by David Crane
david@defensereview.com
According to StrategyPage.com, Al Qaeda groups are known to have purchased scuba gear and trained for underwater attack missions against us. That’s why it’s good thing that several technologies have been developed by U.S. companies to combat this specific threat.
The Cerberus360 swimmer detection system, manufactured by QinetiQ, utilizes wideband sonar technologies to "detect intrusion by swimmers using snorkel, scuba or re-breather as well as swimmer delivery vehicles and provides the early detection, classification, tracking and warning of threat targets over a 1.6 km protection circle." Strategy Page reports that during test, the Cerberus360…
successfully detected approaching scuba divers (underwater swimmers) at a range of 900 meters. And, last year (2005), Raytheon reportedly received a patent for a sonar-based active denial system that uses sound waves to disrupt divers by making them vomit into their regulators. Disgusting-but-effective, one would think.
New Scientist Magazine has the full story.