The car chase was made famous by films like Bullitt and The French Connection, but for some reason, most Americans think of O.J. and the white Ford Bronco when they think of pursuits before either of those excellent films. The reason? The O.J. chase was real. Real slow, too, but definitely authentic. But not all real-life car chases are slow. In fact, many are very fast and extremely dangerous, but the U.S. Air Force is looking to change that in the next few years with a weapon it calls the Car Stopper.

The Car Stopper is a device that will enable the USAF to disable a vehicle's electronic devices, rendering the vehicle immobile in under one second. But while the military may be on the lookout for microwave tech that can disable vehicles of all shapes and sizes, a company called Eureka Aerospace already has such a device in development, and it can reportedly stop a vehicle dead in its tracks from up to 200 meters away. The device, called High Powered Electro Magnetic System (HPEMS), can stop vehicles made after the mid-1970s cold.

Hit the jump to watch a Popular Science video showing just how effective the device is. HPEMS can stop a Toyota without much of a fuss, and it could one day assist the military in stopping cars and tanks on the battle field, or law enforcement looking to avoid high speed chases.


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