Less is More
Written by Steve Goodman
CGF 2010 Volume: 2 Issue: 3 (July)
Asymmetrical And Irregular Warfare Operations
Have Increased The Role Of Non-Lethal Weaponry.
The U.S. military prides itself on being one of the most deadly fighting forces in the world. However, DoD has always recognized that there are situations when “less is more.” And less than lethal ordinance has had its place historically with the warfighter. Today, as the military is increasingly called upon to respond to asymmetrical and irregular warfare operations, the use of non-lethal weaponry (NLW) is taking on an even greater role.
As far back as 2004, an independent task force with the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, published a report that stated, “wider integration of NLWs into the U.S. Army and Marine Corps could have reduced damage, saved lives and helped to limit the widespread looting and sabotage that occurred after the cessation of major conflict in Iraq.”
The report concluded that greater incorporation of NLWs into DoD doctrine and training across all of the armed forces could “substantially improve the military’s effectiveness in conflict, post-conflict and homeland defense.”
The U.S. Coast Guard, whose mission has traditionally had more law enforcement aspects to it than other branches of the DoD, has routinely employed a large number of less than lethal assets. These include non-lethal counter-personnel weapons such as stun guns, batons and riot rounds, to counter-material devices and systems such as entanglement nets designed to stop and or intercept suspicious vessels. Today, with the USCG taking on a pivotal role in homeland security and port protection, its use of, and interest in, non-lethal arms is expanding dramatically.
In 1997, DoD established the Joint Non- Lethal Weapons Directorate (JNLWD), which is tasked with demonstrating and evaluating non-lethal weapons in all combat and interdiction environments, including maritime operations. The Coast Guard also has its own NLW programs that parallel JNLWD’s efforts. Both organizations recognize the vast potential non-lethal weapons have in giving unprecedented new capabilities to U.S. military forces in protection of ports and highvalue maritime assets.
Recently the Navy hosted an evaluation of a number of commercial off-the-shelf nonlethal assets. Coast Guard officials were also in attendance. Members of the Maritime Expeditionary Security Force carried out tests of the NLWs in real world engagement scenarios.
In this particular evaluation, a variety of non-lethal munitions were used, employing 12-gauge shotguns and 40mm grenade launchers. They also tested counter-material NLWs including acoustic devices, non-lethal warning munitions and optical laser distracters, designed to protect moored vessels and other in-port assets.
According to Todd Getz, non-lethal weapons program support officer for the U.S. Navy, the evaluation was invaluable in indicating how various systems of non-lethal weapons can work in tandem to provide total protection. “We have found that multiple layers of nonlethal weapons contribute to the range of options available to naval forces in responding to potential threats and determining hostile intent,” said Captain Barry Coceano, branch head for the Navy Expeditionary Combat Branch and the U.S. Navy lead for non-lethal weapons. “With continued development of technologies, tactics, techniques and procedures, these valuable force protection assets will enhance fleet defense in depth.”
NON-LETHAL ARMS AND COUNTERPERSONNEL DEVICES
The Coast Guard in its anti-smuggling and drug interdiction operations employs many of the non-lethal weapons used by typical law enforcement, albeit many of them modified or adapted to military and maritime use. These include tasers and taser-like weapons, non-lethal riot rounds of various types, pepper sprays and other chemical irritants.
Taser International has been awarded a sole-source contract to deliver its Taser X26, the company’s flagship “law enforcement level” electronic control device to the USCG. The X26 has a range of 35 feet, and like all Taser weapons, fires two small probes that are attached to the gun itself by insulated conductive wires.
Electrical pulses are transmitted along the wires and into the body, which affect the sensory and motor functions of the peripheral nervous system. Each probe is designed to penetrate up to one inch of clothing and still be effective. Exact statistics of successful use of Taser weapons by USCG personnel in interdiction situations were not available, but the effectiveness of tasers has been proved by police departments and law enforcement officials worldwide. Tasers are currently deployed among many units in Operation Iraqi Freedom— and their ability to allow troops to “shoot first” and “ask questions later” has had some advantageous.
“I believe this is a testament that our products provide invaluable lifesaving technologies, and Taser International is truly honored to serve the men and women of [our military] by providing products that help reduce conflict and increase safety,” Tom Smith, the company’s chairman and founder, remarked in a press release.
Anti-swimmer (aka anti-diver technology) is an area that is currently very import in the Coast Guard’s NLW research and development. According to the U.S. Coast Guard Research and Development Center, the “Coast Guard has recognized the need to include an underwater component to address criminal and terrorist threats . . . [and needs] to be able to detect and respond to potentially hostile swimmers and divers in the port environment.”
