The Pentagon unveils a new heat-ray gun that is designed to make targets feel like they are about to catch fire. It’s main goal: pain. Does it violate international law, and could it be used for torture? Retired Marine Col. Gary Anderson says: “Why would I want to use an $8 million weapon [when I can use] a 25-cent pen knife?” Human Rights Watch military expert Marc Garlasco says the weapon raises major concerns. They joins us for a discussion. [includes rush transcript]

The Pentagon has unveiled one of its newest high-tech weapons of the future this week – a heat-ray gun that is designed to make targets feel like they are about to catch fire. The gun is officially known as the Active Denial System, or ADS. It functions by firing an invisible high-energy beam from a large rectangular dish mounted on a Humvee vehicle.

The beams are designed to penetrate clothing and then travel less than half a millimeter into the skin. Within seconds, the beam heats the skin to around 120 degrees. The Pentagon describes the raygun as a safe, non-lethal weapon designed for crowd control but critics question the safety of the weapon if used on crowds containing elderly people, children or pregnant women.

The weapon isn’t expected to go into production for another three years but the Pentagon has already launched a public relations campaign to win support for the experimental weapon. This is an excerpt from a promotional video produced by the Department of Defense.

• Pentagon promotional video.
• Marc Garlasco. Senior military analyst and non-lethal weapons expert at Human Rights Watch. He is co-author of the Human Rights Watch report “Off Target: The Conduct of the War and Civilian Casualties in Iraq.”
• Gary Anderson. Retired Marine Colonel and defense consultant in Washington D.C.