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Nonlethal weapons lab aims to stop threats cold

Devices that stop vehicles and boats without harming their drivers are among the nonlethal weapons the Defense Department is planning to test within the next year, officials said.

Their capabilities range from disabling computer systems in cars and boats to temporarily blinding drivers by “flash-heating” their vehicles’ windshields, said Dave Law, technology division chief for the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Program at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va. No firm timelines have been set, but program officials expect at least five weapons will move toward final testing within the next year.

“Those are our two biggest gaps: vehicle stopping and vessel stopping,” Law said. “That’s where we’ve geared most of our investments, to try and address those two capability gaps.”

The plan marks a shift for the program, headed by Marine Commandant Gen. James Conway, which has focused largely on stopping people, Law said.

High on the nonlethal wish list for 2010 are the radio frequency vehicle stopper and the radio frequency vessel stopper, which use high-powered microwaves to disable electrical systems at ranges of 100 to 200 yards. They are designed to stop cars, boats and other high-speed watercraft while U.S. troops are still a safe distance from would-be suicide bombers. The program has spent $1.2 million on the vehicle stopper and $2.6 million on the vessel stopper so far, said Linda Palmer, a financial officer for the nonlethal weapons program.

Work on the vehicle stopper has progressed to the point where an advanced prototype could be tested next year at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren, Va., Law said. A vehicle disabled with the device can be restarted after its battery terminals are removed and replaced.

The program also is developing a device that disables a vehicle’s electrical system as the car or truck rolls over the device. Essentially an electrified speed bump, it allows troops to target vehicles selectively, disabling suspicious ones by firing an electrical charge into the undercarriage.

If adopted, the speed-bump stopper would augment the spiked nets troops now use to stop vehicles. The nets wrap around a vehicle’s axles, but they are inconvenient because they must be cut away and discarded afterward, officials said.

“There are many, many different types of vehicles, so getting this to work on all of them … is really the trick,” Law said. “The probability of engine kill is really important to us.”

Spiked nets could have a new use, however. The nonlethal program is researching whether the nets can be used to stop high-speed vessels on open water, a possible nod to increased concerns over piracy off the coast of Somalia. The nets could be air-dropped or launched from other vessels, but there is no timeline for fielding them in this fashion, officials said.

Additionally, officials expect to field carbon dioxide-based lasers designed to temporarily blind drivers during the day by “flash-heating” their entire windshield with infrared rays, lighting it up and making it difficult to see.

“It’s really to go after the driver and suggest that he needs to slow down or stop,” Law said of the project, which has cost $1.5 million to date. “It puts enough light on the windshield … that you’d have a hard time seeing.”

Green laser dazzlers already approved for use by the Pentagon have proven effective at night, but they don’t work as well during the day, when the contrast between a laser and its surroundings is less pronounced.

Human targets

Defense Department researchers also are continuing work on nonlethal weapons that have direct effects on humans, including a device that targets the circulatory system of underwater divers and next-generation electroshock weapons.

The underwater acoustics project creates pressure points in a diver’s lungs and circulatory system, causing escalating discomfort for anyone too close to the device, Law said. Thus far, the Navy and Coast Guard have shown interest.

“They’re very uncomfortable to the diver,” Law said of the devices. “It starts out with something that’s not necessarily pain, but as you get closer and closer, it ramps up and up, and it becomes painful.”

For land use, the program is developing long-range electroshock weapons. In one version, a 40mm electroshock round is fired up to 200 yards. Another version targets a person’s limbs, causing temporary paralysis of his arms or legs for about five or 10 minutes.