Project SPECTER: electroshock bullet for the USMC

A Marine firing a Mossberg 590A1 gun

Since 2018, the United States Marine Corps, in collaboration with several scientific and commercial organizations, has been developing a promising non-lethal electroshock ammunition. In the future, on the basis of new technologies, it is proposed to make a whole family of cartridges and rounds compatible with modern infantry weapons.

Non-lethal program

KMP has mastered electroshock for a long time weapon (ESHO) from Taser / Axon, which has become a successful addition to firearms. However, the characteristics of such products are insufficient for solving a number of problems. First of all, there was a small radius of action, limited by the length of the wires. In this regard, in the summer of 2018, the KMP launched a new program for the development of a promising ESW.

The goal of the new program was to search for the necessary technologies with the subsequent creation of a full-fledged ammunition based on them. It was necessary to work out the possibility of adapting such technologies for use in 9- and 40-mm ammunition for pistols and grenade launchers, as well as in the 12th smooth-bore caliber. Bullets with electrical components must be compatible with standard ILC weapons.

A ready-made cartridge with an ESHO bullet should provide effective firing at ranges up to 100 m. Its electrical equipment should use the principle of Human Electro-Muscular Incapacitation (HEMI), which provides for the supply of electrical impulses of a special configuration that "drown" the natural signals of the human nervous system. The paralyzing effect of the shot must last for at least 30 seconds; desired duration - up to 3 minutes. With all this, the cost of one cartridge should not have exceeded $ 1.

The program is divided into three phases. The first phase involves the development of preliminary designs. During the second, it is planned to manufacture and test new ammunition. The third goal is the final refinement of the most successful samples for the purpose of subsequent introduction in the troops.

First on the range

At the end of June 2020, new messages appeared in the American media about the current state of affairs in the ESO project. As it turned out, one of the program participants, Harkind Dynamics, not only created the project, but also brought his ESHO cartridge for testing. This is a special bullet for 12 gauge shotguns.

Published image of the SPECTER product. The bullet is depicted with the parachute released, but before the electrodes are fired.

Bullet SPECTER (Small Arms Pulsed Electronic Tetanization at Extended Range) represents a product of standard dimensions with an unusual design. It has a soft cylindrical body that crumples when hitting a target to cushion the impact. The necessary electrical equipment is placed inside the body, and in the rear there is a throw-out brake parachute.

Using a standard powder-loaded case, the SPECTER bullet is sent to the target. At a short distance from the target, the bullet independently releases the parachute and approximately halves the speed. At a distance of approx. 1 m from the target, the bullet shoots three miniature darts on the wires, after which HEMI pulses are sent, which have the necessary effect.

Details of a technical nature were not disclosed. The ILC and the developer have not yet specified exactly how the promising bullet is built, how the timely release of the parachute and darts is carried out, how it was possible to combine the limited dimensions and the desired electrical characteristics, etc. However, it is known that the new bullet from Harkind Dynamics is capable of hitting targets at ranges of 100 m.

The SPECTER product is used in conjunction with a standard rifle case and can be used with any weapon of the appropriate caliber. Thus, the ammunition of a fighter with a shotgun can include both bullet or grape-shot, and non-lethal cartridges.

The developer and the customer clarify that the SPECTER bullet does not pose a threat to humans. By braking and crushing the body, he does not receive noticeable injuries, and the configuration of the electrical impulses is determined taking into account the reduction of side effects without compromising the main function.

12 gauge standard ammo

How the SPECTER product is tested, what results have already been obtained and what needs to be corrected is not specified. The issue of compliance with the terms of reference has not been disclosed either. Currently, the ILC program is at the second stage, and this may indicate the need for various modifications and further improvement of the ESHO bullet.

Not the first of its kind

It should be noted that SPECTER is not the first development of its class. The previous sample of this kind could not advance beyond testing and market promotion. This negative experience helps refine the projections for the Harkind Dynamics project.

In 2008, Taser introduced the X12 complex, which included a Mossberg 500 shotgun with a number of modifications. A rifled barrel was used to stabilize the bullet, and the bolt was redesigned to make it impossible to use live ammunition. For the X12, a special ESHO-ammunition XREP was offered. A shock "pistol" was attached to the forend of the gun, if necessary. With the help of the X12, it was possible to hit targets at ranges of approx. 30 m, the XREP bullet provided impact for 20 seconds.

