US Army Now Testing Clip-on Ray Guns

Ray Guns, the perfect example of what we thought futuristic military combat would involve, is starting to become a reality. The US Army has already started fitting some of their trucks with powerful laser systems and missile defence systems, now it looks like they’re making good progress at miniaturising the technology, as they’re now outfitting ground troops with their latest beam weapons.

Created by Army Armament Research electronics engineers James E. Burke, the device is known as the “Burke Pulser”. The Pulser is an attachment device which can be fitted to standard rifles and uses a piezoelectric generator, as well as a pair of protruding antennas to generate powerful electrical bursts.

The whole system sounds pretty futuristic and by fitting it to an M4 Carbine, much in the same way you would a standard flash suppressor, it can quickly turn the gun into a ray gun; awesome!

While we’re not going to be using these new weapons to fight off laser-wielding aliens just yet, the new weapons are perfect for frying the electronics of IEDs and roadside bombs. It’s still early in development, but with an estimated price of $1000 per unit, the new technology could quickly help save lives in the near future.

Thank you Engadget for providing us with this information.