Effectiveness testing of non-lethal weapons

Abstract

Non-lethal weapons (NLWs) provide the warfighter with tools to effectively wage full spectrum operations, particularly in counterinsurgency, stability and support, and peace operations. However, it is widely recognized that evaluation of a NLW’s performance and effectiveness is problematic. The principal difficulty is that a NLW must be evaluated as both a non-lethal device (based on clinical testing methods of life science) and as a weapon (based on US Department of Defense (DoD) evaluation and testing methods of engineering and physics). This paper argues that live-virtual-constructive (LVC) methods constitute a critical component of a comprehensive research program on NLW effectiveness. In support of this contention, the article has three parts. Section 2 reviews briefly NLW effectiveness testing. This section will then present general LVC methods and the advantages they have over typical methods of evaluating NLW effects. Following this introduction, and in line with the intent of the special issue, an overview will be given on LVC methods as employed in NLW testing by the US Army’s Target Behavioral Response Laboratory (TBRL). Since its inception in 2004, the TBRL at Picatinny Arsenal has conducted comprehensive LVC studies on NLW effectiveness. These experiments examine NLW effectiveness against intended targets under controlled laboratory experimentation. A third component presents empirical quantitative results from LVC experimentation with NLW effectiveness in a crowd scenario. The article concludes with a brief summary of the use and particular benefits of LVC methods on NLW effectiveness testing.