Developing a Combined Lethal and Non-Lethal Capability for the Individual Marine
Abstract
The United States Marine Corps should research, develop, and field a new weapon that provides both a lethal and non-lethal capability for the individual Marine. Discussion: The future of military conflict will include a cluttered battlefield mixed with both enemy combatants and civilian non-combatants. The United States has achieved dominance in weapons development and conventional fighting capabilities, but has uncovered a dilemma when facing enemies in a complex irregular warfare environment. Enemy fighters who cannot match the United States in a traditional head-to-head battle have resorted to using innocent civilians as human shields, hiding among the populace, and exploiting civilian casualties to the benefit of their cause. In the future, individual Marines should be armed with a non-lethal capability to mitigate this enemy advantage. Current and emerging non-lethal technology offers the potential to better-equip Marines in the future and provide them with more flexibility to accomplish their assigned missions. The Active Denial System is one such technological concept and uses directed microwave energy to cause intensive skin heat against its intended target. This counter-personnel heating effect forces its target to move away from the directed energy beam. By leveraging this concept and applying it to an individual weapon, it will be possible to arm Marines with a directed energy weapon that includes both a lethal and non-lethal effects against a future target. Researching and fielding a non-lethal capability to reduce civilian casualties should be the focus of future individual weapons development. Conclusion: Future warfare will likely be more complex than previous conflicts. Active Denial System technology and concepts can be applied to the future development of individual weapons. Developing and fielding a directed energy weapon for the individual
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2010
- Accession Number
- ADA536720
Entities
People
- Gregory T. Polland
Organizations
- Marine Corps University