Dazzler (weapon)

Glare Mout dazzler made by B.E. Meyers

A dazzler is a directed-energy weapon intended to temporarily blind or disorient its target with intense directed radiation. Targets can include sensors or human vision. Dazzlers emit infrared or invisible light against various electronic sensors, and visible light against humans, when they are intended to cause no long-term damage to eyes. The emitters are usually lasers, making what is termed a laser dazzler. Most of the contemporary systems are man-portable, and operate in either the red (a laser diode) or green (a diode-pumped solid-state laser, DPSS) areas of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Initially developed for military use, non-military products are becoming available for use in law enforcement and security.[1][2]

Weapons designed to cause permanent blindness are banned by the 1995 United Nations Protocol on Blinding Laser Weapons. The dazzler is a non-lethal weapon intended to cause temporary blindness or disorientation and therefore falls outside this protocol.

History

Origins

Some searchlights are bright enough to cause permanent or temporary blindness, and they were used to dazzle the crews of bombers during World War II. Whirling Spray was a system of search lights fitted with rotating mirrors which was used to dazzle and confuse pilots attacking the Suez canal.[3] This was developed into the Canal Defence Light, a small mobile tank mounted system intended for use in the Rhine crossings. However, the system was mainly used as conventional searchlights.

Handgun or rifle-mounted lights may also be used to temporarily blind an opponent and are sometimes marketed for that purpose. In both cases the primary purpose is to illuminate the target and their use to disorient is secondary.

Green Laser Dazzler

A Green Laser Dazzler attached to a M240B during the Iraq War.

The green laser is chosen for its unique ability to react with the human eye. The green laser is less harmful to human eyes.[4]

First use in Falklands

The first reported use of laser dazzlers in combat was possibly by the British, during the Falklands War of 1982, when they were reputedly fitted to various Royal Navy warships to hinder low-level Argentinian air attacks.[5][6]

Use by United States forces in Iraq

At the end of Operation Desert Storm, F-15E crews observing the Iraqi military's massacre of Kurdish civilians at Chamchamal were forbidden from firing on the attackers, but instead used their lasers as a dazzler weapon. This ultimately proved ineffective in crashing any attack helicopters.[7]

On 18 May 2006, the U.S. military announced it was using laser dazzlers mounted on M-4 rifles in troops in Iraq as a non-lethal way to stop drivers who fail to stop at checkpoints manned by American soldiers.[8]

Manufacturers and models

PHaSR, a United States dazzler style weapon.

Countermeasures

One defense against laser dazzlers are narrowband optical filters tuned to the frequency of the laser. To counter such defense, dazzlers can employ emitters using more than one wavelength, or tunable lasers with wider range of output. Another defense is photochromic materials able to become opaque under high light energy densities. Non-linear optics techniques are being investigated: e.g. vanadium-doped zinc telluride (ZnTe:V) can be used to form electro-optic power limiters able to selectively block the intense dazzler beam without affecting weaker light from an observed scene.

See also

References

  1. Mark Harris (27 May 2009). "US cops and military to get laser guns". Techradar.com. Retrieved 28 July 2010.
  2. Chris Matyszczyk (23 July 2010). "Police to experiment with blinding 'Dazer Laser'?". CNET.com. Retrieved 28 July 2010.
  3. "Real Lives: Magic at War". Channel 4.
  4. Green laser dazzler
  5. "Type 22 frigates". Haze Gray & Underway website. Retrieved 22 February 2010.
  6. "The Buzz 27 January 2003 - Man-made Bolts of Lightning". ABC Radio National. Abc.net.au. 27 January 2003. Retrieved 2008-12-26.
  7. Davies (2005). "2". Desert Shield and Desert Storm. pp. 30–31.
  8. "NewsLibrary.com - newspaper archive, clipping service - newspapers and other news sources". Nl.newsbank.com. 2006-05-18. Retrieved 2012-08-13.
  9. "B.E. Meyers & Co., Inc". Retrieved 22 September 2011.
  10. Schmitt, Eric (February 15, 1995). "Now, to the Shores of Somalia with Beanbag Guns and Goo". New York Times.
  11. 1 2 "U.S. Blinding Laser Weapons". Human Rights Watch Report. May 1995., Vol. 7, No. 5
  12. Hambling, David (15 January 2010). "Whaling Protesters Pioneer Non-Lethal Warfare". Wired, Danger Room.
  13. "Company Search: Irwin Desman". Parasitic Protocol Portfolio.
  14. "dead link".
  15. "dead link".
  16. "StunRay Non-Lethal Technology". Genesis-illumination.com. Retrieved 2012-12-05.
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