Eureka's EMP cannon destined for the Marines? (video)
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted January 20th 2010 1:34PM
posted January 20th 2010 1:34PM
Marines serving overseas have a low-tech, time-tested way of stopping cars that ignore checkpoints -- namely, a .50-caliber slug to the engine block. Still, that hasn't prevented companies like Boeing and Eureka Aerospace from pouring tons of money into EMP research. The cannon (whether mounted on aircraft or a squad car) is nowhere near ready for prime time -- but when has that stopped the Pentagon from sinking tons of money into something? And the USAF isn't the only organization getting involved: according to Flightglobal, the Marine Corps is getting its own demo of the 55lb device (which can disable cars up to 200 meters away) next month at Dahlgren naval warfare center. Vintage autos (really anything manufactured before the mid-1970s) won't be harmed by the weapon, meaning that there still may be a place for lead slugs in modern peacekeeping missions after all. Video after the break.
So do bad guys (terrorists) actually use anything manufactured after 1970? Seems like another weapons system designed to fight a war that isn't being waged... however, I guess that it could easily be useful in the "next" conflict to come around the bin.
Pew, pew, pew... (zap, zap, zap... ?)
@Jban
aka China
@Jban
It will only be a matter of time before such a device would fall into the wrong hands.
@DaveBach
Most likely this tech will get broken apart and be used for something else that consumers can use like some government projects.
@DaveBach Local Police...
And why won't pre-70's vehicles be affected? Because they don't use integrate circuit boards and microprocessors.
Can I now go jack back into the Matrix (modern console gaming system)?
@xCrunk
It's due to electronic igniton. Prior, it was a "points" (re: dumb) system, and also, no electric fuel pumps. And actually, most people who have these period vehicles converted to electronic ignition, and anybody making any hp uses an electric fuel pump.
Do korean and chinese cars have fuel injection yet? (And for that matter, how about exported russian ones?)
@xCrunk
If all else fails... "Citizen, pull over."
[Car slams a right, heads towards a canyon]
@Dank Dillweed
So Cash-for-Clunkers was actually a Homeland Security intiative...
@Wwhat I hope your being sarcastic.
@Jake Smith Terrible indeed.
@Drago looks like they saw my comment
@Jake Smith They did, and they also deleted your comment, which is a very low move if you ask me. You would think that if the Grammatical skills of an "Editor" are not decent, at lest they could use an Spell/Grammar checker.
@Drago
The other problem is that now your comment is out on it's own, a reply to nothing, and doesn't make sense out of context.
I hate it when they do that. Wish I knew what Jake Smith said.
@Smart People Play Tuba That's why Editors should not remove comments that point out their mistakes, messages go out of context and they make the issue bigger that it was.
Only comments that should be deleted are the ads spam, and links to 'unwholesome' things like viruses or gruesome pictures.
And religious calls.
I think that covers it?
@Drago Looks like when the EMP took out their Spell/Grammar-checker it took out their sense of humour as well...
@Drago: "...they could use an Spell/Grammar checker." did you?
@Wwhat
Also, use of the term "rice burner." I found that out the hard way when during a post about an electric moped.
They really should come up with a better name... oh, i dunno like ION Cannon or something catchy like that.
@duneleader The name is quite irrelevant, with that amount of power you can energize a magnet powerful enough to slow down and stop the car.
@Drago Didn't get the Star Wars reference?
Tractor beams are star-wars (& star-trek) too.
@Mach I guess he did not, maybe too busy enlightening us all?
@Drago
But firing the slug into a moving cars engine block is still the most fun.
Brilliant...
So what happens when some lunatic gets hold of such a weapon and points it at a passenger jet which is taking off???
It's inevitable that more powerful versions will be developed.
@Magic Monkey Call Jack Bauer? But seriously wouldn't a rocket launcher be as easy to acquire/smuggle near an airport.
@Magic Monkey I guess eventually they are going to have to shield the electronic equipment with lead or something else to hinder the effects of the Pulse.
lol lead, how about kryptonite?
@Wwhat Why did you lol'd? Lead is your best bet if you want to create an EMP shield.
@d0mth0ma5 This makes total sense. Why would a terrorist get a degree from MIT to take down a jet when he can just buy a stinger off the black market.
The future of terrorism is and will always be low tech. I mean how old is the Russian RPG? It still and will continue to get the job done cheap and easy.
First off no, lead is good against radiation but not EMP's, and secondly cladding a plane in lead.. well yeah that's lol
@Magic Monkey
Terrorists want the big boom. They want the show. That's why they do what they do, instead of much more effective things that could bring down a society more effectively yet quietly.
So a weapon like this would cause a plane to silently lose power and crash. No explosion in the air, nothing that would give them satisfaction.
They would never use it.
@Magic Monkey
I agree. If these were to become handheld, think of the damage someone could do incognito. Helicopters on the battlefield, domestic airliners, busy interstates, server farms, power plants? A small effective EMP device would revolutionize guerilla warfare.
@Wwhat EMPs are a type of radiation, technically. But yes, I'm quite sure that an airliner's vital electronics are too spread out to make lead shielding practical.
I think the photo is Vanishing Point (1971 my birth year). Was one helluva car chase movie.
@donsan
is that the one where he gets away on the mini bike at the end?
@Joao Cagao
Don't want to spoil the ending, but no. No minibike. Or EMP.
It's a government conspiracy.
Let me get 8 kills with a Harrier and I'll call in my EMP.
@Comment
That was nerdy, and surprisingly funny.
Wow, LeVar Burton has really let himself go since Reading Rainbow.
dont let the terrorists get the idea!
This is all fine and great until someone sits at the end of an Airport runway and hits a passenger jet taking off with one of these things. The range is 600 feet. (200 meters)
Not too good of an idea to have one in the hands of every police officer in the nation now, is it?
@GeoGuy
True, worse case scenario:
1. Terrorist steals police car equipped with this thing.
2. Takes it to airport in a populated area and shoots it at plane.
@flanders
Even more realistic. Some 16 year old kid buys one on Ebay or a Chinese website (where they will be made no doubt) and rides his bike past the airport, thinks its cool to see what would happen if..... Not thinking at all.
Kids do this stuff all the time. Shoot guns into the air to see if they can hear them land or throw bottles into a crowd just not thinking.
This thing will always need a huge powerbuffering setup and powering device, and will cost a ton, it won't be in standard police cars ever.
@Wwhat
Oh you're right, because nothing is ever reduced in size. Like the computer, cell phones, width of LCD screens, shall I go on or is that enough sarcasm for you?
@flanders Or surface-to-air missiles...