Navy researchers try to kick-start industry development and prototyping of non-lethal weapons
Officials of the Office of Naval Research (ONR) in Arlington, Va., have issued a presolicitation (ONRBAA14-008) for the 2015 Non-Lethal Weapons Technologies program to encourage non-lethal weapons research and prototyping to address known military needs.
Non-lethal weapons range from blunt-impact weapons like rubber bullets to high-power microwaves and lasers that cause painful skin heating and temporary blindness. They are for dangerous military and public-safety situations like riots and other mob activity where deadly force is not necessary.
Authorities typically look to non-lethal weapons to disperse crowds, stop vehicles, and discourage threatening people approaching sensitive areas like security zones and check points. Non-lethal weapons can cause temporary pain or blindness, produce confusion or disorientation, or cause muscles to spasm or malfunction.
The ONR program revolves around 14 areas:
-- non-lethal advanced materials and non-lethal payloads to hail or warn, move, deny area, suppress, and temporarily disable individuals at ranges greater than 100 meters;
-- high-power microwave technologies for counter-material missions;
-- compact active-denial technologies;
-- clear-a-space technologies;
-- human electro-muscular incapacitation technologies;
-- non-lethal directed-energy and non-directed energy-based technologies for vehicle or vessel stopping and other counter-material targets;
-- non-lethal laser-induced plasma effects at ranges farther than 100 meters for counter-personnel and counter-material missions;
-- compact non-lethal non-pyrotechnic flash-bang technologies;
-- compact advanced multi-bang flash-bang technologies;
-- advanced non-lethal technologies that move, suppress, deny, or disable through combined effects on individuals and crowds;
-- compact hail-and-warn technologies through two-way communications that work out to ranges as far as 1,500 meters;
-- compact, low-cost non-lethal push-back and repel technologies;
-- human effects and non-lethal weapons weapon effectiveness studies, risk assessments, and evaluations; and
-- other next-generation non-lethal technologies.
Companies interested should email white papers no later than 15 July 2014 to the Navy's Alicia Owsiak at [email protected]. Only those who send white papers are eligible to submit full proposals. Send full proposals no later than 26 Sept. 2014.
More information is online at https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DON/ONR/ONR/ONRBAA14-008/listing.html.
