Introduction to Nonlethal Weapons

Description

Nonlethal weapons (NLW) have also been called non-injurious, disabling measures, immobilizers, strategic immobilizers, discriminate force, less-lethal, less-than-lethal, pre-lethal, mission kill, new age weapons, soft kill weapons, limited effects technology, neutralizing technology, reduced lethality weapons, low collateral damage weaponry, etc.

They are used to incapacitate and deter people and to minimize fatalities and damage to equipment, facilities, and the environment. NLW are not required to have a zero probability of producing death or serious injury. Currently, there are several definitions that include a variety of terms, weapons, and tactics.

The Department of Defense (DOD) defines them as: “weapons that are explicitly designed and primarily employed so as to incapacitate personnel or material, while minimizing fatalities, permanent injury to personnel and undesired damage to property and the environment. … Non-lethal weapons employ means other than gross physical destruction to prevent the target from functioning.”

They are described by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) as: “[The] identification and development of new or improved weapons and other technology that will minimize the risk of death and injury to officers, suspects, prisoners and the public, and contribute to the reduction of civil and criminal liability suits against police, sheriff, and corrections departments.”

NLW cover a wide range of many technologies and tactics, most of which are classified. They include: biological warfare, directed-energy weapons, communications warfare, information warfare (IW), and psychological operations (PsyOp). Many of these weapons can be accurately delivered at long ranges. The people who operate these weapons are known as users or operators, and the people whom they are directed at are called targets.

These weapons can be organized by function (counter personnel and counter material), or technology (electromagnetic, chemical and biological, mechanical, ancillary, nanotechnology, etc.) Even within these two broad methods of classification there are numerous ways they can be organized.1 For this introduction they’ll be listed by technology, and then subcategorized by application.2 A more detailed description of these weapons will appear later.

Directed-Energy Weapons (DEW)

Microwaves—(counter personnel, counter material, counter function)

Lasers—(counter personnel, counter material)

Bright Lights—(counter personnel)

Holographic Projections—(counter personnel)

Acoustics (includes audible, infrasound, and ultrasound)—(counter personnel)



Chemical and Biological

Calmatives—(counter personnel)

Nanotechnology—(counter personnel, counter material)

Malodorants (nauseating smells)—(counter personnel)

Antimaterial Chemicals—(counter material, counter function, counter personnel)



Miscellaneous

Physical Barriers—(counter personnel)

Computer Attacks—(counter material, counter function)

Defoliants and Soil Destabilizers—(counter material, counter function)

Weather Modification—(counter material, counter function)

Psychological Operations—(counter personnel)

Used in Combination

NLW are to be used in combination. “These weapons,” says the CFR, “must be deployed coherently, in synergistic coordination with information/psychological warfare technologies.” In both their 2004 Non-Lethal Weapons and Future Peace Enforcement Operations and August 2006 Human Effects of Non-Lethal Technologies reports, NATO has suggested that NLWs should be used in combination to increase their effectiveness.

The NRC described that the synergistic use of directed-energy weapons could maximize effectiveness. According to the US military, the goal is to overwhelm the target by attacking all five senses, plus motor and cognitive functions.

Sources Next

Endnotes

1 For instance, National Defense's March 1, 2002 article, Non-lethal Weapons to Gain Relevancy in Future Conflicts, by John B. Alexander classifies them by capability and lists them in three basic categories: counter personnel, counter material, and counter capability. Lieutenant Colonel Erik L. Nutley, USAF, uses the same classification method in his report, Non-Lethal Weapons: Potential Strategic Blessings and Curses of Non-Lethal Weapons on the Battlefield, but uses only two categories, counter personnel and counter material. Also, one weapon may be used for a variety of purposes. Furthermore, the category in which a weapon belongs can be open to interpretation.

2 This list is just a portion of the NLWs which are known to exist. Weapons such as rubber bullets, bean bags, water canons, spike strips, stun guns, foams, tear gas and pepper spray, multi-sensory devices, and entanglement systems, will not be covered, as this section introduces only weapons which can be more easily used in a clandestine manner. Although, the tactics which use some technologies such as blocking (barriers, entanglement, foams), and combined technologies (multi-sensory, flash/bang devices), will be explored later.