Microwave Beam Stops Cars Dead

One beam pulsed in a burst lasting just 50 nanoseconds is enough to disrupt a vehicle's electrical system. The radiation can overload wires or damage or upset the car's central microprocessor.

In tests on four vehicles, the researchers were able to disable cars from 10 to 50 feet away.

Such a device could go a long way to save time and lives in places like southern California, where highways stretch uninterrupted for long distances and car chases are common.

"Once they get off the streets, they just go until they run out of gas," said commander Charles "Sid" Heal of the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department in Monterey Park, Calif. The department donated test cars for the experiments.

A technology that would shut down a car's computer could not only reduce the number of car chases, but could also allow police officers to intentionally stop a car in a location where the offender might have difficulty running from on foot.

Heal said he would like to see the researchers add a light to beam, so that law enforcers could see where they are directing the beam and offenders would realize that they are on the receiving end of some kind of weapon.

"We can put the visible light on them, and if we don't get compliance, we'll hit them with a device that kills the car," said Heal.

Tatoian thinks that with the proper funding, Eureka Aerospace can shrink the device in less than two years to a 50-pound appliance that looks like a plasma television and can disable cars from 600 feet away.

Related Links:

Tracy Staedter's blog: What the Tech?

Howstuffworks.com: microwaves

Eureka Aerospace