In terms of technical characteristics, the Taser X12 complex was quite successful and could effectively solve its problems. However, the project was ruined by the excessive cost. A single XREP cartridge cost $ 125 and was several times more expensive than a replacement cartridge for the X26 and similar systems. Therefore, the police departments and the military did not purchase the X12.

Potential Benefits

The SPECTER bullet has not yet passed the full cycle of testing and development - this will take some time. However, it is already clear what benefits the ILC can get with such a product. In addition, differences from the previous unsuccessful project are visible. Apparently, the new bullet is quite capable of finding a place in the arsenals of the ILC.

For SPECTER, the ability to fire and engage targets at ranges of at least 100 m is declared. This means that in a number of situations, combat and non-lethal weapons can be used together, in parallel and at the same distances. This will increase the flexibility of using the existing weapons and equipment. This cannot be achieved with the use of existing "Tasers" - their firing range does not exceed 8-10 m.

Promotional image of the Taser X12 system with the XREP bullet

In theory, new technologies make it possible to create electroshock bullets in the standard sizes of different cartridges. The terms of reference from the ILC for the current program, in addition to the 12 gauge, provides for the development of a 9-mm bullet and a 40-mm grenade. Thus, several main classes of infantry weapons are covered, which again leads to greater flexibility of use.

The requirement for the compatibility of the ESHO cartridge with military weapons is controversial. In this case, it is possible not to introduce separate weapons into the equipment for the use of non-lethal ammunition and use them in military weapons. However, the experience of US police structures shows that non-lethal cartridges should be used with separate weapons - in order to avoid various incidents.

Electroshock perspective

The program for the development of ESH-ammunition for the US ILC was opened about two years ago. Since then, the program has progressed far enough - experimental bullets of a new type are tested in the conditions of the proving ground and demonstrate their capabilities. At the same time, so far only the SPECTER product from Harkind Dynamics has come down to testing. Whether there are other developments of this kind is not specified.

The proposed SPECTER project at least partially meets the customer's requirements. The electroshock bullet is made in the required dimensions and shows the desired range indicators. At the same time, other "combat" characteristics remain unknown. In addition, the price of the finished ammunition has not been announced - this parameter can be determined only after finishing the refinement.

It is not yet possible to say with certainty how successful this process will be. The developer is faced with quite complex tasks, but their implementation is quite realistic, as evidenced by the experience of other projects. If successful, the ILC will be able to get a fundamentally new non-lethal weapon and new capabilities. And a different development of events will not lead to serious problems - all the necessary means are in service and so.

Comments

[Mister X]

Curious stuff ...
It is interesting: on what, or on whom, are electroshock ammunition tested?

[Blackmokona]

On volunteers, for a good bribe, there are a lot of people who want to experience anything on themselves

[Eule]

The development was started back in 2006 by Nemtyshkin and Ladyagin.
A bullet with a diameter of 18-20 mm had a "cap" with hooks made of straightened fish hooks, contained a "second stage of voltage increase", and flew on wires that supplied 1,2 - 2,5 kilovolts to it. When hit, the cap was fixed on the enemy’s clothes, and the bullet itself fell and hung on the wire, applying 30-40 kV to the gap between its body and the cap, that is, a current path of 30 cm, which ensured the defeat of the skeletal muscles and the fall of the enemy.
It was proposed to make a "gun with a constant final speed", which had an under-barrel rangefinder and a valve controlled by an electrical circuit that dumped part of the air or gases so that the speed of the "bullet" hitting the target was the same. It was the only way to finish at 100m and still not kill at 5m.
The experimental gun had a composite barrel and pneumatic throwing, as firefighters did not allow experimental firing with gunpowder in the electrical laboratory. And the stench in the building was not welcome. An experienced gun gave sufficient accuracy for a confident hit in a growth figure from 50-70m
As a participant in the development of EShO, I know well that the output transformer is drastically complicated technologically if its dimensions are less than the breakdown voltage in air. That is, it can be done, but ... marriage in high-voltage coils increases very much.
The idea of ​​stuffing both a battery and a primary transformer into a bullet seems like a scam to me. Since the electric gun is still a separate weapon, it is logical to apply the Russian scheme, saving the primary transformer and batteries, that is, reducing the cost of electronics at times, with a serious increase in reliability.

[Svetlana]

Probably on ordinary targets and dummies, with high-speed video cameras. The main thing, after all, is not the effect of electricity, but the behavior of the bullet, or as this crap is called, after the shot, the main thing is that it has time to get into a firing position and in the future it works as it should.

