Here’s one more interesting article about another Raytheon product (also from NewScientist.com):
- 18:28 09 August 2005
- NewScientist.com news service
- Barry Fox
Phone-bomb hijack
Cellphones provide a simple yet effective way for terrorists to remotely trigger a bomb. But now a portable device devised by US defence contractor Raytheon could quickly identify and disable such weapons. The device includes a…
transmitter that mimics a cellphone base station and a metal horn to concentrate the signal from a 10 milliwatt power source in a single direction. Scanning suspicious luggage with the tool tricks a concealed phone into thinking it is in range of a new network base station and blocks it from any genuine stations in the vicinity.
The suspect phone will also respond with a “handshake signal” containing its phone number, allowing a network operator to temporarily disconnect it from the real network, and preventing it from receiving a detonation call.
If the suspect phone turns out to be innocent, the worst that happens is that the phone needs re-connection.
