Development of Advanced Less Lethal Weapons

[Dord]

I thought this may pique the interest of some contributors, bearing in mind the recent conversations about law enforcement, guns and alternatives to killing people...

The UK government has launched a competition to develop an Advanced Less Lethal Weapons System.
 

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• The system should be able to accurately, reliably and temporarily stop a violent or armed individual from causing harm with a primary focus on solutions for distances between 5m and 50m (but solutions for distances between 0m and 70m will be considered)

•The system must be effective against a moving target

• The system must be of a size and weight commensurate with, or can be adapted to be carried / used for, normal policing duties including routine patrol, public order and firearms

• The system must be reliable in use and consistent when activated

• The system must have second or multiple applications readily available

• The system shall be able to operate within weather conditions typical for the UK, including rain

• The ability for the police to be able to initiate and/or maintain communication and visual contact with the subject is important and should form part of the technical solution or concept of operation; this could be via normal voice communication at closer ranges

Additionally, it would be desirable for the possibility to use the system in any Crown Dependencies or in support of international deployments. The ability to mark a subject in order to ‘identify’ them at a later time would also be desirable for a system, especially for use in public order situations where the perpetrator of a crime may not be easy to apprehend at the time of the offence.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/competition-advancing-less-lethal-weapons/competition-document-advancing-less-lethal-weapons

The UK's current hands-off less lethal options are incapacitant sprays (~4m), Taser (~6m) and baton rounds (~40m).

I've used all three and one major obstacle I see with a 'one size fits all weapon' is how to make it effective at 50m without being hazardous to health at 5m. Or, conversely, effective at 5m but not a damp squib at 50m.

Ultra low/high frequency sound maybe?

[Curious layman]

It's effective, but it seems to be limited due to the side effects. I can definitely see this being used more and more in the future.

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Studies have found that exposure to high intensity ultrasound at frequencies from 700 kHz to 3.6 MHz can cause lung and intestinal damage in mice. Heart rate patterns following vibroacoustic stimulation has resulted in serious negative consequences such as atrial flutter and bradycardia.^[13][14]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_weapon#Effects_other_than_to_the_ears

Wouldn't like to be on the receiving end of this one.

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The possibility of a device that produces frequency that causes vibration of the eyeballs—and therefore distortion of vision—was suggested by paranormal researcher Vic Tandy^[1][2] in the 1990s

What about Nerf guns?

Edited August 21, 2020 by Curious layman