It strikes me that this might be a good weapon to use against the Somali pirates, not by military ships, but by commercial vessels that are unable or unwilling to mount lethal weapons. The only drawback I can think of is range. I'm not sure how far this thing is supposed to project.

At 4-million a pop it's not cost effective.  It's cheaper to just have your ships go faster through pirate territory and pay a little more in insurance premiums.

Currently using "less than lethal" weapons is only seen as a way to get sued, either because someone dies (possibly for an unrelated reason), or because of claims that they are inhumane (using pain to enforce compliance).  These claims are being used repeatedly against not only tasers and electric shock devices, but tear gas, pepper pellets, nightsticks, even compliance holds.

 

What is needed is for people to file lawsuits when injury or death results from the failure of police and military forces to be trained and equipped to use these devices.  Only in a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't situation legal situation can we hope to force the politicians to sort out the priorities and protocols.

OK, that was a joke, not intended to offend.

 

I think its an excellent idea to set up these fields to protect vital installations, or use them as weapons to capture rather than kill valuable targets. Be careful not to use it when you want to kill someone though. 

With all the bad publicity, crowd will run scared on sight of ray gun, so it doesn't need to be fired at all.

 

DG

It strikes me that this might be a good weapon to use against the Somali pirates, not by military ships, but by commercial vessels that are unable or unwilling to mount lethal weapons. The only drawback I can think of is range. I'm not sure how far this thing is supposed to project.

 

The major drawback is the size and weight, which severely limit where they can be placed.

 To be an effective deterrent weapon(s) have to be mounted so as to provide a 360 degree coverage and be able to work close to the hull.  Otherwise the small pirate boats will just swarm the vessel until some can work into blind spots and board.