Acoustic anti‐personnel weapons: An inhumane future?*

Abstract

High intensity sound is foremost among newer technologies being considered by the military for use in war weaponry and in control of civil disorder, particularly in the United States where some weapons may be nearing deployment. The various forms of acoustic energy and the weapons in which they could be applied are considered, and the adverse effects on humans described; these can be serious and persistent, and are potentially lethal. Military applications for which high energy sound has been contemplated in the past or are being considered for the future are examined, and some existing research projects reviewed. Such uses of acoustic energy in war are criticized in the light of the obligation imposed by existing international humanitarian law for weapons not to cause ‘unnecessary suffering’ or ‘superfluous injury’. The humanitarian community must advocate greater humanitarian protection in warfare.