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Sonic Weapons
Context:
Serbia’s President, Aleksandar Vucic, has firmly denied claims that his government used a sonic weapon to disperse protesters in Belgrade on March 15, 2025.
What is a Sonic Weapon?
- Sonic weapons are devices that emit extremely loud sounds over long distances.
- These devices can produce both audible and inaudible sound waves, which can be used for a variety of purposes, including crowd control and communication.
- While sound amplifiers have existed for centuries, their use as crowd-control tools emerged in the 1990s.
- In 2004, the United States military deployed long-range acoustic devices (LRADs) in Iraq, marking one of the first instances of such technology being used in military operations.
How Do Sonic Weapons Work?
- Sonic weapons typically operate using modern transducers, which convert energy from one form to another.
- The sound produced by these devices is highly concentrated and amplified, creating a narrow beam that can be aimed at specific targets. Police officers can adjust the frequency, intensity, quality, and duration of the sound to control its impact, potentially causing pain or discomfort to those in its path.
Types of Sonic Weapons
- Long-Range Acoustic Device (LRAD): Manufactured by Genasys Inc (formerly known as LRAD Corporation). It can reach up to 8,900 meters for intelligible speech and can emit sounds as loud as 160 decibels (dB).
- For comparison, jet engines emit between 130-140 dB during takeoff, and a gunshot produces around 150 dB. Sounds exceeding 140 dB can cause pain, while sounds over 120 dB can lead to permanent hearing damage even with brief exposure.
- Mosquito: This device emits high-pitched sounds that are painful only to younger people—typically teenagers and individuals in their twenties. The sound is inaudible to older adults (over 30), as their hearing diminishes with age.
- Infrasonic Weapon: A newer technology that produces low-frequency sound waves that are inaudible but can still cause discomfort or disorientation. Experts suggest that infrasonic devices are challenging to weaponise effectively.
Health Effects of Sonic Weapons
- The use of sonic weapons can lead to significant harm, primarily to the ears and hearing. These effects depend on the distance from the sound source, the duration of exposure, and the individual’s preexisting health conditions.
- Ear damage: Loud sounds, such as those produced by LRAD devices, can result in ringing in the ears (tinnitus), which can persist for minutes, hours, or even days.
- Other symptoms: Exposure can cause headaches, nausea, sweating, vertigo, loss of balance, and in severe cases, vomiting or blood/mucus from the ears.
- Indiscriminate harm: Human rights organisations, including Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), note that these weapons are indiscriminate, meaning they can cause harm to protesters, bystanders, and even law enforcement officers, despite the narrow targeting capability of the beam.
While sonic weapons are touted as a means of controlling crowds with a precise, directed beam of sound, the health risks they pose—especially in terms of hearing damage and broader health consequences—raise significant ethical and legal concerns.
