US defence firm Raytheon has proposed selling examples of its Silent Guardian Protection System to India for crowd control purposes.
This technology has seen limited use in the hands of US troops working on the Afghan frontline, but was pulled out of the country in 2010.
No official explanation has yet emerged from defence officials on the reasons for the Silent Guardian’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, but it coincided with concerns raised by campaigners over the risks that the system might pose.
In a recent comment, Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister of India, urged for a more humane approach to riot control. “We need to revisit crowd control measures to deal with public agitations with non-lethal, yet effective and more focused measures”, he stressed.
The Silent Guardian Protection System – also known as the ‘Pain Gun’ - is described by Raytheon as an alternative to traditional protest suppression measures, like water cannons and tear gas.
According to the US firm, when fired, those on the receiving end of the weapon experience extreme, short-term pain, but associated injuries are less likely to occur than with the older water cannon and tear gas techniques.
The system emits controlled radiation beams that interact with nerve endings and, because the skin isn’t broken, long-term injuries can’t be caused, but a surging temporary sensation can.
Crowd control is a big topic in India. In 2010, street protests in Kashmir resulted in the deaths of 114 people, and the search is now on for effective crowd control techniques to deploy in the event of future riots or protests.
An example of the Silent Guardian was exhibited by Raytheon at the recent Aero India 2011 exhibition.
“Raytheon’s Silent Guardian system is the best long-range non-lethal system available on the market today”, Raytheon Missile Systems business development director, George Svitak, stated in a company press release issued on the eve of Aero India. “We have numerous medical studies and more than 12,000 tests on human subjects that prove the safety of this technology.”
“Raytheon’s Silent Guardian technology could provide a country with immediate, precise and responsive capability in a variety of potential missions, including the protection of high-value assets and critical infrastructure”, Svitak added.
“The non-lethal Silent Guardian system provides military, civilian law enforcement and security organizations with a truly non-lethal system that is optimized for situations where the use of lethal force may not be appropriate or warranted.”
See also:
Companies supplying Crowd Control Units
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