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 LRAD – is a long-range hailing and warning, directed
acoustic device designed to communicate with authority and
exceptionally high intelligibility in a 15-30 degree beam. LRAD can
issue a verbal challenge with instructions in excess of 500 meters
and has the capability of following up with a warning tone to
influence behavior or determine intent. The "hailing and warning"
application for commercial shipping is similar to the successful
LRAD deployments by the U.S. Navy on patrol craft in and around the
port of Basra, Iraq to communicate with vessels in shipping lanes
and around oil terminals, where the device was reported to be
effective even at a distance of 1,000 meters. LRAD was originally conceived to support
the protection and exclusion zones around U.S. Navy warships. The
challenge of interdicting small boats approaching commercial
maritime assets is quite similar. LRAD's warning tones command
attention at ranges in excess of 500 meters while its directional
and highly intelligible voice instructions can unquestionably be
heard. LRAD's ability to positively communicate with authority on
land or at sea is proving highly effective in creating safe
situations out of uncertain ones.
 On November 7, 2005 LRAD was first used to foil a pirate attack on a Seabourn Cruise Line
luxury cruise. The system was installed as a part of the ship's defense
systems, and was activated when pirates attacked the ship with
RPGs 160 kilometers off the Somali coast . The pirates failed to board the cruiser. LRAD's maritime
application was realized after the 2000 attack on the USS Cole off
Yemen, as a way to keep operators of small boats from approaching US
warships. The system was evaluated by commercial ship operators, as
a non lethal way to ward off pirate attacks. Other applications
include armed unmanned surface vehicles,
as international maritime law does not allow commercial vessels to
carry heavy armament.
 LRADs
and its scale-down Medium Range Acoustic Device (MRAD) (shown
above), are currently deployed with the coast guard, U.S. Marine
Corps, U.S. Army, and U.S. Navy in Operation Iraqi Freedom in and
around Fallujah, Mosul, and the port of Basra. Most recently, over
$600,000 worth of products were procured for the Army's 3rd Armored
Cavalry Regiment. Recent deliveries
were made to the 44th Engineering Battalion, deployed in central
Iraq and the 3rd Infantry Division will be utilizing LRADs in Iraq
for crowd control, area denial and clearing buildings. The smaller
MRAD is optimized for land and vehicle-based operations. It can be
employed from armored vehicles, for urban warfare, shorter-range
checkpoints and security. A larger, more powerful Extended Range
Acoustic Device (ERAD), can also be used to supports very long
distance communications for the critical infrastructure, including
border security.
LARD can be
integrated with the Phraselator, a hand-held voice translation
device, which is a key tool to store and immediately retrieve
thousands of messages recorded by the Defense Language Institute for
transmission through LRAD at extended ranges in the host nation
language. This capability is being implemented with each LRAD
delivered in this order and augments ATC's hardened MP3 player used
for messaging and instantly-available aversive warning tones.
According to Defense Update reader Michael Frank of Phodio Ltd. an
international LRAD distributor from the UK, LRAD has been in use
for years, for military purposes and to avoid maritime piracy and to
control and give information to big crowds, riots and
demonstrations. "You should see the LRAD as a kind of megaphone
rather than a non-lethal weapon" says Frank. "It gives normal
acoustic messages, however good engineering work have made it
possible to narrow the sound beam. It is also a fact it can make an
ear-splitting noise that nobody can stand." Nevertheless, it is
mainly used is to communicate and to give information in long
distance in high ambient noise environment." The system is
effective for vocal communications at distances of several hundreds
meter distance, a capability which can also be used in disaster
area. |
