…seeing as it's been testing transparent armor since last October ('05).

According to this article at Air Force Link, they're working with a new material called ALON(TM), a ceramic compound with high compressive strength and durability that — when polished — "is the premier transparent armor for use in armored military vehicles." Typical transparent armor consists of thick layers of bonded glass. The new armor combines the transparent ALON as a strike plate, a middle section of glass, and a polymer backing. "Each layer is visibly thinner than the traditional layers."

Just how strong is this stuff? In a June 2004 demonstration, ALON test pieces "held up to both a .30 caliber Russian M-44 sniper rifle and a .50 caliber Browning Sniper Rifle with armor piercing bullets. While the bullets pierced the glass samples, the armor withstood the impact with no penetration. In extensive testing, ALON has performed well against multiple hits of .30 caliber armor piercing rounds."

Cost is higher, of course, with traditional transparent armor at just over $3 per sq in. and ALON coming in at $10-$15 per sq in. Shooting at (and blowing up) Humvees seems to be every Iraqi insurgent's hobby, however, so what price is survival?

The Air Force is also working on a variety of laser-based devices, not only for dazzling (blurring the vision of the targeted soldier or pilot, for instance), but surveillance systems and also (possible) directed-energy weapons.

About lasers, DefenseTech.org puts it best in their lede to the above article: "If you're into military technology at all, somewhere in the back of your mind, you want laser guns to happen. Because they're cool. Han Solo cool. Starbuck cool. James T. Kirk cool."

Yeah, I'm into it and it's cool. But where does military technology — and the amazing engineering efforts behind it — cross the line from being a good idea to, well, freakin' warped?

Beyond nukes, we may have found something even more chilling and bizarre in its immediate effects, though it's certainly not a WMD. Remember that old Robin Williams routine in which he parodies Mr. (Fred) Rogers and says, "Let's put Mister Hamster in the microwave, OK? He knows where he's going! BOOP! Pop goes the weasel. That was severe radiation. Can you say that? Severe radiation? Nice try, you little sh*ts. The reason I did that, boys and girls, is because The Universe is entropy."

Our friends in the military — yes, again, the Air Force — likely remembers that skit, as the Active Denial System may soon be headed for Iraq. The only difference this time is, "Let's put Mr. Iraqi in the microwave, OK?" Oh, and it's not a comedy bit.

What is ADS? It's a system that "fires out milimeter waves — a sort of cousin of microwaves, in the 95 GHz range. The invisible beams penetrate just a 64th of inch beneath the skin. But that's deep enough to heat up the water inside a person. Which is enough to cause excruciating pain. Seconds later, people have to run away. And that causes mobs to break up in a hurry." Umm, yeah. I bet it does. One expert refers to it as the Holy Grail of Crowd Control.

Also from DefenseTech: "There has also been talk, at least, of building an airborne model of ADS — as well as putting together a Hummer with both pain rays and sonic blasters. Needless to say, neither project is as far along as the basic Active Denial System."

Aside from the plethora of political issues to consider (on your own time), what about just the day-to-day perspective? Who thinks of this stuff? Did someone in a meeting actually blurt out, "Hey! I know! Let's microwave 'em!" Who green-lights the funding? Who designs and builds it?

Is it really "cool" for engineers and/or others to microwave a human being, even during "war?"