Non-lethal weapon (2) electric shock weapon

Non-lethal weapon (2) electric shock weapon

Definition and characteristics of electric shock non-lethal weapons

Non-lethal weapon of electric shock is a kind of weapon that releases high-voltage pulse to the living target, making it interfere with the muscular nervous system, thus disabling the living target. The effect of electric shock weapon is obvious, but the follow-up effect is small, which can make the living target dizzy, listless, muscle pain, rigidity, convulsion and even syncope, and generally make it lose its resistance within a few seconds.

Classification of electric shock weapons

There are many kinds of electric shock weapons, which can be generally divided into three types: the amount of energy transmitted, the type of output current, and whether it can strike living targets in the medium and long range.

According to the amount of transmitted energy, it can be divided into electric shock syncope weapon and electric shock muscle contraction weapon. The electric power used in electric shock syncope weapon is low, mostly 7~ 14W, which is mainly used to disturb the electrical signals of sensory nervous system by current, so as to make the living target unconscious. Electric shock muscle contraction weapons use high electric power (mostly 14W or even higher), which can not only interfere with electrical signals, but also control targeted muscle twitching, thus achieving the effect of subduing targets.

According to the type of output current, it can be divided into three types: DC, AC and pulse.

According to whether the medium and long distance can hit the target, it can be divided into two categories: yes andno. The electric shock weapons that cannot be hit in the medium and long distance are mainly various electric shock batons. In recent years, in the face of increasingly complex tactical conditions, electric batons have also undergone many changes. For example, the WJ948 electric batons in China use multiple pairs of metal electric shock heads and are charged by rechargeable large-capacity Ni-MH batteries, which can greatly shorten the time to incapacitate the living target without causing fatal damage to the living target; The most famous representative of electric shock weapon that can strike targets at medium and long range is the first generation taser that was born in 1974. The basic principle of the Taser is to use the pre-filled compressed gas (mainly nitrogen) to launch one or several conductive metal probes, and rely on the metal wires between the Taser and the launched metal probes to transmit electric energy. After the metal probe hits and is inserted under the skin of the target, it can release high-voltage pulse current, thus subduing the target. In recent years, a number of foreign companies have developed a new generation of electric shock weapons that can strike targets at medium and long distances, including the sticky card repair developed by JAYCOR Company of the United States and the electric shock stun bomb developed by MDM Company of the United States. The new generation of electric shock weapons that can strike targets at medium and long distances adopt wireless projectiles different from the wired projectiles of tasers, and can even shoot by relying on various existing lethal/non-lethal weapon platforms, which greatly simplifies the training and logistics support of electric shock weapons.

Development of Taser Gun

The principle of taser has been briefly introduced above. Now, let's briefly introduce the development process of various common tasers. As early as 1974, the earliest taser was introduced. 1999, American police began to equip M26 tasers. M26 Taser is the first modern taser, and the "26" in the name means that the power of the gun is 26W. M26 Taser is usually powered by 8 AA batteries instead of the rechargeable batteries of traditional electric batons. By adopting this energy supply mode, even after the battery is exhausted, it is convenient for the operator to replace the battery conveniently and quickly, and the use efficiency is improved. Of course, rechargeable nickel batteries can also be used temporarily at low temperature to improve their adaptability to different environments. After all, the United States, where the Taser is located, has a vast territory, and the climate between the north and the south is quite different, so it should have high service performance in various environments. M26 Taser provides kinetic energy by compressing nitrogen, and its effective range is about 10 meter. It is equipped with a 6.4-meter-long insulated wire connecting two metal probes. Some readers may want to ask, why is the range of the Taser only as short as ten meters? In fact, as various non-lethal weapons, most users are police law enforcement personnel. Their law enforcement environment is generally very close. Take firearms training of public security forces in China as an example. Before 2000, there were projects to shoot 25 million targets. However, in recent years, with the deepening of reform, the target of15m is the shooting benchmark for accurate shooting. Even if shooting training is applied, the distance is around10m or even closer. In the actual combat of public security special forces, most of the cases are sniping suspects at tens of meters. Even our special forces have started training in recent years to attack targets within 100 meters or even 50 meters in the actual combat background, instead of focusing on the whole 100 meters as in previous training. Therefore, under various law enforcement conditions, the actual shooting distance of police in various countries is only a few meters or even more. In this case, the range of tasers is enough to complete their tactical tasks. This type of taser needs to change the magazine every time it is fired. After each shot, the projectile will continue to discharge for 5 seconds for 10 (-6) s, thus completely losing the resistance of the live target. The shape of the gun is similar to the Glock series pistols equipped by the American police. After a short training, you can skillfully operate a gun to shoot. There is a laser sight under the muzzle, which can assist the shooter to aim roughly.

