CENTCOM Asking for 14 “Project Sheriff” ADS+ Vehicles
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Back in May 2005, DID covered the Active Denial System “riot breaker,” a microwave transmitter whose focused beams create burning sensations that force targets to flee in order to escape. Despite the pain, however, the beams reportedly cause no real injuries. A follow-up DID article in August 2005 noted that testing on human volunteers was underway, and a September 2005 article noted the role of the Pentagon’s Office of Force Transformation in creating the ADS (aka. “Project Sheriff”) as an alternative to sometimes-lethal plastic bullets or even live ammunition in order to control hostile crowds.
In December 2005, DefenseTech noted that Iraq may soon have a new Sheriff in town…. but as of January 30, 2006, an article in US Air Force AIM Point expresses general puzzlement at the failure to release the system, despite the US Army’s requests.
Well, that may be about to change. DefenseTech covers the latest developments, noting reports that Army just got the OK to spend $31.3 million on three deployable Project Sheriff vehicles. Furthermore, Army Brig. Gen. James Huggings, the chief of staff for the Multi-National Corps-Iraq, proposes 14 vehicles: 4 for the 18th Military Police Brigade, 4 for the 42nd Military Police Brigade, and 6 for the Marine Corps. CENTCOM Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. John Castellaw fully supported the request. The vehicles, either Cougar mine-resistant vehicles or Stryker APCs, will be equipped with “Spiral 1” Sheriff equipment that can escalate its responses from a “Long Range Acoustic Device” (sonic blaster), up to a Laser Dazzler, then on to the ADS pain ray before things escalate to live ammunition. Read DefenseTech’s article: Pain Ray, Sonic Blaster, Laser Dazzler – All In One; and see also “Bring the Pain.”
