Patent ID: 7921588

Claim:
A non-lethal directed energy weapons system, comprising: a directed energy weapon adapted to transmit a directed energy beam to illuminate human targets; and a safeguard system that controls the weapon according to a legal protocol, said legal protocol defined by rules of engagement that embody the laws governing the use of the weapon, said safeguard system applying the rules of engagement to a requested use and a received authorization to use the weapon to determine whether the requested use is authorized and applying the rules of engagement to a sensed input condition relating to an attribute of the human target to determine whether the requested use of the weapon is legally justified to generate a control signal that fires the weapon in conformance with the legal protocol wherein said safeguard system includes an authorization system for authorizing an operator to use the weapon, said authorization including the operator's identifying information and a multi-valued authorization level that gives certain operators greater authorization to use the weapon than others, said authorization level authorizing zones of use and power levels of the weapon for the operator, said safeguard system determining whether the weapon is located in an authorized zone of use and whether the requested power level is legally justified.