FUTURE URBAN WARFARE

With global financial meltdown unfolding, more and more people grow angry and hit the streets. There will be more riots and anti government protests than ever and new world order has the answer, so called crowd control systems or non-lethal weaponry. Well, somebody has to control the angry mob... How would they do it?

Directed Acoustic Weapons

“Sonic Cannon” capable of broadcasting earsplitting, “disorienting” sounds, (have been used to break up peaceful demonstrations in public spaces in Iraq and the country of Georgia). The device, called a “long-range acoustic device” (LRAD), is described by its manufacturer, the California-based American Technology Corporation, as having the ability to emit an “attention-getting and highly irritating tone for behavior modification.” (the device, which costs roughly $20,000, is two feet in diameter, and weighs 60 pounds, has been used “in combat since December 2003.”). LARD works like a highly directional, high power megaphone, able to blast sounds (such as crowd-dispersal instructions in Arabic) in a narrow beam and with great clarity at a deafening 150 decibels (50 times the human threshold of pain). LRAD can also create deafening noises which can incapacitate people within 300 meters by "firing" short bursts of intense acoustic energy.

Directed Energy Weapons

Anti-personnel non lethal directed energy weapons include lasers, high power electro-magnetic pulse and directional acoustic weapons. One of the systems currently in use is the“SaberShot laser dazzler“ – this hand held or weapon mounted low-power device uses 250Mw of 532nm green-laser. When directed at the target, the laser's optics temporarily expand to generate a blinding light which penetrates smoke, fog at twice the range of white light. Modulation of such high intensity light cause disorientation, dazzle and blink reaction that reduces the target's activity.

Directed microwave energy is also utilized for non lethal weapon system applications. Raytheon's “Active denial System“ (ADS) is a non lethal, counter-personnel directed energy non-lethal weapon which can be used to protect fixed positions or from mobile as well as airborne platforms, against human targets at distances beyond the effective range of small arms. The so-called active denial system (ADS) projects microwave-like radiation for distances of more than 500 meters, creating an excruciating, full-body burning sensation in anyone caught in its beam. The millimetre-wave rays penetrate skin to a depth of about 0.03cm in but cause no permanent damage, according to Raytheon, the system’s US-based maker. A similar system is currently at an initial development phase at applied physics lab of the the Israeli Technion. A different acoustic weapon is the vehicle mounted “Acoustic Blaster“, developed by PRIMEX Physics International. This weapon can be used for area denial, and against selected groups in crowds, mobs and rioters or in a hostile situation. The weapon can be operated by a single person. So far the system was developed as a prototype consisting of an array of four combustion detonation driven devices fired simultaneously or independently. The detonation creates an acoustic pressure of up to 165dB at a distance of 15 meters. The resulting acoustic pressure waveform can be optimized for acoustic-physiological coupling to targets for antipersonnel applications. The US Air Force Research Laboratory (ARL) is also working on a “Sequential Arc Discharge Acoustic Generator“ (SADAG) which produces high-intensity impulsive sound waves generated by electrical means. Among the programs currently under development at the USMC Non Lethal Weapons Program are multi-sensory devices aimed to disable individuals within structures, a taser to incapacitate a single individual and mobility denial system that deploys slippery foam to impede the movement of foot and vehicular traffic.

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