Sound weapons

The ever-present sound weapon is still considered a non-lethal type, but it will only be a matter of time if Western ambitious projects succeed .

Even before World War II, a series of countries have been working on making systems to identify sound sources, which determine the location of enemy artillery units based on the sound of The bullets fired to find the coordinates returned. Anyway, such systems are only passive, meaning that they are only used for defense purposes.

The essence of sound weapons

Right from the 60s and 70s of the twentieth century, many countries began to care about the use of sound sources to make offensive weapons capable of injuring people at different levels or limit their operational capacity. At that time, studies in this area were mostly kept secret, not widely promoted. Based on some recently published documents, it can be seen that people have not achieved any significant achievements in this weapon.

The Cold War ended, a series of countries (USA, England and Japan) conducted research on non-damage weapons aimed at neutralizing a significant number of people, but at the same time avoiding losses. life or injury. Sound weapons have emerged with an important position in this area.

Notably, impressive research and analysis was published in Science and Global Security No. 9/2002 by Dr. Urgen Altmann from Bochum University. In it, the author described in detail the problems of sound weapons - from the parameters of sound sources, the effects of sound amplitude on the human body, the spread of intense sound Large in the air, as well as possible measures and means to counteract the impact of sound weapons.

Western projects

In recent years, the United States is conducting a series of non-destructive weapons research at the Army Research, Manufacturing and Assurance Center (ARDEC) in New Jersey state. Notably, there is a project of manufacturing non-diffracting 'bullet' sound equipment emitted by large-diameter antennas of the Association of Scientific and Applied Research (SARA) at Hantington Beach (California). . The idea of ​​the inventors of this weapon is to expand its applicability not only in the battlefield, but also in suppressing riot or demonstrations. Collaboration works of SARA and ARDEC are also aimed at building a high-capacity and low-frequency sound weapon to protect US agencies abroad. Thanks to these weapons, it is possible to create 'sound barriers' around certain perimeters around objects, preventing the intrusion of strangers here, helping to effectively protect agencies of the US (like embassies) abroad.

The British have built low-frequency transceivers (frequencies below 20 Hz) that affect human hearing organs, causing reactions of internal organs, destroying the heart's activity. to death. This weapon was used by England in anti-rebellion campaigns in Northern Ireland. To counter the enemy troops on the battlefield, people have tested low-frequency sound sources that blur the eyes, constricting the internal organs to death.

In order to destroy the enemy hiding in bunkers and armored vehicles, the US studied the very low frequency 'sound bullets' , created when combining ultrasonic vibrations emitted from large antennas. American experts have introduced a device to generate 10 Hz frequency-negative pulses just the size of a baseball, its capacity is enough to injure or kill people at distances up to several hundred meters.

Americans also studied the use of extremely large sound sources by using a speaker system connected to amplifiers with a powerful battery and transmitter system. Participating in the creation of this weapon is the Mississippi State University's National Center for Sound Physics with the creation of a 17m-long speaker and 2.3m in diameter, which can emit sound. with a capacity of up to 20 KW. In this regard, the United States is also building a non-lethal sound weapon to be mounted on helicopters with adjustable frequencies at limits from 100Hz to 10 KHz and a 2km operating radius ( expected to bring the range up to 10km). The helicopter will install a horn operated from a kilowatt-powered internal combustion engine, which prevents strangers from breaking into weapons of mass destruction.

For high-power ultrasound, one can use large vibration discs with piezoelectricity. One of the same mechanisms has been built that can boost the sound level by up to 160 decibels (while the threshold for pain in the human ear is 137 decibels). It does not exclude the possibility of sound effects on living organisms by creating a "string" of explosions with a small capacity, with a frequency similar to the sound reduction.

The consequences of sound weapons

Sound weapons, unpredictable consequences (Photo: CAND)

A report by SARA in 1996 raised some research findings in this area. Accordingly, lowering sounds at 110-130 decibels will cause negative effects on the organs of the digestive tract, causing pain and nausea. Negative values ​​ranging from 90 to 120 decibels at low frequencies (from 5 to 200 Hz) can cause strong feelings of anxiety and disorder, strong physical injuries and tissue damage. currently in the range of 140-150 decibels, while a value of 170 decibels can cause immediate injury. In low frequency bands, tremors from internal organs can cause bleeding and spasms. High frequencies and ultrasound (from 5 to 30 KHz) can cause tissue burns and dehydration.

The adverse effects of sound weapons on the human body are clearly difficult to measure. That is why mankind cannot believe in the 'humanitarian effect' of non-damaging weapons like this, as many Western countries often propagate. If the consequences are not yet fully measured, the best sound weapon must be included in the list of weapons banned from research, manufacture and use.

Hong Son