On May 30th, 2003, Taser Company introduced the improved M26 Taser, X26 Taser. The improved taser X26 is powered by lithium battery, and adopts the updated shaping pulse principle, which can make the living target lose its resistance with lower energy and greatly reduce the lethality of this weapon. At the same time, it can be hung on the M4 series carbine and installed on the existing weapon platform for operation. At the same time, in addition to the laser pointer on the old M26 Taser, the gun is also equipped with two light-emitting diodes, which can facilitate law enforcement in the case of weak light or even no light. At the same time, the laser pointer at the muzzle also has a switch function, which can only be used when necessary. It can not only use laser to deter criminal suspects when necessary, but also choose to turn off the laser pen according to different law enforcement environments to achieve the effect of hiding itself. At the same time, in order to optimize the operator's grasp of various parameters when using the gun, a display screen is added on the back of the gun, which can intuitively reflect the remaining battery power, the internal temperature of the gun, and even the time when the metal probe emits current to the target, effectively improving the intelligence of the taser. However, compared with the old M26 Taser, the disabling mechanism of X26 Taser is still to release high-voltage current to the living target, which makes the living target feel pain and leads to its disability. For suspects who drink extremely strongly or excessively, the deterrent power has not been significantly improved.

On September 17, 2009, Tasers officially delivered the first batch of X3 Tasers to the US police. Compared with the original Taser, the X3 Taser can be fired three times in a row, which increases the ability to strike multiple targets. At the same time, the symptoms of the living target after being hit change from muscle pain to muscle twitching, which increases the control of people who are drunk, taking drugs and extremely excited, thus better promoting the disability of the living target. Moreover, this taser also adds an intelligent recording prompt system, which is much smarter than the display screen of the traditional X26 taser. It can not only record the user's use of guns (shooting times, what functions are used and whether current is emitted). ), it can also prompt the shooter when the gun fails, which is convenient for troubleshooting. In addition, in view of the shortcoming that the traditional taser can only be fired once and cannot shoot multiple targets, the X3 taser can be fired three times in a row, which can not only shoot quickly after missing a single target, but also shoot multiple targets, greatly improving the safety of the shooter. In addition, the X3 Taser gun has also improved the laser pointer at the muzzle, from the original single laser pointer to two laser pointers, which can better judge the actual impact point of two metal probes firing at the same time, and further reduce the training time and amount of law enforcers. Moreover, the X3 Taser has many revolutionary changes. In addition to the above points mentioned by the author, there are also some aspects, such as strengthening the polymer shell of the gun body to ensure service in extremely complicated environmental conditions. Due to space reasons, some will be described later, so I won't list them here.

In addition to the Taser, the Taser has also developed a series of electric shock bombs, and developed an XREP electric shock extended-range bomb for the 12 shotgun. The range can be increased to 30m, which is only about 10m compared with the X26 Taser, which undoubtedly meets its tactical requirements of high and low firepower. Not only the Taser Company, but also Metal Storm Company, which cooperates with the Taser Company, has specially developed a multi-gun launcher for the Taser Company's 12 extended-range electric shock projectile, which can be fired independently after being installed with the handle or butt, and can also be hung on the existing automatic rifle or riot gun to work together.