In joint efforts with the Navy, this need led to the development and deployment of the integrated anti-swimmer system. The system, key components of which are provided to USCG by Kongsberg Mesotech, is described as an “acoustical weapon.” An approaching diver or swimmer can be warned off that he is entering a restricted area by an underwater loudhailer. If that doesn’t work, the system is designed to emit a “non-lethal interdiction acoustic impulse,” basically an underwater sound wave large enough to stun the invader. According to Kongsberg, the system uses software and propriety sonar technologies that can detect and differentiate between malicious swimmers and divers and other targets, such as fish or marine mammals, or ocean debris. The system is in use protecting several high value ports and assets.
ENTANGLEMENT AND WARNING SYSTEMS
In the Coast Guard’s expanding mission of port protection and homeland security, counter-material non-lethal systems used to stop or deter suspicious vessels are playing an ever increasing role. According to Commander Eric Riepe, the policy division chief for the Coast Guard Office of Law Enforcement, “non-compliant small boat threats have elevated the importance of less than lethal technology to stop noncompliant vessels.”
One such system is Rescue Solutions International’s Running Gear Entanglement System (RGES). “RGES is a portfolio of different types of products that range from static barriers to mobile entanglers and shoulder fired systems, and heavier systems that are designed to be deployed from port, or vessel or air assets,” said Beth Edgell, business development manager with Rescue Solutions.
Rescue Solutions has provided the Coast Guard with scalable custom products that are made to engage larger target ships. All of the RGES solutions, whether launched from hand weapons or deployed from port, or an interdiction vessel, operate on the same principle. “They are made in different configurations to target diverse vessels with different size propellers,” observed Edgell. “The lines and netting components are made from varying materials with different specific gravities, which, when deployed properly, are designed to target the propeller itself.”
The specific configuration of any RGES weapon is based on the size, horsepower and number of engines that are targeted for entanglement. “Our systems are used by USCG to engage drug-traffickers, peopletraffickers and to stop any non-compliant suspicious vessel,” Edgell said. Both the Coast Guard and Navy collaborated with Rescue Solutions in the development of the RGES concept.
Foster-Miller, a technology and product development company based in Massachusetts, recently demonstrated a similar device called the Boat Trap to the USCG. The Boat Trap is designed to be dropped from a helicopter to intercept a fleeing vessel.
The demonstration involved a series of drops of the Boat Trap device into the path of a 33-foot Eduardono go-fast boat with twin 200-horsepower Yamaha outboard engines traveling at 30 to 40 knots. “The Boat Trap appears to have potential in stopping noncompliant vessels while executing Coast Guard law enforcement missions,” said Riepe. Since the successful demonstration, Foster- Miller has announced that it has received a $1 million contract from JNLWD to develop Boat Trap for the Coast Guard.
In addition to non-lethal technology to intercept, slow down or stop approaching vessels, the USCG also has in development some very unique ways to warn them off. Alion Science and Technology has a development contract with USCG for its Extended Range Unambiguous Warning System. The system can be best described as a “ballistic projection screen.” According to the company “a pyrotechnic shell is launched, and upon reaching the desired distance, it explodes with a loud bang and a visible flash to grab the attention of an unidentified craft. The shell is packed with ultra-fine salt crystals that are dispersed to form a screen, and a high-powered projection system displays an image on the screen. To keep the graphical warning visible longer, multiple shells can be fired.”
Proof of concept has been demonstrated for the USCG and the company is confident that a working system can be practically deployed. “This capability can effectively warn off unknown craft that are approaching highvalue assets. It can potentially make the difference between a quick resolution and an escalated response,” said Vice Admiral Scott Fry (USN, Ret.), a senior vice president and manager of Alion’s engineering and integration solutions sector.
ON THE HORIZON
Since the events of 9/11, and the beginning of overseas contingency operations, military officials and strategic thinkers have concluded that there has been the need for a fundamental paradigm shift in the conduct of war.
Already the U.S. military, and especially the Coast Guard, has had to take on increased humanitarian interventions. The Coast Guard has expanded its mission of fighting organized crime in terms of human and drug trafficking, combating terrorism and providing greater homeland security. Moving forward, undoubtedly the line between law enforcement and traditional military operations will continue to blur.
In a 2009 interview with Newsweek magazine, John Patch, a retired Navy commander who now is a teacher with the U.S. Army War College, suggested that the Coast Guard, with its expertise in the use of NLWs, is the ideal force to deal with the growing problem of piracy off the coast of Somalia.
“The Coast Guard has very extensive training in how to use small law enforcement detachments,” he said. “They know how to use handcuffs, tasers, tear gas—non-lethal means like police officers use. They’re a combination law enforcement agency and conventional military force. So when you’re talking about essentially policing Somalia’s waters, the law enforcement aspects of the problem simply make the Coast Guard more suitable.”
Over the next few decades, experts believe military force will increasingly be used not against large scale militaries of organized enemy states, but riotous crowds of insurgents, smugglers, pirates or terrorists, whose very tactics include intermingling with noncombatants. There will always be a need for decisive and lethal force, but in such conflicts, the effective use of NLWs will take on a much more significant role. ♦