Pentagon grants DHS permission to test heat ray weapon for use at border
The Pentagon has authorized the Department of Homeland Security to test the Active Denial System, a nonlethal heat ray weapon, for potential use at the U.S.-Mexico border. The system uses electromagnetic waves to create a painful burning sensation, intended to disperse crowds.
Why it matters
The deployment of military-grade directed-energy weapons for domestic border control raises significant ethical and human rights concerns.
The Pentagon has given the Department of Homeland Security permission to test a military-grade heat ray and develop tactics to potentially use it in operations at the southern US border, according to a memo signed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last month and obtained by CNN. The heat ray, officially known as the Active Denial System, is a nonlethal weapon that shoots an invisible beam of electromagnetic waves that can reach a little more than half a mile away, according to the US military. The energy beam causes a burning sensation when it comes into contact with the human skin — which Pentagon officials have previously compared to feeling a blast of heat when opening a hot oven.
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