2y ago

Pointing Lasers at People's Eyes - PHASR Rifle (2007)

The personnel halting and stimulation response rifle (PHASR) is a prototype non-lethal laser dazzler developed by the US Department of Defense.

Its purpose is to temporarily disorient and blind a target.

Blinding laser weapons have been tested in the past, but were banned under the 1995 UN Protocol on Blinding Laser Weapons, which the United States acceded to on 21 January 2009. The PHASR rifle, a low-intensity laser, is not prohibited under this regulation, as the blinding effect is intended to be temporary. It also uses a two-wavelength laser

22 comments

I'm surprised this hasn't seen use by riot police.
- I think they prefer non lethal weapons that can kill you
  
  “Less lethal” please
  
  Why use laser gun when shot gun do trick
- The National Institute of Justice recently awarded ScorpWorks $250,000 to make an advanced prototype that will add an eye-safe laser range finder into PHaSR. Systems such as PHaSR have historically been too powerful at close ranges and ineffective but eye-safe at long ranges. The next prototype is planned to include the addition of the eye-safe range finder and is planned for completion in March 2006.
  Based on the article from Defense Review and the drop off of serious articles discussing it I'm guessing that the range difficulties made this unreasonable for police applications.
  
  I'm glad they're not effective for riot control. Using these types of weapons against civilians is dystopian.
- If we’re going high tech, LRAD works better on crowds.
Its purpose is to temporarily disorient and blind a target.
I can do the same thing with a laser pointer toy bought for $0.99 at a 99 Cent Store. And it even fits in a pocket without looking like a plasma cannon from Halo.
- I would imagine this one has a laser that spreads out into a cone so that the operator can point it at a larger area.
  
  at that point its more of a light beam than a laser
- No you can't. Those dollar laser pointers will permanently blind someone.
  
  It'd depend on the class of the laser pointer. Class 1 laser pointers would be safe to point at someone's eyes but higher classes range from situationally harmful with prolonged exposure to instant damage.
- The plasma cannon look good be considered a feature, though
I always wonder why this isn’t a thing, then remember batteries.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNDIIDbSc78
I guess this isnt a weapon but have there been any updates on this?
I way prefer the phaser rifle.
Why is it so... bulbous? Did someone look at the tactical tuna and think "Hell yeah, turn that up to 11!"?

22 comments