Non-Lethal Weapons as a Means of Expanding the Capabilities to Defeat the Enemy

Abstract

The subject of the study is the impact on the enemy during armed conflicts of varying intensity, the object of the study is the features of the so-called "non-lethal" weapons used in this process. The author has studied in detail the process of influencing enemy objects during the conduct of military operations with the use of non-lethal weapons, analyzed the features of its use in local wars and armed conflicts. The relevance of the study is determined by the appearance in leading foreign countries of updated conceptual and combat documents defining the principles and conditions for the use of non-lethal weapons. When writing a review article, general scientific research methods – analysis and synthesis - were used. Based on the analysis of the features of the use of non-lethal weapons during local wars and armed conflicts of recent times, the particular consequences of its use are analyzed. Based on the results of the analysis, the author concludes that the purpose of using such weapons is not the humanization of conflicts stated in a number of conceptual documents, but to increase the effectiveness of defeating the enemy in difficult conditions of modern warfare. Thus, it is determined that the increasing role of non-lethal weapons in modern operations is determined by its physical properties, which make it possible to solve the tasks of defeating enemy objects and defending their objects in difficult background-target conditions characteristic of modern local wars and armed conflicts