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View Full Version : Secret Strobelight Weapons of World War II



82Marine89
05-17-2008, 09:27 PM
It might have been the greatest lost weapon of World War II. Major-General JFC Fuller, the man credited with developing modern armored warfare in the 1920's, called failure to use it "the greatest blunder of the whole war." He even suggested that British and American tank divisions could have overrun Germany before the Russians if it had been deployed.

I've been looking at a new range of strobing weapons which use flickering lights to subdue criminals and insurgents. But it turns out that the disorienting power of such lights was discovered decades before.

The secret weapon Fuller was referring to was the Canal Defence Light -- a powerful searchlight mounted on a tank, with a shutter allowing it to flicker six times a second. The 13-million candlepower searchlight was intended as means of illuminating the battlefield and dazzling the enemy, described in a fascinating article on the CDL Tanks of Lowther castle:


The angle of the beam dispersion was 19 degrees which meant that if the CDL tanks were placed 30 yards apart in line abreast, the first intersection of light fell about 90 yards ahead and at 1000 yards the beam was 340 yards wide by 35 feet high. This formed triangles of darkness between and in front of the CDL's into which could be introduced normal fighting tanks, flame-throwing Churchill Crocodiles and infantry.


A further refinement was the ability to flicker the light. On the order given for 'Scatter', an armour plated shutter was electrically oscillitated back and forward at about six times a second. When first produced it was thought that this flicker effect (similar to the modern disco strobe lights) would have a damaging effect on the eyes of any observer and might cause temporary blindness.

It was the flickering aspect which made the CDL special. The makes found that when it was employed, it was impossible to locate the vehicle accurately. In one test a CDL-equipped vehicle was driven towards a 25-pounder anti-tank gun; even as it closed from 2000 yards to 500 yards the gunners (firing practice rounds, one assumes) were unable to hit the tank. When asked to draw the route taken by the CDL tank, the observers drew a straight line, while in fact the tank had been crossing the range from side to side.

Spraying the area with machine-gun fire would not work either; the armoured reflector of the searchlight kept working even after being hit repeatedly.
Cdl_grant_3
Although the CDL did not have the kind of disabling effect that the light-based personnel immobilization device being developed by Peak Beam for the US Army, the type of disorientation seems quite similar. If it had been used at much closer range then more dramatic effects -- dizziness, loss of balance and the ingfamous nausea -- might also have been observed. However, with its mechanical shutter the technology was much more primitive than the strobing Xenon light developed by Peak Beam which produces a 'squarer' pulse and is signficantly more effective than earlier strobes.

Over three hundred CDLs were built -- using Matilda, Churchill and Grant tanks -- and might have played a major role after D-Day. but instead, they remained unused. There seem to ahve been two reasons for this. One the one hand, the power or the CDL was kept extremely secret: "Even the Generals who should have used it did not know what the tank could do," complained its inventor, Marcel Mitzakis. And those that had heard of it had trouble believing at a simple flickering light could have any effect, and preferred to rely on proven weapons. Fuller was one of the few who appreciated what the CDl might have achieved.

http://blog.wired.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/05/16/cdl_matilda.jpg

http://blog.wired.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/05/15/cdl_grant_3.jpg

Click for entire story... (http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/05/wwii-strobe-t-1.html)

Dilloduck
05-17-2008, 09:57 PM
It might have been the greatest lost weapon of World War II. Major-General JFC Fuller, the man credited with developing modern armored warfare in the 1920's, called failure to use it "the greatest blunder of the whole war." He even suggested that British and American tank divisions could have overrun Germany before the Russians if it had been deployed.

I've been looking at a new range of strobing weapons which use flickering lights to subdue criminals and insurgents. But it turns out that the disorienting power of such lights was discovered decades before.

The secret weapon Fuller was referring to was the Canal Defence Light -- a powerful searchlight mounted on a tank, with a shutter allowing it to flicker six times a second. The 13-million candlepower searchlight was intended as means of illuminating the battlefield and dazzling the enemy, described in a fascinating article on the CDL Tanks of Lowther castle:


It was the flickering aspect which made the CDL special. The makes found that when it was employed, it was impossible to locate the vehicle accurately. In one test a CDL-equipped vehicle was driven towards a 25-pounder anti-tank gun; even as it closed from 2000 yards to 500 yards the gunners (firing practice rounds, one assumes) were unable to hit the tank. When asked to draw the route taken by the CDL tank, the observers drew a straight line, while in fact the tank had been crossing the range from side to side.

