New Weapons Shoot to Hurt, Not to Kill
The Pentagon’s Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate, founded in 1997, continues to explore alternatives to the use of lethal force by researching new non-lethal weapons and training military leaders at the Interservice non-lethal Individual Weapons Instructor Course at Fort Leonard Wood, MO.
In addition to traditional non-lethal weapons such as rubber bullets and Tasers, which can have drastically different effects based on the size and strength of the target, some new and universally effective non-lethal weapons are in development.
The Active Denial System uses electromagnetic radio-frequency beam that penetrates only 1/64th of an inch into the target’s skin to create the sensation of burning skin that stops almost instantly after the beam is shut off.
An imagined weapon is the development of technological black ice that would cause people and vehicles to slip uncontrollably unless equipped with shoes or tires containing the counteracting chemical.
Chinese scientists have hypothesized about biotechnology weapons that would make people feel terribly clumsy, incredibly forgetful, or completely docile.
A new non-lethal weapon is a pinpoint long-range loudspeaker that can send deafening sound directly at a target and has already been used to ward off a pirate attack on a civilian cruise ship in Africa in 2005.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC) from the Kansas City Star (02/18/07); P. A1; Canon, Scott.
