![GLARE MOUT- D532P-M 1 001](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/GLARE_MOUT-_D532P-M_1_001.jpg)
A dazzler is a
non-lethal
Non-lethal weapons, also called nonlethal weapons, less-lethal weapons, less-than-lethal weapons, non-deadly weapons, compliance weapons, or pain-inducing weapons are weapons intended to be less likely to kill a living target than conventional ...
weapon which uses intense
directed radiation to temporarily disorient its target with
flash blindness
Flash blindness is an either temporary or permanent visual impairment during and following exposure of a varying length of time to a light flash of extremely high intensity, such as a nuclear explosion, flash photograph, lightning strike, or extre ...
. They can effectively deter further advances, regardless of language or cultural barriers, but can also be used for hailing and warning.
Targets can include electronic sensors as well as human vision.
Initially developed for military use, non-military products are becoming available for use in law enforcement and security.
Design
Dazzlers emit
infrared
Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...
light against various electronic sensors and
visible light
Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 te ...
against humans. They are intended to not cause long-term damage to
eyes. The emitters are usually
laser
A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fi ...
s, making what is termed a ''laser dazzler''. Most of the contemporary systems can be carried by a person, and operate in either the red (a
laser diode
The laser diode chip removed and placed on the eye of a needle for scale
A laser diode (LD, also injection laser diode or ILD, or diode laser) is a semiconductor device similar to a light-emitting diode in which a diode pumped directly with e ...
) or green (a
diode-pumped solid-state laser
A diode-pumped solid-state laser (DPSSL) is a solid-state laser made by pumping a solid gain medium, for example, a ruby or a neodymium-doped YAG crystal, with a laser diode.
DPSSLs have advantages in compactness and efficiency over other types ...
, DPSS) areas of the
electromagnetic spectrum
The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of frequencies (the spectrum) of electromagnetic radiation and their respective wavelengths and photon energies.
The electromagnetic spectrum covers electromagnetic waves with frequencies ranging fro ...
. The green laser is chosen for its unique ability to react with the human eye.
Dazzlers maintain eye safety by producing diverging light that is less coherent (focused) than typical lasers. This produces a larger, less concentrated spot at greater distances which is easier to aim at longer distances and retains the desired effect on targets.
History
Some
searchlight
A searchlight (or spotlight) is an apparatus that combines an extremely bright source (traditionally a carbon arc lamp) with a mirrored parabolic reflector to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a particular direc ...
s are bright enough to cause permanent or temporary blindness, and they were used to dazzle the crews of bombers during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. Whirling Spray was a system of search lights fitted with rotating mirrors which was used to dazzle and confuse pilots attacking the Suez canal. This was developed into the
Canal Defence Light, a small mobile tank mounted system intended for use in the
Rhine crossings. However, the system was mainly used as conventional searchlights.
Handgun or rifle-mounted lights may also be used to temporarily blind an opponent and are sometimes marketed for that purpose. In both cases the primary purpose is to illuminate the target and their use to disorient is secondary.
![Dazzler mounted on M-240B in Iraq](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/Dazzler_mounted_on_M-240B_in_Iraq.jpg)
The first reported use of laser dazzlers in
combat was possibly by the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
, during the
Falklands War of 1982, when they were reputedly fitted to various
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
warships to hinder low-level
Argentinian
Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish ( masculine) or ( feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, ...
air attacks. However,
Michael Heseltine
Michael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine, (; born 21 March 1933) is a British politician and businessman. Having begun his career as a property developer, he became one of the founders of the publishing house Haymarket. Heseltine served ...
, the UK's
Secretary of State for Defence
The secretary of state for defence, also referred to as the defence secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the business of the Ministry of Defence. The incumbent is a membe ...
immediately after the conflict, stated that whilst the dazzlers had been deployed they were not used.
At the end of
Operation Desert Storm
Operation or Operations may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity
* Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory
* ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...
,
F-15E
The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F-15E Strike Eagle is an American all-weather multirole strike fighter derived from the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle. The F-15E was designed in the 1980s for long-range, high-speed interdiction without relyin ...
crews observed the
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
i military's massacre of Kurdish civilians at
Chamchamal
Chamchamal ( ku, چهمچهماڵ, Çemçemal, ar, جمجمال) is a town located in Sulaymaniyah Governorate, Kurdistan Region, Iraq. Controlled by Kurdistan, it is the town which is nearest located to the disputed territories of Norther ...