Spraying the area with machine-gun fire would not work either; the armoured reflector of the searchlight kept working even after being hit repeatedly.
Cdl_grant_3
Although the CDL did not have the kind of disabling effect that the light-based personnel immobilization device being developed by Peak Beam for the US Army, the type of disorientation seems quite similar. If it had been used at much closer range then more dramatic effects -- dizziness, loss of balance and the ingfamous nausea -- might also have been observed. However, with its mechanical shutter the technology was much more primitive than the strobing Xenon light developed by Peak Beam which produces a 'squarer' pulse and is signficantly more effective than earlier strobes.

Over three hundred CDLs were built -- using Matilda, Churchill and Grant tanks -- and might have played a major role after D-Day. but instead, they remained unused. There seem to ahve been two reasons for this. One the one hand, the power or the CDL was kept extremely secret: "Even the Generals who should have used it did not know what the tank could do," complained its inventor, Marcel Mitzakis. And those that had heard of it had trouble believing at a simple flickering light could have any effect, and preferred to rely on proven weapons. Fuller was one of the few who appreciated what the CDl might have achieved.

http://blog.wired.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/05/16/cdl_matilda.jpg

http://blog.wired.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/05/15/cdl_grant_3.jpg

Click for entire story... (http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/05/wwii-strobe-t-1.html)


Seriously interesting stuff however if used on todays battlefield it probably would be deemed to cruel.

Gaffer
05-18-2008, 09:11 AM
Cool, a bit of history I never heard about. Thanks for that. Very interesting article.

Psychoblues
05-21-2008, 01:42 AM
I suppose all the starwars bullshit overwhelms you also, 82latrine. Is it the technology or the fantasy that excites you?

Pale Rider
05-21-2008, 05:19 PM
I suppose all the starwars bullshit overwhelms you also, 82latrine. Is it the technology or the fantasy that excites you?

Jesus Christ you fucking moron... just shut the fuck up and go away.

No wait... go ahead, be yourself, you're next ban is permanent.

82Marine89
05-21-2008, 08:07 PM
I suppose all the starwars bullshit overwhelms you also, 82latrine. Is it the technology or the fantasy that excites you?

Sponge Bob not on TV right now? Run along little boy.

gabosaurus
05-21-2008, 08:30 PM
"is that you baby?"
"yeah."

"got something to tell you."
"oh, what?"


I want to see you tonight
I want you to walk in the door
I want you to lay on the floor
Cause tonight's the night
We make love, under a stobe light
Underneath the strobe light

Wanna make love to you under the strobe light
Wanna make love to you under the strobe light
Strobe light - woah oh oh
Strobe light - woah oh oh

Yeah!

But the light goes to my head!
Everything i see is red

Baby when i kiss your hair
I feel electricity in the air

I'm gonna kiss your eyes
Then i'm gonna kiss your neck
Then i'm gonna kiss your tummy
The i'm gonna kiss your pineapple

Tonight's the night
For love under the light
Strobe light, strobe light
Underneath the strobe light

MtnBiker
07-02-2008, 08:56 AM
A new application,



The Homeland Security Department is aiming to arm federal agents with a light-saber-type weapon that emits a dazzling strobe capable of subduing criminals, terrorists and even unruly airline passengers.
It's the latest government effort to develop a non-lethal weapon — in this case, a powerful beam of light that temporarily blinds anyone who looks into it.

"The light could be used to make a bad guy turn away or shut his eyes, giving authorities enough time to tackle the suspect and apply the cuffs, all while sparing the lives of passersby, hostages or airline passengers," according to a description of the device from the Homeland Security Department's science and technology division.

Psychoblues
07-04-2008, 09:09 PM
I think I can hold my own in the advanced weaponry conversation, 82'M. I don't expect, however, that you can converse intelligently on the topic.



Sponge Bob not on TV right now? Run along little boy.

Maybe it is you that needs to experience some more cartoon TV, huh?!?!!??!?!?!!?!??!?!?!?!?! How are your plastic army men hoding up? Have you chewed their heads off, yet?

yoxi5236
07-07-2008, 08:43 PM
I like to wear pink tutus and eat my own boogers!