Sonic weaponry
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Sonic and ultrasonic weapons are of various types. Some are currently in limited use and extensive research and development by military and police forces. Some are science fiction weapons only.
Some of these weapons are described as sonic bullets and sonic grenades and sonic mines and sonic cannons. Some produce a beam of sound or ultrasound; some produce an area field of it.
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Weapons that emit sound as an irritant
These produce certain high or low, partially audible frequencies which cause humans to experience nausea or discomfort. The use of these frequencies to incapacitate persons has been used both in counter-terrorist and crowd control settings.
The 2002 French film Irreversible uses (real, not fictional) extremely low-frequency sound during the opening twenty to thirty minutes to create a state of disorientation and unease in the audience.
A "sonic bullet" has been developed as a weapon against plane hijackers. [1] (http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_449125.html)
Non-lethal sonic weapons
Some of these weapons project sound or ultrasound that can break the eardrums of its targets and cause severe pain or disorientation. Usually, this will stop an enemy in its tracks, and is helpful against enemies with great physical resistances. Against creatures with naturally sensitive hearing, it is devastating.
- As used in air, they are mostly or entirely science fiction. In such scenarios they sometimes serve as stunners.
- Underwater, for a ship to fire its ordinary navigation sonar loudly has long been known in the real world as an effective anti-frogman weapon. The frogmen are disoriented, and panic and drown, or are forced to surface.
Lethal sonic weapons
Most of these are science fiction only. There are these types:
- Powerful low-pitched sound waves as a shock wave that blows enemies back. Fictional rifles that project sound to knock down or stun are featured in the 2002 movie Minority Report.
- A tight beam of focused sound used as a weapon like the focused light in laser guns.
- A powerful ultrasound beam which can liquefy living tissue.
- A powerful sound designed to get buildings or structures to resonate and in that way break them.
Underwater, some of these weapons are practicable in the real world.
- Ultrasound disintegration of solids in liquids is well known in industry, and could be adapted into a weapon.
- It has long been known that ultrasound in water will kill small water animals.
- There have been unconfirmed reports of scuba diver deaths and mass deaths of fish from being caught in powerful undersea ultrasound beams used by navies for communicating with submarines.
- It is suspected that the sperm whale uses powerful ultrasound to stun or kill its prey.
- There have been unconfirmed speculations about development of real lethal underwater ultrasound anti-frogman weapons.
See also
- Sone (a unit of loudness of sound)
- Sound pressure
- Sound energy flux
- Sound power
- Sound intensity