. The pilots were forbidden from firing on the Iraqi soldiers and instead used their lasers as dazzlers against the enemy helicopter pilots. This ultimately proved ineffective in crashing any attack helicopters.
On 18 May 2006, the
U.S. military announced it was using laser dazzlers mounted on M4 rifles in
troops in Iraq as a non-lethal way to stop drivers who fail to stop at checkpoints manned by American soldiers. Other militaries have taken up use of them as well.
Countermeasures
One defense against laser dazzlers are narrowband
optical filter
An optical filter is a device that selectively transmits light of different wavelengths, usually implemented as a glass plane or plastic device in the optical path, which are either dyed in the bulk or have interference coatings. The optical ...
s tuned to the frequency of the laser. To counter such defense, dazzlers can employ emitters using more than one
wavelength
In physics, the wavelength is the spatial period of a periodic wave—the distance over which the wave's shape repeats.
It is the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same phase on the wave, such as two adjacent crests, t ...
, or
tunable laser
A tunable laser is a laser whose wavelength of operation can be altered in a controlled manner. While all laser gain media allow small shifts in output wavelength, only a few types of lasers allow continuous tuning over a significant wavelength ran ...
s with wider range of output.
Another defense is
photochromic
Photochromism is the reversible transformation of a chemical species ( photoswitch) between two forms by the absorption of electromagnetic radiation ( photoisomerization), where the two forms have different absorption spectra. In plain language, ...
materials able to become opaque under high light energy densities.
Nonlinear optics
Nonlinear optics (NLO) is the branch of optics that describes the behaviour of light in ''nonlinear media'', that is, media in which the polarization density P responds non-linearly to the electric field E of the light. The non-linearity is typic ...
techniques are being investigated: e.g. vanadium-doped
zinc telluride
Zinc telluride is a binary chemical compound with the formula ZnTe. This solid is a semiconductor material with a direct band gap of 2.26 eV. It is usually a p-type semiconductor. Its crystal structure is cubic, like that for sphalerite and di ...
(V:ZnTe) can be used to form electro-optic power limiters able to selectively block the intense dazzler beam without affecting weaker light from an observed scene.
Legislation
![ZTZ-99A tank front 20170902](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/ZTZ-99A_tank_front_20170902.jpg)
Weapons designed to cause permanent blindness are banned by the 1995
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
Protocol on Blinding Laser Weapons
The Protocol on Blinding Laser Weapons, Protocol IV of the 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, was issued by the United Nations on 13 October 1995. It came into force on 30 July 1998. As of the end of April 2018, the protocol had been ...
. Dazzlers intended to cause
temporary blindness or disorientation fall outside this protocol.
Manufacturers and models
* LE Systems, under the sponsorship of
DARPA
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is a research and development agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military.
Originally known as the Ad ...
, developed a dazzler based on a
DPSS laser
A diode-pumped solid-state laser (DPSSL) is a solid-state laser made by laser pumping, pumping a solid gain medium, for example, a ruby or a Nd:YAG laser, neodymium-doped YAG crystal, with a laser diode.
DPSSLs have advantages in compactness and e ...
, with green light output at 532 nm, essentially a higher-intensity version of a green
laser pointer
A laser pointer or laser pen is a small handheld device with a power source (usually a battery) and a laser diode emitting a very narrow coherent low-powered laser beam of visible light, intended to be used to highlight something of interest by ...
. 532 nm light interacts with human eyes well in both daylight and reduced light conditions.
* B.E. Meyers & Co. produces several dazzlers including the GLARE LA-9/P, GLARE MOUT, GLARE RECOIL LA-22/U, and GLARE HELIOS. The GLARE RECOIL and GLARE HELIOS dazzlers utilize built-in safety mechanisms to prevent eye damage by pairing the dazzler with a rangefinder; the dazzler will self-modulate power output with respect to range to target so the closer the target, the lower the output and the farther the target, the greater the output. As a result the maximum safe laser intensity output is utilized without risking ocular damage.
The older GLARE LA-9/P variant includes a rangefinder and an automatic cutoff failsafe but does not have automated modulation capability.
