It sounds like science fiction. Only this is real and its once hypothetical idea looks more and more like a practical necessity for the good guys. RF Safe Stop is one of the most promising concepts to get in the hands of law enforcement trying to disable a moving vehicle.
A UK company created a device that uses electromagnetic radio pulses to confuse any vehicle’s wiring causing the engine to fail.
INVISIBLY POWERFUL WEAPON
You aim the RF Safe Stop at the moving target and blast away. In seconds the vehicle on the receiving end of E2V Technologies’ invention is remotely disabled.
At the moment, the size of the contraption takes up a good amount of the bed of a standard Wichita Chevrolet Tahoe pickup truck. It’s worth noting that its proven safe to use in dense populations showing no adverse effects on nearby innocent people and vehicles.
LIMITED RANGE
Developers are working on improving its limited range. You need to be within 165 feet in order for the electromagnetic to be reliably effective. That may work well for long street pursuits.
In order to protect a larger area such as a parade with thousands of people in a condensed area, you would need several RF Safe Stop devices to quickly disable a threat similar to the semi-truck terror attack in Nice, France.
SO BAD-ASS THEY NAMED IT “HELLHOUND”
The U.S. military has another useful technology that could be adapted to civilian protection by law enforcement. Instead of radio pulses, Northrup Grumman has revealed “Hellhound”, a black six-seater with a laser weapon mounted in the center.
Not only can the Hellhound equipped with a laser take down rogue drones, it can fire at a vehicle from a mile or more away. The intended targets can be a boat that is violating a safe zone, a car speeding toward innocent people through a security barrier, and a UAV entering a no-fly zone.
SILENT BUT DEADLY
Lockheed Martin recently showed-off the capabilities of its 30-kilowatt laser known at Athena. Like the laser-equipped Hellhound, it burns through military-grade metal and was able to stop a boat offshore remotely as evidenced in its multi-cam coverage of the test.
The naked eye sees nothing except a hot spot on the target smoldering and glowing hot. Athena succeeded at burning through the engine of a full size pickup truck from a distance of a mile.
EVERYDAY CARS AND TRUCKS ARE BEING WEAPONIZED
Vehicles can be some of the most deadly weapons. Firms spend a lot of money investing in software from Lytx and the like to keep track of their vehicles and ensure all is well. Advancements in these technologies are getting refined to stop any vehicle on the ground, in the water, and in the sky.
With it becoming more and more evident that cars and trucks are becoming more and more dangerous, with technology and other external factors, it could be daunting for anyone who deals/is exposed regularly to the trucking and transport industry. If this is a concern then it could be recommended to take out a hgv policy to cover your needs or a car and van insurance policy to help you feel more secure on the roads.
As they are now, It’s entirely possible that these invisible technologies are already in the hands of law enforcement agencies. The demand to protect against these evolving threats is there and so is the intelligent innovation to make them effective in the war on terror.