NON KINETIC/NON LETHAL WEAPONS

ACADEMY of INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW and HUMAN RIGHTS defines Non Kinetic Weapons or Non Lethal as:

A non-kinetic-energy (NKE) weapon is one that threatens or inflicts harm to a person other than through the application to the human body of the energy that a bullet, fragment, or other projectile possesses due to its motion. This term encompasses devices or agents that act as a weapon through the emission of different forms of radiation or sound, diffusion of chemical or biological agents, or the transmission of electricity¹. Many of these weapons have been deemed ‘non-lethal’ or ‘less-lethal’ insofar as they are claimed to reduce the risk of fatal or serious injury.

http://www.adh-geneva.ch/policy-studies/ongoing/projects-on-non-kinetic-energy-weapons

NATO defines Non Kinetic/Non Lethal Weapons as:

http://www.rta.nato.int/pubs/rdp.asp?RDP=RTO-TR-HFM-073

Non-Lethal Weapons are weapons which are explicitly designed and developed to incapacitate or repel personnel, with a low probability of fatality or permanent injury, or to disable equipment, with minimal undesired damage or impact on the environment.

This is NATO's description of their Non Kinetic/Non Lethal Weapons Capabilitie:

Electromagnetic – Radio Frequency (RF): Electromagnetic energy typically in the frequency range of 3 kHz to 300 GHz and is an emerging technology for NLW applications.

a) Anti-Electronic Electromagnetic Weapons: Anti-materiel weapons utilizing high power microwave pulses or non-nuclear EMP to disable electronic equipment by jamming or burning out sensitive components. Such weapons could be employed, for example, to disrupt the electrical system of engines, disable communication or radar systems, or damage computing equipment. Both the operators of such weapons and humans near the targeted equipment could be incidentally exposed to RF energy, but at the levels anticipated, such exposure would be expected to have no deleterious direct effect on humans. Indirect effects, such as the disruption of medical equipment, could have severe human consequences.

b) Microwave Energy: Radio Frequency electromagnetic energy typically in the frequency range from 100 MHz to 30 GHz. High Power Microwave (HPM) and ultrawideband (UWB) radiation usually refer to high peak power, low average power pulses used as anti-electronic weapons. The primary accepted effect of human exposure to high average power microwave energy is the heating of tissue. Depending on the frequency of the microwaves and other factors, the energy may be deposited deep into the body or primarily localized near the body surface.

c) Microwave Hearing: A phenomenon in which microwave pulses of certain characteristics are heard as clicks or buzzes. The mechanism of this phenomenon is believed to be a thermoelastic transduction of the rapid temperature rise caused by the RF pulse into a mechanical wave in the head that is heard by the normal hearing apparatus. It is not believed to be harmful, but some consider that it might be annoying.

d) Millimetre Wave Energy: Radio Frequency electromagnetic energy typically in the frequency range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz. Millimetre Wave Energy is an emerging technology for non-lethal weapon applications, in particular, the Active Denial System, which beams ~95 GHz millimetre waves at a distance to cause intolerable heating sensation that stops when no longer exposed to the energy. As this frequency of energy is deposited on the surface of the body, the first medical signs of excessive exposure would be skin burns or damage to the cornea.

e) RF Human Exposure Standards: NATO and other international bodies have established health and safety recommendations for permissible exposure limits for human exposure to RFR energy. Such recommendations would doubtless apply to occupational exposures during development, training, and use of RF technologies for non-lethal applications. For NATO, the applicable standard is STANAG 2345 “Evaluation and Control of Personnel Exposure to Radio Frequency Fields – 3 kHz to 300 GHz.”

2) Electromagnetic – Visible and Invisible Light and Lasers: Most NLT concepts utilizing light are intended to temporarily disrupt vision. For these, the principal human effect of concern is damage to the eye. In particular, the ability of the eye to focus certain frequencies on the retina creates an increased risk of damage from these frequencies. Secondary effects due to visual impairment are also of concern.

