The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) received permission from the Pentagon to test the nonlethal Active Denial System (ADS) heat ray weapon for potential use along the United States-Mexico border, CNN reported on Wednesday.
The report cited a September memo by US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth approving the testing following a request from the DHS, though the request did not note any specifics on the weapon's use or its testing program, according to CNN.
The energy weapon shoots electromagnetic waves at targets up to just over half a mile away, causing burning sensations on the skin, the report said, citing US military officials who said the result creates “an instinctive and irresistible urge to run from the effect.”
The system was previously deployed in Afghanistan and was further considered for use at US facilities housing terror detainees abroad, but was not actively used in either case, CNN reported.
Hegseth's memo permits the temporary loan of one ADS system for a period of seven months, with an option for the DHS to request an extension, a US defense official told CNN.
In addition, the memo assigns sole responsibility for the weapon's "system employment, use and development of tactics, techniques and procedures" to the DHS, further noting that it “shall not be operated" by Pentagon personnel.
A US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) spokesperson told CNN that the agency is "continually evaluating new technologies, especially those that enhance operational effectiveness and strengthen mission capabilities."
System faces concerns over direct, indirect harm despite nonlethality
Despite being nonlethal, potential use of the weapon system on the US-Mexico border has raised concerns over potential direct and indirect harm to its targets.
“Even if they’re chasing people back to the river, you don’t want them to go in and drown,” a former CBP official told CNN.
In a previous instance, former US Homeland Security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen declined to use the weapon against migrants in 2018 prior to the midterm elections.
“The issue was treating immigrants and citizens like enemy combatants,” a former DHS official familiar with the matter told CNN. “Thematically, inhumane treatments typically get rejected.”
CNN contacted the Pentagon for comment but was referred to DHS.