© Herald Sun, AustraliaA scene from Call of Duty: Black Ops Zombies.
The futuristic weapons - which attack their victims' central nervous system - are being developed by scientists and could be used against Russia's enemies and even its own dissidents by the end of the decade.
Mr Putin has described the guns, which use electromagnetic radiation like that found in microwave ovens, as entirely new instruments for achieving political and strategic goals.
Plans to introduce the super-weapons were announced by Russian defence minister Anatoly Serdyukov.
While the technology has been around for some time, MrTsyganok said the guns were recently tested for crowd control purposes.
"When it was used for dispersing a crowd and it was focused on a man, his body temperature went up immediately as if he was thrown into a hot frying pan," Mr Tsyganok said.
"Still, we know very little about this weapon and even special forces guys can hardly cope with it,'' he said.
Research into electromagnetic weapons has been carried out in the US and Russia since the '50s but it appears Putin has stolen a march on the US.
Precise details have not been revealed but previous research has shown that low-frequency waves or beams can affect brain cells, alter psychological states and make it possible to transmit suggestions and commands directly into someone's thoughts.
Mr Putin said the technology is comparable in effect to nuclear weapons but "more acceptable in terms of political and military ideology''.
Mr Serdyukov said the weaponry based on new physics principles - direct-energy weapons, geophysical weapons, wave-energy weapons, genetic weapons and psychotronic weapons - were part of the state arms procurement program for 2011-2020.
Maybe there will be a reason to purchase that zombie safe house, after all.
Last year Texan Austin Fleming's created the Vagabond Mobile Safe House Device, which incorporates potable water filtration, tracking devices and photovoltaic cells into a handy and stylish leather backpack.
The whole things flips out armadillo-style in under three minutes and is covered in reflective coating to confuse drooling marauders.
The design won the 2011 Architects Southwest Zombie Safe House competition.
Reader Comments
They have them here - saw a news story last week where they were even demonstrated - the investigative reporter even guinea pigged himself and described the feeling… No zombie effect was described at all and it made the crowd of people definitely RUN in the opposite direction.
So did we beat them to the tech. Or do there's contain further evil effects…
Or is this story just made up?
Researchers and whistle blowers have been talking about such devices for 30 years or more.
Though this is no longer the Cold War, I wonder if this will evoke any meaningful response from the West.
Remember: Being a head of state these days is bizarre, and if you do not wish to totally cooperate with the powers that be, it's even more bizarre. I which Putin wasn't so autocratic. But what does it take to keep a non-Western country on its feet while the Western powers try to protect their criminally insane banker friends?
You better believe that all the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries, along with a host of others, are getting all the propaganda and pressure that the West can muster thrown at them right now. I am sure plenty of individuals in those places are tempted to fall for it, and that plenty do. When your culture is being intruded upon by criminal elements, that's not the time for sweetness and light.
Liberals in the West need to understand this better. Those nations are fighting a propaganda war against their livelihoods and their lives. I only wish they could be more open about this. Regardless of what side we're on, we are all trading partners, so we can't afford to be too vicious in public. I hope the appropriate messages are being transmitted privately, however.