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Public figures who risk assassination may soon feel safer when they give
talks. The Southwest Research Institute of San Antonio, Texas, is patenting a
“rapid deployment countermeasure system” that shields them against snipers (WO
01/35044). Instead of wearing a bulky bulletproof vest and hoping a gunman’s not
smart enough to aim for the head, the VIP stands behind an open door frame
resembling an airport X-ray machine. Radar antennae sense fast-moving, incoming
objects and trigger an explosive gas release. This deploys a bulletproof
polyethylene blanket across the frame—quickly enough to stop a 9mm bullet
fired from around 15…