In any case, tasers have really changed the way the police enforce the law. The traditional non-lethal weapons of police are nothing more than tear gas and rubber bullets. The former takes a certain time to use, and the effect is not obvious when it is launched outdoors. It is only suitable for the purpose of dispersing and gathering people, and it cannot quickly make the living target lose its resistance. When using the latter, it is very easy to cause serious damage or even extremely serious damage to the living target when the shooting position and distance are wrong. In addition, rubber bullets and other kinetic energy non-lethal weapons still have some defects, such as insufficient strength and different stopping effects caused by individual differences. In this context, the appearance of tasers has improved the law enforcement environment. Compared with traditional rubber bullets, tasers have the following advantages: First, they are more powerful. The blue warning arc and loud current sound can be generated only by electrifying the arc without firing the electric shock needle, which can effectively deter criminals. According to the investigation of American police, in more than 80% conflicts, only warning arc can stop illegal activities. Second, it is extensible and universal. Taser is small in size, and its X26 taser can be installed on AR- 15 automatic rifle, which can unify lethal weapons and non-lethal weapons to face the increasingly complex law enforcement environment. Thirdly, the Taser also has high interference and disability, especially the newer version of the X3 Taser. This kind of equipment can release high-voltage current to interfere with its normal nerve activity, thus achieving the effect of muscle twitching, loss of action and resistance. For example, in the face of criminal suspects who drink too much, their advanced nervous system has been paralyzed by alcohol, which will inhibit the excitement after the pain signal reaches the brain nerve center. Therefore, when using traditional kinetic energy non-lethal weapons, their pain tolerance will exceed the general disability pain. When X3 stun gun is used, its disabling mechanism is not to make muscles ache, but to use high-voltage current to directly interfere with its normal nerve activity, thus misleading the nerve receiver and achieving the purpose of doing actions contrary to the instructions of the brain nerve center. This kind of disability mechanism has a strong disability in the face of suspects who drink too much, even drug addicts, which is not available in traditional rubber bullets or even old tasers. Fourth, the taser is completely ineffective. In essence, all weapons transmit one or several kinds of energy to the receiver, thus achieving the purpose of injury or disability. The same is true of electric shock weapons. However, in order to ensure the non-lethality of electric shock weapons, the electric power should not be too high, otherwise it will cause the death of living targets, which is contrary to non-lethality. The electric shock weapon with low electric power needs to be in contact with the living target for a period of time to ensure its complete disability. However, it is difficult for traditional electric batons to contact with living targets for a long time in actual combat, and it is difficult to achieve the effect of subduing criminal suspects. However, the appearance of taser changed this situation, and it is completely possible to wait for the high-voltage current to continue to flow in after hitting the metal probe.

Unfortunately, our country lacks the legislative license for non-lethal electric shock weapons at present. Even in 1989, the people of China and the Ministry of Public Security issued the Notice of the Ministry of Public Security on Stopping the Production and Sale of Safety and Defense Devices such as Electric Shock, Strong Light and Tearing. According to Article 3 of the Regulations on the Use of Police Equipment and Weapons in People's Republic of China (PRC) (OrderNo. 19 1 of the State Council of the People's Republic of China) adopted on October 8, 1996/KLOC-0, the police equipment mentioned in this Ordinance refers to batons, tear gas grenades and high-pressure water guns equipped by the people's police according to regulations. The so-called weapons refer to guns, ammunition and other lethal police weapons equipped by the people's police in accordance with regulations. It can be seen from this regulation that the police still have some doubts about whether to use electric shock non-lethal weapons as police equipment for law enforcement. In my opinion, China's police should revise the relevant regulations as soon as possible and include non-lethal electric shock weapons in the equipment sequence of the people's police force to cope with the more complicated law enforcement environment in the future.

Development of high voltage electric shock mine

In recent years, American Taser Company began to develop various electric shock weapons, and high-voltage electric shock mine is one of them. High-voltage lightning is a kind of mine that can be manipulated artificially. It can be buried underground or hung on the wall. Equipped with 12 pairs of metal probes, it can send out 200 20KV high-voltage pulses for 3s when launching. Coincidentally, some western countries have also begun to develop such non-lethal mines, replacing traditional fragments with rubber balls.