December 29, 2005: The U.S. Air Force has developed the Saber 203, a laser dazzler (that temporarily degrades the eyesight of those it shines on) device that easily fits into the barrel of the 40mm grenade launcher for (under the barrel of) M-16 rifles. There is a larger dazzler that fits on the heavy machine-gun helicopter door gunners use. The Saber 203 has a range of 300 meters, the larger one can reach out a bit farther. The air force interest in this is to provide their security personnel with more options when they are dealing with hostile civilians at bases overseas. The laser dazzler makes it more different for hostiles to fire weapons, or even throw stones. It gives the security personnel another edge in tense situations. The larger laser dazzler for helicopters makes it possible to scatter most of a crowd from the air. Those that stay behind and still appear hostile can be assumed to be hard core, and dealt with. It's unlikely that the laser dazzler will be issued to the troops any time soon, for fear of media backlash (allegations of "inhumane American laser weapons used on innocent civilians" and so on.)