The Military's Wish List for Non-Lethal Weapons

John Hudson

Sometimes the military would prefer its enemies writhing in pain as opposed to dead on the ground. For times like that, it enlists the Joint Non-Lethal Directorate, which produces a reference book of in-use and next-generation fantasy weapons for the military. Oftentimes, many of these weapons remain secret but as Danger Room's cunning Katie Drummond writes today, the reference book was leaked last week, exposing an inventory of weapons straight out of a Marvel comics series. Here are some of the ones that caught our eye, some conceptual, others already in existence:

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Vessel-stopping microwave gun

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Still just a concept, this futuristic weapon would shoot a "high power microwave" discharge "providing a long range non-lethal capability for small vessel stopping, swarm defense and ship system disruption." Take a look at that ship? That's one strong microwave gun! According to the book, the gun would stop the vessels propulsion system by "electrical system malfunction."

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Impulse Swimmer Gun 

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This is quite a fancy one. The gun uses "pulsed sound waves" punishing enemies with "auditory impairment and/or nausea." It's intended to combat enemies engaging in "unauthorized underwater activities." (Reminds us of the opening scene of Metal Gear Solid.) The downsides of this weapon? " Potential for auditory damage if over exposed and potential impact on aquatic life."

Green Lasers

The two weapons shown above include the Glare Mout and LA-9/P, which are designed to disorient and suppress enemies on foot or in a vehicle with its piercing light. The downsides? There's "potential for eye damage" and also counter measures. A combatant could use "filtering goggles." 

Heat ray 

Now that's how you handle crowd control. This conceptual weapon would use a beam to cause "heat sensation causing involuntary movement away from the beam." It's intended target response is to "deny access into/out of an area to indivudals, move individuals through an area, and suppress individuals." Frightening.