India to test 'Star War' weapons on Kashmiri protestersSrinagar, India, Aug 30, IRNA -- The Government has now decided to equip its police and paramilitary forces with slew of Directed Energy Weapons (DEWs) also called laser dazzlers to tackle Kashmiri protesters.
Latest reports said 64 people have been killed and thousands injured in less than three months, mostly in direct firing by paramilitary CRPF and police forces on the stone throwing protesters.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is understood to have given the go-ahead for the selective use of the gun, which is non-lethal and aimed at disorienting a crowd or even militants in action, news reports said.
The laser dazzler would flash a laser beam causing the protesters to go virtually blind for nearly a minute, good enough time for the troops to nab them, reports added saying that thelaser beam is two to three metres wide.
The weapon was produced two years ago by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
Times Of India recently quoted a top official saying that the DRDO has been trying to develop its own set of Star Wars-like weapons including the DEWs like Laser dazzlers.
The weapon has already been successfully tested by the army in ?real combat? situations in Kashmir, reports added.
Prime Minister Singh gave a hint about the weapon when he said last week, ?We need to revisit standard operating procedures and crowd control measures to deal with public agitations with non-lethal, yet effective and focused measures.?
United Nations conventions however prohibit the use of laser guns that cause permanent blindness.
The gun originally developed by the US in the early 1990s was initially referred as far more terrifying military weapon.
Its development was arrested mostly due to international outcry that use of military dazzlers would be extremely cruel and inhumane, and the weapons were condemned both by the International Red Cross and the United Nations.
Experts said that a major problem that made laser dazzlers a political plutonium before they were ever even been deployed was that the difference in the amount of energy needed to temporarily blind and permanently blind a target was a very thin and not easily defined line.
For a long time, any laser that was capable of temporarily blinding a target in one instance could very easily permanently blind one in another, depending on many variables such as atmospheric conditions, range, orientation of the target, length of exposure, frequency, beam intensity, and more.
These problems could not be easily solved, and laser blinders fell out of favor as a form of personnel neutralization and began to be looked upon more for weapon sensor neutralization.
News reports in India however said that the guns developed by DRDO were fully compliant with the UN conventions.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2010/08/mil-100830-irna01.htmLow Intensity Conflict:Laser dazzlers to tackle Kashmiri protesters"Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is involved in development of defence technologies and now focusing on customization of certain technologies already developed for military operations to these new emerging security threats and development of new technologies and devices as projected by security forces, both military and para military, during recent interactions with them.
Based on security forces? needs and DRDO capabilities, the requirements have been grouped in various technology heads, like technologies and devices for surveillance and Reconnaissance; Enhancing Day and Night Vision capability; Incapacitation; Arms and Ammunitions; Detection and Diffusion of Explosive and IEDs; Communication and Jamming; Personnel Protection and Support Systems.
A comprehensive mission mode programme with participation of many DRDO labs, security forces and industries is being formulated. Some of the weapons developed by DRDO which are quite useful for LIC Operations are :
-- INSAS Rifle (Weight with loaded magazine - 4.1 Kg and effective range ? 400 m).
-- Modern Sub Machine Carbine (MSMC) (Weight with loaded magazine ? 3.4 Kg and effective range ? 200 m).
-- Oleo-Resin (Chilli) Based Hand Grenade.
-- CR Based Shells.
-- Tear Gas Grenades (to incapacitate terrorists and flush them out from their hideouts and for mob dispersal / riot control operations).
-- Plastic Bullets (Non-lethal & non-poisonous bullets do not expand after penetration and cause only superficial injuries).
This information was given by Defence Minister Shri AK Antony in a written reply to Shri Varun Gandhi in Lok Sabha today.
http://www.defencetalk.com/india-develops-weapons-for-low-intensity-conflict-27760/----------------------------------------------------
I also heard something called chilli bomb developed by DRDO some days ago , i think its right time to test it now. Its a non-lethal weapon and does not violate human right norms and will also prove to be effective to burn red the useless arse of protestors in kashmir.