In an attempt to thwart and discourage the use of cars and other vehicles in suicide bombing attacks, NATO has been funding the development of a compact electromagnetic jammer that can safely cause an engine to cut out before a bomber reaches their target.
The jammer is designed to be permanently installed at checkpoints to stop a potential threat well before it gets within lethal range, but it’s also compact enough to be carried by vehicles, allowing them to stop suspicious cars before they get too close. The specifics of how exactly it works — and where it’s being developed and tested — are closely guarded secrets, not surprisingly. But once perfected it will also be able to stop other vehicles too like boats, jetskis, aerial drones, and eventually even the mechanisms that trigger the bombs themselves. [NATO via Popular Science]