Выдержка из статьи
“Non-lethal technologies – an overview”

("Нелетальные технологии - обзор")

<...>

ACOUSTIC

Acoustic weapons, employing audible sound, infrasound or ultrasound represent one emerging non-lethal technology that is beginning to mature. In the audible range, one company has developed High Intensity Directed Acoustic (HIDA) devices such as the Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD), designed to deliver audible warning messages over long ranges (up to 1km). However, at closer distances it is considerably more incapacitating and can produce 120db of sound at 60m and peak levels of 130db at 4 metres.10 Hearing damage can occur at levels as low as 80db if exposure is over a long period, and at levels of 120db and over there is potential for hearing loss even after very short exposures.11 In addition to ear pain, reportedly some HIDA devices can cause such side effects as loss of equilibrium, vomiting and migraines.12

A prototype hand-held system based on the same technology, the “directed stick radiator”, has also been demonstrated. It fires high intensity “sonic bullets” or pulses of sound between 125–150db for a second or two. Such a weapon could, when fully developed, have the capacity to knock people off their feet. It has been argued that weapons that utilize infrasonic frequencies can cause nausea, disorientation and bowel spasms. A mobile “infrapulse generator” is being developed that generates low-frequency shock waves that resonate with body organs and that can cause physical damage. The LRAD was acquired by the US Marines for use in Iraq13 and there have been reports that an acoustic device has also been used in Afghanistan.14 The New York Police Department acquired two units in the run up to the 2004 Republican Convention in the city. Again, some analysts have voiced concern that “the U.S. is making a serious mistake by trying to quietly deploy a new pain-inducing weapon without first airing all of the legal, policy and human rights issues associated with it”.15

<...>

10. General Dynamics, 2002, Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD), Product Information Sheet.

11. J. Altmann, 2001, “Acoustic Weapons—A Prospective Assessment”, Science & Global Security, vol. 9, pp. 165–234.

12. M. Sella, 2003, “The Sound of Things to Come”, New York Times, 23 March.

13. CNN, 2004, “Troops get high tech noisemaker”, CNN.com, 3 March, at <edition.cnn.com/2004/TECH/ptech/03/03/sonic.weapon.ap/>.

14. C. Miller, 2004, “Can a Crying Baby Stop a Riot?”, Law Enforcement Technology, vol. 31, no. 3, p. 8.

15. W. Arkin, 2004, “The Pentagon’s Secret Scream: Sonic Devices that Can Inflict Pain or Even Permanent Deafness Are Being Deployed”, Los Angeles Times, 7 March.

Ссылка на статью “Non-lethal technologies - an overview”.