Register
Events
Popular
More
Post #1
The Ministry of Defence has confirmed a device which can be used as a "sonic weapon" will be deployed in London during the Olympics.
The American-made Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) can be used to send verbal warnings over a long distance or emit a beam of pain-inducing tones.
The equipment was spotted fixed to a landing craft on the Thames at Westminster this week.
An MoD spokesman said it would be used "primarily in the loud hailer mode".
Royal Marines operating in patrol craft from HMS Ocean are also heavily armed with conventional firearms.
The piercing beam of sound emitted by the device is highly directional. Some versions of the LRAD are capable of producing deafening sound levels of 150 decibels at one metre.
But the device, which was used this week during Exercise Olympic Guardian, can also be used to broadcast verbal warnings, such as ordering crowds to disperse.
The San Diego-based LRAD Corporation has previously sold the device to the US Army, which deployed them in Iraq for crowd control.
They have also been bought by the US Navy and Air Force as well as a number of police forces worldwide.
It has been successfully used aboard ships to repel Somali pirates.
The panel-shaped LRAD is mounted onto steerable gimbals and said to be far more efficient than a normal loudspeaker.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "As part of the military contribution to the police led security effort to ensure a safe and secure games, a broad range of assets and equipment is being used by our armed forces".
"This includes the LRAD (Long Range Acoustic Device) which will be deployed during the Olympic Games primarily to be used in the loud hailer mode as part of the measures to achieve a maritime stop on the Thames."
-
-
Jesus it's like they're expecting a goddamn alien invasion during the Olympics or something.
-
Iron Sky is real, you didn't know?
-
This is getting ridiculous
-
It's the god damn bugs.
-
Gotta go fast?
-
This is getting more comical every day.
-
It's just an LRAD.
Good for crowd control.
-
Next article:
"Samurai deployed throughout London to combat Ninjas during the Olympic Games"
-
Is this the Olypmics or is it a military hardware showcase?
I'm starting to think it's the latter.
-
Maybe we should do London Olympics every year, that way military technology will advance 10 times more quickly.
-
Well last time the Martians caught us off guard and killed loads of people with their heat rays so if they try again we'll have them.
-
gotta go weaponized
-
The sky calls to us. If we do not destroy ourselves, we will one day venture to the stars.
August 2008
11,800 Posts
Ah yes, the good old 1972 Olympics.
-
London's become a fortress. They act like something bad will happen.
-
If it can permanently damage hearing, isn't it a bit excessive?
-
I wonder if that thing would work to broadcast music....
-
If you like music so loud that your eardrums literally rupture, then sure.
-
Come on terrorists, step it up!
-
Oh jesus I just found out there was a massacre at the 1972 Olympics.
I honestly did not know that.
-
This is what I thought this thread was about when I first read it.
Maybe some sort of publicity stunt.
-
"Permanent hearing damage" That thing cant be legal.
-
Why wouldnt it be? Its like standing behind a jet engine. A lot of things can cause permanent damage
-
Good god London. What next, inventing, building and deploying your own Gundam? Maybe plonking one of our supercarriers in the Channel?
-
If you have people rioting, it's unjustified to cause permanent ear damage to them in order to break them up. It's lazy, unethical and dangerous.
-
You can get permanent hearing damage from standing too close to an amp at a gig or nightclub. Should those be illegal then?
-
They can turn the volume down, I doubt they would go full blast
-
Hey bro, having music above 85 dB causes permanent hearing damage over longer periods of exposure. To put this in perspective, standing close to a busy roadway is about 80-90 dB, a jackhammer is 100 dB at 1 meter away. I can't remember exactly, but I think sound intensity is inversely proportional to distance, so 2 meters from a jackhammer should have half intensity, so 2m would be 90 dB(please correct me if I'm wrong). Your ears are fragile, they get damaged easy.
-
The Union Jack would look a shit ton better with a Hammer and Sickle in the middle of it
November 2007
6,765 Posts
i dont know about anyone else but this seems REALLY 1984 like. not trying to make some metaphor here, but it just seems so orwellian to have a device pointed at your own citizens that, "can be used to send verbal warnings over a long distance or emit a beam of pain-inducing tones." holy shit
-
How can you even compare the two?
One is voluntary recreation, one requires another person to purposely harm another.
-
That's if you stand in the direct path of the beam without moving. Same could be said about other riot control devices. Tear gas? I'm sure that causes permanent damage if you don't move. The idea is to make people move. If you don't move you're only hurting yourself.
Edited:
It shoots a beam of sound. The sound is significantly louder in the beam then immediately outside the beam.
-
Any exposure to sound that exceeds the threshold of pain will cause some permanent hearing damage no matter how long you are exposed. Permanent hearing damage comes around 120 dB. The threshold of pain is double that at 130 dB. The hairs in your ear aren't meant to be pushed that hard, and they crack and bend at high amplitudes.
Edited:
Flashbang grenades also damage hearing. They put out sound well over 160 dB, that's one of the reasons they are so effective. Should we stop using them?
-
Flashbangs are an incapacitate. They are made to pacify people by disorienting them. Using flashbangs in a large-group situation would be completely useless. You want them to disperse and break up, not go completely blind and deaf for several seconds.
You want an effective crowd-control device? Water cannons. You don't move, you get knocked on to your ass. You are left with drenched clothing so you become cold and miserable. They can also put out fires.
-
Imagine if every major city in the world gets hit by terrorist attacks and goes down into chaos and London is the only city "alive" in the world because it had all this defense only to stop a purse snatcher...
-
"people give DBS shit all the time but he's really a good guy and i'm glad he's my friend" -no one
March 2009
17,013 Posts
the horror
-
How is this different? Why does a crowd control weapon have a different standard of humanity than a weapon designed to incapacitate?
No really humane since any force able to knock somebody down could cause serious skin damage(water is really "sharp" with enough force). Not to mention that knocking someone on their ass can injure them, especially if they get knocked into something or someone. Also, the weapon couldn't be used if the temperature goes below freezing, since now all those people are at risk of getting hypothermia.
-
I believe they're putting the Illustrious on stand-by with a squadron of Apache Helicopters on board.
So yeah basically
-
Also, that water cannon idea could possibly be a PR nightmare, at least in the US, because of the history of civil rights protesters being sprayed with hoses.
-
If people are rioting and threatening civilians/bystanders/riot control cops then by all means knock them on their ass with some sharp water. Just dont be excessive. And the LRAD could surely be made to oscilate in operation to greatly migitate the chance of permanent hearing damage.
Edited:
By the way since you seem to be a self appointed ethics committee what do you suggest be used to stop possible threats/violent riots?
-
If you have a large-crowd situation, you want people to move and disperse. People cannot leave the area if they are blind and deaf. They can leave the area if they are cold, wet, and have a sore ass.
Even tear gas gives a time frame for people to leave the area. Although it is significantly less safe.
Water cannons are typically regarded as much being much safer than things such as tear gas, flashbangs, etc. I cannot find any amount of information saying they are more dangerous than the aforementioned methods. They have controllable water flow, so you can adjust it accordingly.
Funny x 30
Winner x 3
Informative x 2
Friendly x 1
Agree x 154
Optimistic x 3
Dumb x 1
Zing x 1
Disagree x 2
Useful x 1