Effective range for the various GLARE dazzlers ranges from 400m to 20+km. Despite having the greatest effective range of 5-25+km, the GLARE HELIOS is classified as an FDA
Laser safety#Class 1M eye-safe laser.
* The ''
Dazer Laser Dazer Laser is a family of non-lethal, ocular distraction (ocular interrupter) devices, or dazzlers, which have been designed and engineered by Laser Energetics, Inc. (LEI).
Products
There were three products in the Dazer Laser range:
* Defender ...
Guardian'', ''Dazer Laser Stealth'', and "Dazer Laser Defender" by Laser Energetics, Inc. are different types of optical distraction laser systems which can temporarily visually impair, illuminate, target designate, warn and/or communicate visually with the intended target.
* The Saber 203 dazzler is a grenade launcher based system. It is similar to the
LANL
Los Alamos National Laboratory (often shortened as Los Alamos and LANL) is one of the sixteen research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy (DOE), located a short distance northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico, ...
-developed optical munition, Project Perseus. The dazzler is launched from a standard 40mm grenade launcher and activated via a control switch to induce glare. The
U.S. Marine Corps brought Saber 203 dazzlers to
Somalia
Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
in January 1995 during
Operation United Shield
Operation United Shield was the codename of a military operation, conducted 9 January to 3 March 1995, bringing a conclusion to the United Nations Operation in Somalia II (UNOSOM II). Commanded by the United States, two ships of the Pakistan N ...
, but senior U.S. Department of Defense officials reportedly halted its experimental at the last minute for "humane reasons". According to the Air Force, the Saber 203 system is also usable for law enforcement purposes.
[, Vol. 7, No. 5]
* The ''JD-3'' laser dazzler is mounted on the Chinese
Type 98 main battle tank
A main battle tank (MBT), also known as a battle tank or universal tank, is a tank that fills the role of armor-protected direct fire and maneuver in many modern armies. Cold War-era development of more powerful engines, better suspension sys ...
. It is coupled with a
laser radiation detector, and serves as a countermeasure by automatically aiming at any enemy's illuminating
laser designator
A laser designator is a laser light source which is used to designate a target. Laser designators provide targeting for laser-guided bombs, missiles, or precision artillery munitions, such as the Paveway series of bombs, AGM-114 Hellfire, o ...
, attempting to overwhelm its optical systems or blind the operator.
* The ''
ZM-87
The ZM-87 Portable Laser Disturber is a Chinese electro-optic countermeasure neodymium laser device. The ZM-87 was primarily intended to blind humans but was also reported to damage the photo-electric elements in laser rangefinders, videocamera ...
'' Portable Laser Disturber is a Chinese electro-optic countermeasure laser device. It can blind enemy troops at up to 2 to 3 km range and temporarily blind them at up to 10 km range. This weapon is banned by the 1995
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
Protocol on Blinding Laser Weapons
The Protocol on Blinding Laser Weapons, Protocol IV of the 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, was issued by the United Nations on 13 October 1995. It came into force on 30 July 1998. As of the end of April 2018, the protocol had been ...
.
* The ''Photonic Disruptor'', classified as a ''
threat assessment
Threat assessment is the practice of determining the credibility and seriousness of a potential threat, as well as the probability that the threat will become a reality. Threat assessment is separate to the more established practice of violence-r ...
laser'' (TALI), was developed and manufactured by Wicked Lasers in cooperation with Xtreme Alternative Defense Systems. This tactical laser is equipped with a versatile focus-adjustable collimating lens to compensate for range and power intensity when used at close range to incapacitate an attacker, at a distance to safely identify threats. The Photonic Disruptor has been featured on Discovery Channel's "Future Weapons." It was also reportedly used by
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) is a non-profit, marine conservation activism organization based in Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, Washington, in the United States. Sea Shepherd employs direct action tactics to achieve its g ...
during their operations with the ''
Ady Gil
Ady Gil is an Israeli animal rights activist living in Hollywood, California, United States of America.
Gil was raised in Ramat Gan, he joined the Israel Air Force from where he retired at the age of 22. He emigrated to USA. There in partnersh ...
'' in the
Southern Ocean
The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is regarded as the second-small ...
against Japanese whaling.
