defense mechanism that induces pain as a warning to help protect it from injury.
Human Effects Testing
A large portion of the investment, about $9 million, has been devoted to characterizing the effects of this technology on the human body. This is to ensure the technology produces the desired response and is militarily effective, while at the same time providing a large margin of safety against injury and long-term effects. Animals and humans are being used in the test program, which is being conducted in strict compliance with the procedures, laws and regulations governing animal and human experimentation. The tests are reviewed and approved by a formal Institutional Review Board with oversight from the Air Force Surgeon General’s Office. An independent panel of medical experts from outside the government also periodically reviews and advises on the planning aspects and results of the research and test activities. Their 2002 review of the program concluded there is low probability of serious injury from exposure to the ADS beam. Additionally, the panel concludes that the probability of thermal eye injury is low and the probability of long-term health effects such as cancer is extremely low.
The Air Force Research Laboratory’s Human Effectiveness Directorate at Brooks City Base, Texas, conducted several years of successful and safe laboratory testing with small spot sizes. In 2000, testing began at Kirtland Air Force Base, south of Albuquerque, New Mexico, using the new, full-scale technology hardware demonstration system shown at right. It enabled larger areas of a volunteer test subject’s body to be exposed to the energy beam and pro-vided for more realistic, military field conditions.
Active Denial Technology Hardware Demonstrator
