Nonlethal combined flash and sound pulse projector for counter-personnel and crowd control

This paper presents a non-lethal concept using an innovative directed energy pulser for counter-personnel and crowd control. A high power pulsed electrical discharge, initiated using a wire in air, simultaneously generates a loud acoustic report and a bright light pulse. A reflector directs and focuses the 'flash/bang' to deliver high intensity pulses at range. The counter-personnel and crowd control effect is variable through both the intensity of each pulse and the pulse repetition rate. The system can be battery powered, and man portable or mounted on a jeep or other vehicle. This 'air sparker' is different from existing flash-bang approaches which employ a chemical reaction from a 'grenade', and different from laser approaches that generate a plasma in the vicinity of the targeted personnel. A design example using quantitative laboratory measurements, and reflector design and modeling, exhibits the output potential of air sparkers. Using generic non-lethal effects available in the open literature, the design example indicates that air sparker technology may have widespread non-lethal applicability. New sparker technology can lead to compact efficient systems. Development of air sparkers for non-lethal counter-personnel and crowd control should address both the technology and the combined effects.