Reflections from high-energy lasers used for anti-material applications might produce enough energy to damage the skin or eyes.

a) Flashes and Flares: Devices used to generate light in the visible spectrum, directionally or omni- directionally.

b) Infrared Energy: Electromagnetic radiation in the 1 to 100 micron wavelength range, with a majority of the devices using such energy operating between 1 and 10 microns.

c) Isotropic Radiators: Special munitions that illuminate or bloom with high intensity. The energy is generated by an explosive burst, which superheats gaseous plasma surrounding it, causing a bright flash.

d) Laser Illuminators: Devices that use low energy lasers operating in the visible spectrum in a variety of colours, intending to illuminate, intimidate, distract, and identify the target. Such devices are intended to be “eye-safe,” however a major human effects issue with visible lasers has been concern over the possibility of retinal damage.

e) Laser Ionisers: Postulated technology that would use laser energy to ionize the air molecules along a path, thereby enabling transmission of electromagnetic or electrical energy at long distances without conventional antennas or wires. Also see Electrical Stimulating Devices.

f) Laser Light Bullets: An emerging technology that purportedly produces a long bright pulse of focused laser light in a variety of colours. It is produced by rounds containing a tuned resonator chamber surrounding a lasing medium that is energized by the explosive charge.

g) Laser Scattering Obscuration: Visual obscuration or glare caused by aiming lasers at windows, vision ports, automobile windshields, or airplane canopies. Micro-abrasions in the glass scatter the light in such a way that visibility is greatly impaired.

h) Pulsed-Energy Projectile (PEP): A pulsed laser technology concept intended to produce a large flash, bang, and shock wave to temporarily disorient and incapacitate individuals.

i) Ultraviolet Energy: Electromagnetic energy typically of wavelengths ranging from about 1 nm to 400 nm.

j) Visible Light: Electromagnetic energy typically in the 400 – 700 nm wavelength range, which is detectable by the human eye. Such light is focused onto the retina by the lens of the eye, generally making it more potentially hazardous to vision than light at higher or lower wavelengths.

k) Visible Light Strobes: Visible lights that flash at a frequency near that of the human brain electrical waves (7 – 9 Hz). Such stimulation could possibly cause vertigo, disorientation, seizures, and vomiting in sensitive individuals. However, such effects are poorly documented and their potential utility for non-lethal applications has not been evaluated.

3) Electrical Stimulation Devices: Devices that produce and deliver a non-lethal electrical shock to a target, resulting in pain, involuntary muscle contraction, and incapacitation, depending on the device and its application. The shock can be produced by pulsed or direct electric current, affecting the target muscle signal paths and disturbing the body’s nervous system. Conceivable undesired effects could include effects on the heart and interference with medical implants that utilize electricity, such as cardiac pacemakers. Electrical burns at the area of contact are possible.

a) Electrical Fence: A fence that delivers a non-lethal electrical shock. It can be employed as a barrier against intruders.

b) Electrical Water Stream: A proposed mobile unit that projects a water stream charged with high voltage, low amperage.

c) Net Mines: Emerging technologies which would use a target-activated mine to deploy a net that would deliver an electrical stimulation.

d) Stun Gun: A generic term often applied for electrical stimulating devices. The term “cattle prod” is also used.

e) TASER: A commercial electrical stimulation device with increasing use for law enforcement, security, and anti-terrorism. Such devices usually deliver electrical energy through pointed barbs that enter the skin. Depending on the location of entry, such barbs could cause undesired minor to severe injury. TASER is a registered trademark of a specific company, however the term TASER is often used generically to mean any hand held, gun-like electrical stimulating device.

f) Wireless “TASER”: Postulated devices for delivering electrical energy to a target at a distance without a wire. There are many ideas but little success. One concept would deliver a shocking projectile that includes a source of stored electricity (e.g., a capacitor) and barbs that catch onto the target and discharge upon impact. Another proposal is to use an aerosol charge to produce a gas-dispersed conducting channel, down which an electrical shock could be delivered to the target.