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By
DAVID PHINNEY
QUANTICO,
Va.
- Some of the toughest guys on earth may be going soft in
the 21st century.
Standard weapons in the US Marines’
arsenal could soon include guns shooting foam rubber plugs
called “batons.”
When faced by a threatening force,
soldiers might heave “flash bang” grenades that make
loud, scary noises and explode with a hundreds of little
“sting balls.”
And if things get really rough -- look
out. They could use a robotic vehicle to fend off oncoming
adversaries by firing off Day-Glo beanbags at high velocity
or shooting nets at them.
The Changing World of Conflict
It sounds a bit like the comic book
weapons of Spider Man, but similar “non-lethal” weapons
are breaking new ground for the military and being used in peacekeeping missions
in Bosnia and have been tested in Somalia. Some believe an
international force may be soon carrying them into Kosovo as
well.
“Ever since the end of the Cold War,
we find ourselves operating in that gray area between using
lethal force or just doing nothing,” notes Marine Capt.
Steve Simpson, who recently took part in non-lethal weapons
demonstrations at Quantico Marine Corps Base in
Virginia
.
“The commanders need an option to be
able to influence the battlefield without actually
exercising the last option, which is lethal force.”
Welcome to a new era of military
engagement. Preparing for combat remains key, but
US forces also are expected to handle a far greater spectrum
of conflict that now ranges from humanitarian efforts to
quelling ethnic unrest and civil wars.
“We’re breaking new ground and
we’re changing the traditional paradigm,” explains
Marine Col. George Fenton, director of the Pentagon’s
Joint NonLethal Weapons Program.
Microwave Guns and Laser
‘Dazzlers’
Funded with just $34 million in 1998,
the program has ignited some turf wars with other Pentagon
programs. But many agencies -- along with private inventors
are pitching in.
Electromagnetic weapons may soon stop
vehicles or even shipping on the high seas. Microwave guns
could trigger high fevers in adversaries. Researchers are
working on laser “dazzlers” that would cause
disorientation without permanent eye damage.
And don’t forget things like stickums,
slickums, super acids, goop guns, aerial stink bombs,
metal-eating microbes, and computer viruses, along with
experiments in acoustic energy and radio waves.
“We’re trying very hard to leverage
the vast talent and research being done,” Fenton observes.
Still, he admits that some of the work
remains very much in the realm of James Bond, Star Trek and
Captain Crunch. Other efforts have made their mark in a big
way – but perhaps a less lethal way, as supporters of
these innovations might say.
Non-Lethal Power Outages
Payloads dropped by an F -117 A stealth
fighter over
Yugoslavia
unleashed little “bomblets” containing chemically
treated spools of graphite thread in early May. The highly
classified weapon exploded over power stations and
short-circuited 70 percent of
Yugoslavia
’s power grid for seven hours
Total destruction would have caused
billions of dollars in damage, but the temporary power
outage for seven hours did the trick. It disoriented the
Yugoslav military and posed minimal threat to the civilian
population and the environment.
That’s a primary goal in the
development of all non-lethal weapons, says John B.
Alexander, author of Future War: Non-Lethal Weapons in
Modern Warfare.
“Such options offer a tremendous
advantage, because we can take away military capability,
without a deleterious effect on the citizenry,” explains
the retired Army colonel, who once supervised weapons
research at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Another objective is to avoid what
military officials and politicians bemoan as the “CNN
effect.” When viewers see bloody images of violence and
death, public support for
US involvement in overseas missions can erode quickly.
“Every soldier has a camera trained
on him, so in many ways it’s the low-level guy who is
establishing foreign policy,” notes Alexander.
Most doubt that non-lethal weapons will
replace conventional warfare. Some national security experts
even doubt they should be used at all.
“Protection comes from lethality, not
a kinder, gentler technology,” says Harvey Sapolsky, who
heads the securities studies program at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology. “As soon as the first soldier
gets killed, they’ll put the bean bags aside.”
That may be. Deadly force will continue
being the ultimate threat, but the beanbag could become
another step in the escalation to signal that a soldier
means business.
Other Non-Lethal Weapons
Stink Bombs: Otherwise known as
odorous substances. The idea is to develop “distinctive
odors” (in
otherwords, “PHEW!”)
for specific populations and geographic regions. Some will
be repulsive; others may be attractive or imitate dangerous
smells like leaking gas. A good stink bomb emitting the odor
of dead bodies, called “cadaversine,” could alert local
oncoming forces or crowds to maintain their distance or
drive workers away from critical industrial areas. Stink
bombs may be delivered by hand grenade, mortar, warplane or
missile.
Spider Webs: That’s right.
Spider webs. The high strength, light elastic fiber is five
times as strong as steel wire. The Pentagon sponsored
research for the use of spider webs as a possible way to
ensnare vehicles, foul propellers and stop helicopters.
There’s a snag, though. Colonies of spiders prove
impractical for mass production of silk.
In the Air: The
US. Air Force recently acknowledged the viability of
non-lethal weapons and is pursuing a range of options from
stink bombs to microwave and radio-jamming devices.
Precision guidance bombs have already successfully dropped
graphite thread over power stations in
Iraq
and
Yugoslavia
to create short-term power outages.
Electric Vehicle Stopper: The
U.S. Army has completed testing an electromagnetic radiation
device designed to stop moving vehicles without causing
permanent damage to passengers. Similar technology may be
used to stop speedboats and possibly ships.
Foam Guns: Sticky foam got off
to a poor start when it was discovered it might suffocate
people if it landed on their mouths and noses. Now the
military has trained its sights on fast-curing “rigid”
foams to seal off doors, windows and other access points to
bar people from entering or leaving buildings. Slippery
foams will be used to delay people or vehicles by causing
them to slip and lose traction.
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