* The ''Outfit DEC'' or ''Laser Dazzle Sight'' (LDS) is a British ship-based laser, used since the 1980s. The
veiling-glare laser
The veiling-glare laser is a proposed laser dazzler, a non-lethal weapon which would use light in the ultraviolet (UV) range. The intended effect would be to cause fluorescence in the lens of the eye, producing intense glare and making clear visio ...
utilizes
ultraviolet
Ultraviolet (UV) is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelength from 10 nm (with a corresponding frequency around 30 PHz) to 400 nm (750 THz), shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation ...
light and is designed to dazzle by causing
fluorescence
Fluorescence is the emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light or other electromagnetic radiation. It is a form of luminescence. In most cases, the emitted light has a longer wavelength, and therefore a lower photon energy, tha ...
in the lens of the
human eye. There are other such laser weapon systems in development.
![PHASR Rifle](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/PHASR_Rifle.jpg)
* ''StunRay'' is a
less-lethal
Non-lethal weapons, also called nonlethal weapons, less-lethal weapons, less-than-lethal weapons, non-deadly weapons, compliance weapons, or pain-inducing weapons are weapons intended to be less likely to kill a living target than conventional ...
optical incapacitation effector developed by Genesis Illumination Inc. It uses
collimated
A collimated beam of light or other electromagnetic radiation has parallel rays, and therefore will spread minimally as it propagates. A perfectly collimated light beam, with no divergence, would not disperse with distance. However, diffraction p ...
incoherent (non-laser) broad spectrum
visible
Visibility, in meteorology, is a measure of the distance at which an object or light can be seen.
Visibility may also refer to:
* A measure of turbidity in water quality control
* Interferometric visibility, which quantifies interference contrast ...
and
near infrared
Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from arou ...
light from a short-arc lamp to safely and temporarily impair vision, disorient and incapacitate aggressors for 5 seconds to 3 minutes without causing physical harm. Full recovery generally occurs in 10–20 minutes. The hand-held model is designed for a range of 10m to 100m. StunRay can be scaled up for ranges from 100m to 1000m for vehicle mounting, checkpoints, secure facilities, patrol boats, and ship protection.
* The ''PHaSR'' or
Personnel halting and stimulation response rifle
The personnel halting and stimulation response rifle (PHASR) is a prototype non-lethal laser dazzler developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory's Directed Energy Directorate, U.S. Department of Defense. Its purpose is to temporarily disorient ...
was developed by the U.S. Department of Defense.
* Three US Patents are held by Science & Engineering Associates (SEA) who is now QinetiQ North America. They are: 5,685,636 Eye Safe Laser Security Device; 6,007,218 Self-Contained Laser Illuminator Module; and 6,190,022 B1 Enhanced Non-Lethal Security Device.
See also
*
Flashbang
*
Flashlight
*
Terra-3
Terra-3 ( Russian: терра–3) was a Soviet laser testing centre, located on the Sary Shagan anti-ballistic missile (ABM) testing range in the Karaganda Region of Kazakhstan. It was originally built to test missile defense concepts, but these ...
*
List of laser articles
*
Laser designator
A laser designator is a laser light source which is used to designate a target. Laser designators provide targeting for laser-guided bombs, missiles, or precision artillery munitions, such as the Paveway series of bombs, AGM-114 Hellfire, o ...
*
AN/PEQ-1 SOFLAM
Notes
References
* Lisa A. Small, Blinding Laser Weapons: It is Time for the International Community to Take Off Its Blinders, onlin
ICLTD INC.* Louise Doswald-Beck, 30.06.1996, New Protocol on Blinding Laser Weapons, International Review of the Red Cross Nr. 312, S.272–299, onlin
International Review of the Red Cross* Burrus M. Carnahan, Marjorie Robertson, The American Journal of International Law, The Protocol on "Blinding Laser Weapons": A New Direction for International Humanitarian Law, Vol. 90, Nr. 3 (Juli 1996), Pages 484–490.
* Bradford Non-Lethal Weapons Research Project, December 2006 Occasional Paper, No.1: The Early History of "Non-Lethal" Weapons, onlin
University of Bradford(PDF)
{{refend
Military lasers
Non-lethal weapons
Laser aiming modules