Acoustic weapons use sound to distract, harass, injure or kill targets. The Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) is a high-power loudspeaker used by the US Navy and police. Other experimental weapons include infrasonic emitters, vortex ring guns, and ultrasonic beams. Some hypothetical concepts include resonating buildings to collapse and liquefying living tissue.
Acoustic weapons, also known as sonic or ultrasonic weapons, are devices that distract, harass, injure or even kill a target using sound. Of course, sound isn’t just a medium for talking or listening to music. It’s energy in air, and its energy density can be measured in watts. At enough decibels, it can rupture your eardrums and cause extreme pain. At lower, but still high decibels, acoustic weapons can be extremely annoying and distracting. The human pain threshold for sound is 120 – 140 dB.
Acoustic weapons have a similar history to particle or laser beam weapons. Tons of speculation and science fiction, but few working devices. Acoustic weapons research has been ongoing for several decades, but practical applications have only really been implemented since about 1995. Leading the pack is the Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD), developed by the American Technology Corporation. The LRAD is basically a small array of high-power loudspeakers that project a tweet noise in the direction of the offending individual or group. It was originally invented for use by US Navy ships to warn other ships of invading without permission, but its use has been extended to land (in Iraq) and by the police.
The LRAD is an acoustic weapon that weighs only 45 lbs (20 kg) but projects an intense sound beam such as 146 dB (1000 W/m²) at 1 meter, 90 dB at 300 meters. At close range, this is enough to permanently damage hearing, which is of some concern, especially in a home use setting. Its manufacturer claims that the acoustic weapon is meant to be used only for short bursts of a few seconds. The LRAD is also used by cruise ships to deter pirates in hot spots like the Caribbean.
Other more experimental or speculative acoustic weapons have been proposed and some are in various stages of development. Some may have already been developed but are kept secret. These include phased arrays of infrasonic emitters that can penetrate armor and concrete walls, demonstrated by the US Department of Defense; a Vortex Ring Gun (weak versions demonstrated by hobbyists, and sonic shells under development for anti-aircraft hijacking kits. There has been unconfirmed speculation about the use of ultrasonic beams used by Navy ships to communicate with submarines that have a dual-use function as anti-hijacking.-frogman weapons.
Even more hypothetical or experimental acoustic weapon concepts include an infrasound beam that can harmoniously resonate a building and cause it to collapse, an ultrasonic beam powerful enough to liquefy living tissue, and a focused beam of sound such as the focused light in lasers. The disintegration of solids into liquids using ultrasound has long been known in industry, but large-scale acoustic weapon applications have been elusive if not nonexistent.
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