Improved Flash Bang Grenades (IFBG). Designed to support missions such as hostage rescue, room-clearing, and other operations in complex urban terrain, the purpose of the IFBG is to provide a longer duration of temporary incapacitation, a higher level of safety to both users and non-combatants, and less harmful environmental effects than existing operational flash bang grenades. A key feature for this is the elimination of perchlorates in the pyrotechnic formulation. Perchlorates are a group of strong oxidizers that are commonly used in fireworks, solid rocket fuel, and other explosives.

 

Joint Non-Lethal Warning Munitions (JNLWM). A U.S. Navy-led program, this is the 21st century’s answer to the classic warning shot across the bow. JNLWMs are non-lethal 12-gauge and 40 mm cartridges capable of projecting clearly identifiable warning signals out to a distance of 300 meters (about 980 feet). The cartridges contain flash bang projectiles containing proximity fuses that trigger a three-stage pyrotechnic display that includes a bright flash of light, a loud report, and a burst of smoke. Cartridges are designed for pre-set distances of 100 meters, 200 meters, and 300 meters.

 

Airburst Non-Lethal Munitions (ANLM). This U.S. Army-led program is developing long-range non-lethal munitions capable of being fired by existing operational grenade launchers, while still being safe for non-lethal use at shorter ranges. It is intended for use in area denial and hostile crowd dispersal scenarios. The system uses a deceleration process that ejects a ballast material forward from the projectile, which pushes back on the projectile causing it to stop in mid-flight. The round is not intended to strike any target. Instead, a proximity fuse detonates the flash bang payload at a preset distance. Qualification testing is now focused on the low-velocity 40 mm XM1112 ANLM. Milestone C, the authorization for full production and fielding of the system, is scheduled for September 2011.

 

Boat Trap. The U. S. Coast Guard is the lead service in developing this counter-material system of aircraft-deployed, non-lethal, small vessel propeller entanglement and stopping netting. It was developed in response to the terrorist attack on the USS Cole in Yemen in 2000 and is designed for use in harbor protection, piracy prevention, drug smuggling, and human trafficking. The present Boat Trap system is a ballistic net deployed from a helicopter in the path of small vessels traveling at speeds up to 40 knots. The net is opened by weights propelled from central charge blocks. As the speeding craft passes over the Boat Trap, the propellers become ensnared by the netting, causing the vessel to stop. New versions under development include Boat Traps that can be launched from ships or harbor installations.

 

Electro-Muscular Disruption (EMD) weapons. Popularly known as stun guns, the most famous of these is the taser. Basically, an EMD fires a wire-connected dart containing two electrodes that, when they strike a target, deliver a series of electric shocks over a 5-second cycle. Each shock lasts just a few microseconds (a microsecond being 1 millionth of a second). A new generation and more powerful EMD presently undergoing tests is a taser that fires darts that deliver a series of ultra-short duration electric pulses measured in nanoseconds (a billionth of a second). Additional EMDs are the taser-like Stinger, the wireless Sticky Shocker, and the StunStrike, which uses powerful artificial light effects to incapacitate its target.