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Less Lethal Solutions I: As War on Terror Continues, Non-Lethal Weapons Find a Growing Battlefield Role
Oct 21, 2007 – By Barry Zellen
Long a popular tool for civilian law
enforcement and riot control, non-lethal weapons (NLWs) are increasingly
being used by military professionals who find themselves engaged in
protracted counterinsurgency and post-conflict missions, where the use of
deadly force can often clash with the political and diplomatic dimensions of
their missions. Case in point: the September 16th incident involving
Blackwater International that resulted in the shooting deaths of 17 Iraqi
civilians and the injury of 24 others while protecting a U.S. State
Department convoy. A less lethal solution can help reduce diplomatic tensions
as America’s warfighters struggle to pacify insurgencies that threaten to
topple our new democratic allies from Afghanistan to Iraq, where leaders face
rising domestic discontent with each new civilian casualty.
To help American forces develop and diversify its non-lethal
arsenal, in July 1996 the U.S. Department of Defense issued a policy
directive on NLWs, establishing DOD policies and responsibilities for the
development and deployment of NLWs, and designating the Commandant of the
United States Marine Corps (USMC) as the executive agent for DOD’s Non-Lethal
Weapons Program. The Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate (JNLWD), based in
Quantico, Virginia, was created to take charge of DOD’s identification,
evaluation and development of NLWs, working with each of the armed services.
Its motto is “Pax Custimus, Vita Custimus,” which in Latin means
“Safeguarding Peace, Safeguarding Life.”
New NLW Technologies and the Post Cold War
Era
The military utility of NLWs became increasingly clear during the chaotic days of the early post-Cold War era, when the word “Balkanization” described the crumbling international order, and ethnic cleansing and inter-ethnic violence dominated the international security landscape. Before the Cold War’s end, NLWs in the military arsenal were more traditional tools, like concertina wire, tear gas canisters, water cannons, and rubber bullets. But during the 1990s, a new crop of technologies entered the non-lethal arsenal. During the withdrawal of UN forces from Somalia in Operation United Shield in 1995, this new generation of NLW technology was deployed operationally for the first time, including such tools as sticky foam guns, anti-traction lubricants, and beanbag ammunition. NLWs were also deployed in Kosovo, and have found repeated use during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, providing American forces with an alternative to deadly force on the asymmetrical battlefields of the war on terror, such as Vehicle Lightweight Arresting Devices (VLADs), and Long Range Acoustic Devices (LRADs), which have been deployed at checkpoints to help protect soldiers from approaching vehicles, providing a less lethal substitute for deadly force. Flash-bang grenades were deployed during the battle of Fallujah, providing a less lethal alternative to fragmentation munitions, reducing collateral civilian deaths.
In its 2003 Assessment of Non-Lethal Weapons Science and
Technology, the Naval Studies Board (NSB) recommended that the JNLWD
“focus its resources on stimulating and exploring new ideas, and on
strengthening the DOD’s ability to characterize the effects and
effectiveness” of NLWs. It also recommended that the JNLWD narrow its mission
space to “speed transformation of NLWs from specialty status to that of fully
integrated warfighting options through strong advocacy and to increase
confidence in non-lethal weapons options by expanding DOD’s understanding of
the effects of NLWs on human and materiel.” According to 2006 USMC Concepts +
Programs report, The U.S. Marine Corps: Creating Stability in an Unstable
World, “NLWs provide the warfighter and senior leadership with
additional options for responding to irregular challenges,” and “given the
desire of our enemies to strike in the United States, non-lethal weapon
capabilities for National Guard, Reserves and active forces in homeland
defense and civil support operations will be critical in site security,
maritime interdiction, area denial and consequence management
operations.”
Between Shout and Shoot I spoke with Capt. Teresa Ovalle, Strategic Communications Officer at the JNLWD, who noted there “has been an increase in non-lethal weapons available to our warfighters. Technology, availability, and requirements are all factors in the development and fielding of non-lethal weapons.” Ovalle explained that “NLWs are designed and employed to achieve military objectives while minimizing human casualties or damage to property and equipment,” and that they’re “used as part of continuum of the escalation of force. They give the commander on the ground another opportunity to potentially de-escalate a situation. NLWs are often the difference between ‘shoot’ and ‘shout’.” She added that NLWs “are applicable to the entire range of military operations, from humanitarian efforts to the Global War on Terrorism,” and as such “they offer the warfighter an option to something other than lethal means, which can potentially de-escalate a situation.”
According to Ovalle, “the types of missions supported by
non-lethal weapons include: checkpoint security, facility or infrastructure
security, entry control points, humanitarian aid distribution security,
maritime or port security, crowd or mob dispersal,” and “as research,
development, testing, and evaluation continue to evolve, the Department of
Defense is examining their future use in support of a variety of missions,
such as temporarily disabling combatants, crowd or mob dispersal, disabling
or disrupting logistics operations, perimeter security, checkpoints, and
rendering enemy assets inoperable with little to no collateral damage.
Non-lethal weapons do not replace the need for lethal force but enhance the
capability of U.S. forces to accomplish mission objectives.”
Ovalle pointed out that NLWs offer “both high- and low-tech
solutions to warfighter requirements,” and both these high- and low-tech
capabilities “offer the commander on the ground another option in the
escalation of force.” She noted there are a “wide range of NLW technologies.
Blunt impact munitions are an example of kinetic technology. Electro-muscular
incapacitation and Active Denial technologies are examples of other cutting
edge NLW technologies.” The latter technology, which directs a
millimeter-wave energy beam at crowds causing a burning sensation known as
the “goodbye effect,” has been developed by Raytheon, and was recently
demonstrated at Quantico on October 25. While well along in development, and
sought by Marines to facilitate a less lethal approach to their pacification
efforts in Iraq, the "pain ray" has yet to be deployed to the field.
Having a non-lethal option can make operating in a
post-conflict environment go easier, Ovalle explained, since “through those
efforts, local government and populace gain confidence of the warfighter’s
ability to minimize casualties and collateral damage.” She explained that
“non-lethal weapons can potentially play an important role in military
operations across the spectrum of conflict from low intensity conflict
through major theater operations,” and “can protect U.S. forces by providing
troops with non-lethal counter-personnel and counter-materiel capabilities to
engage targets at extended ranges and help to protect non-combatants in the
escalation of force.”
Ovalle notesd that “various field reports have validated the
successful employment of NLWs,” and recounted the following examples.
The Vehicle Lightweight Arresting Device stops a speeding car during
training
at Fort Leonard Wood, MO. Photo by: Capt. Teresa Ovalle.
A soldier has a GBD-IIIC Optical Distractor mounted to his weapon during training at the Inter-service Non-lethal Individual Weapons Instructor Course in Fort Leonard Wood, MO. Photo by: Capt. Teresa Ovalle.
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