07 February 2023 13h30-14h30
by dr. Cyril ROBBE
Through the years, Non-Lethal Weapons (NLW) are becoming more and more widespread. The concept is indeed appealing: neutralizing the threat with a reduced level of deployed force, mitigating unnecessary injuries or casualties and reducing the potential collateral damage. They are particularly effective in a context requiring to de-escalate the level of violence. They are therefore mostly used in the framework of law enforcement. Kinetic weapons, tasers, pepper sprays are different categories of non-lethal weapon that are often used in this context. Besides, their military use has also significantly increased since the last 20 years. They are particularly relevant in asymmetrical conflicts, peace keeping operations and reconstruction.
The presentation will give an overview of existing NLW systems, will present their suitability in a military context and will detail how these can be evaluated.
The presentation will be divided in two parts. Firstly, an overview of non-lethal weapons and their operational evaluation in a military context will be presented. Secondly, technical evaluation of Kinetic Energy Non-Lethal Weapon, the most widespread category of non-lethal weapons, will be shown.