By Brandi Watters, Herald Bulletin Staff Writer
ANDERSON — An Anderson company will get national attention this summer when its inventions are featured on The History Channel.
A film crew staged a set on a runway at the Anderson Municipal Airport on Monday, filming the most recent additions to the slew of inventions by Xtreme Alternative Defense Systems, or XADS.
The seven-year-old company is headed up by Pete Bitar, whose team recently invented a cylindrical machine that could potentially protect police officers and U.S. troops fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The StunStrike Car Xapper, according to Bitar, is a stationary device connected to a car battery for a power supply and when activated, sends an electronic pulse of 175 volts in a passing vehicle.
The pulse shuts down the vehicle’s ignition, he said, and the affected vehicle rolls to a stop.
The machine could potentially help law enforcement stop speeding vehicles that pose a danger. In Iraq, the technology could be used to stop vehicles speeding toward military checkpoints.
While Bitar came up with the idea, the technology was produced with the help of XADS employees Rick Busby, Varce Howe and Leroy Lakey.
The electronic pulse machine, along with a threat assessment laser illumination tool that temporarily disorients drivers who pose a threat, will be featured on an episode of a science-related show on The History Channel.
Writer Kevin Commins said the episode is tentatively being called “Science: Impossible.”
Director Matthew Irving of Motion Picture Productions Inc. was in Anderson to film the episode, and said the technologies developed by XADS are an example of the future of modern weaponry.
XADS specializes in non-lethal directed energy defense systems. XADS’ laser that detonates improvised explosive devices from a safe distance is currently in the testing phase and could end up on the front lines in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“These show the non-lethal possibilities of these weapons,” Irving said.
Most people, when considering lasers and new weapons and defense technologies, can tend to get the wrong idea. “Everybody thinks of killer ray guns.”
“It’s about time that we had something between shouting and shooting,” Bitar said.
U.S. Marine Corps Col. Mark Davis works as a defense adviser for XADS and said the two inventions featured in the episode would be more likely applied toward law enforcement, though they could find their way into battle.
Last August, XADS was named one of the 50 “Companies to Watch” by the state and has received numerous awards.
The XADS inventions filmed Monday will be the centerpiece of the episode, Irving said.
Commins estimated that the episode will air on The History Channel in July.
Contact Brandi Watters: 640-4847, brandi.watters@heraldbulletin.com
