Microwave Weapon That Stops Cars

On Coast-to-Coast AM they had a CEO of a company that is making a microwave device that stops cars. These devices have been out for a while actually and plans for them are available on the Internet. They are called "HERF" guns, HERF stands for High Energy RF.

They basically consist of a magnetron tube, like the kind in a microwave, some photoflash or similar capacitors that are charged to a much higher voltage than the magnetron would normally be powered by, and then triggered to discharge through the tube creating a high short pulse of microwave energy. Because the pulse is so short, the peak energy can be high without killing the magnetron.

The high microwave pulse induces microwave currents in car wiring frying the computer module stopping the car. Problem is it also induces the same currents into pace makers, implantable defibrillators, cell phones, personal computers, and just about any other electronic device within range.

Because microwaves don't require a lot of surface area to be an efficient reflector, much of the beam will be reflected in random directions frying random equipment around the area.

Someone with a pace maker or implantable defibrillator may not even know until their heart stops beating or goes into fibrillation and the unit doesn't work and they die.

These things are dangerous, worse than guns really because they spray RF all over the place, and if these are in widespread use we can all look forward to lots of unexplained electronic failure including devices that people rely on to keep them alive.

Yes I can see where a device like this can be dangerous. I always desired a device as such to stop cars and leave them right where they were stopped. In particular I always wanted to stop and leave cars in whom the occupants were so dumbl a---- ignorant, they think the rest of us want to enjoy thier music too. These are the cars and occupants I want to leave dead on the road.

Thanks,
Orangetom

'Non-lethal' weapons always disturb me becuase while they are non-lethal they may still be extremely hazardous to an individual or group's health. Couple this with the fact that they're looked upon as a great alternative to real weapons and you get a lot of law enforcement or military agencies using them recklessly causing pain and distress to many people unnecessarily.

This sounds like a very risky prospect to me.

I will cruse right on through in a 70s Ford with points ignition and a bottle of Bourbon!
I would suppose a simple test could be performed by placing your digital watch in the microwave oven set on defrost.