[Mister X]

Quote: Svetlana

Surely on ordinary targets and dummies

TV Show Guinea Pig (Guinea Pig) on ​​the Discovery Channel.
Test of humane weapons FN 303 on a stuntman.

[Andrey.AN]

In theory, testers can only be volunteers from the military. But in fact, I think they prefer to ferment civilians in the dark. It's more fun to go to heaven on someone else's hump, when it turns out that Christ is not a free washerwoman who washes the sins of freaks for free, and they themselves need to extinguish and compensate for their decay specifically in front of those who have managed to shit, and their self-flagellation and prayers to God will turn out to be zeros in action to debts to specific individuals who have not been compensated for anything, the creatures will scream.

[Eule]

John Cover tested the Taser by walking around Central Park in a three-piece suit and arm in arm with his wife in a ball gown. Just in case, the couple armed themselves with the M1911. Volunteers were there in the evenings in abundance;)
Now experiments are being used on rabbits in terms of slaughter, and for shooting tests - a "shaggy" target. For its manufacture, a sheet of cardboard is smeared with carpentry glue and sprinkled with finely chopped wire (it is enough to cut the burnt relay coil along the grinder). When hit from the ESHO, "chain lightning" is obtained between the electrodes.
Tests of EShO on volunteers are prohibited in the Russian Federation, and besides, the effect of the current differs slightly for a number of reasons.

[Nikolaevich I]

It should be noted that SPECTER is not the first development of its class That's it ! And Captain Nemo was an innovator in this area back in the 19th century! Jules Verne will not let you lie! ("20.000 Lieues sous les mers". Jules Verne)

[Free wind]

I understand that the police need such ammunition, and the Marines need it, the only thing is language if you take it. So I would have preferred a lethal weapon, fired, and 10 people blew to hell. Suppress natural nerve impulses, so the heart also beats from nerve impulses. Or am I wrong? The murderers would be glad, he blasted him with a shocker, his heart stopped., Death from sudden cardiac arrest. Yes, it seems to me for sure there is.

[psiho117]

Quote: Free Wind

I understand that the police need such ammunition, but the Marines need it,

Just about ... especially in light of their new application doctrine. Whom will they "paralyze"? Ketay people on their bulk islands in the China Sea?

so the heart also beats from nerve impulses. Or am I wrong

Right. That is why the police often have problems with excessive use of electric shock - either the detainee's pacemaker stops, or just a heart attack. And there are a lot of cores, and every year more and more.

[Operator]

A 12-gauge rubber bullet is quite a shock ammunition without any electricity

[Observer2014]

Quote: Operator

A 12-gauge rubber bullet is quite a shock ammunition without any electricity

And don’t tell. Even as it is not very clear nakoy such ammunition. Can shmalnut into the water where a bunch of villains lurked? Well, there with one shot, like several at once paralyze all that ...

[Knell wardenheart]

A bullet with a parachute, shooting out three small electrodes - at this moment I realized that the project, apparently, will give birth to a mouse and a bunch of laundered money. Excessive complication and growth in the phasing of the scheme never gave effective solutions - everything was beautiful on paper, in practice it gave a final multiple increase in the price of the product, a decrease in reliability and a general disappointing output in terms of a set of features.
Probably, the idea of ​​a special cartridge for an existing weapon is generally a failure - because the existing weapon for the most part does not have adequate characteristics for this task and was clearly not designed for these tasks. The projectile's flight speed is too high, the pressure in the barrel is lower than the caliber required for standard products, etc. Of this series, the option with a shotgun is the lesser of evils, but I am more inclined to believe that either a deep reworking of the products would be required, preventing their further use under the tradition. cartridges, or the development of a separate weapon, initially in a smooth-bore version and for this task.
Perhaps an interesting option would be to develop a variant of an under-barrel grenade of electroshock action - for example, through the creation of a polarized aerosol cloud of electrolyte (yes, the professionals will forgive me for my French, but the general idea will be similary to the idea of ​​the so-called "vacuum bomb" with the difference that the aerosol would act as -ve conductor). In this case, the issue of unification, caliber and projectile speed would have been resolved.

[Sergey_G_M]

Probably, the idea of ​​a special cartridge for an existing weapon is generally a failure - because the existing weapon for the most part does not have characteristics adequate for this task and was definitely not designed for these tasks.

Pump-action shotguns and hand (or under-barrel) grenade launchers can easily digest non-standard ammunition.
The problem with such ammunition is that they work well on a person in a T-shirt, but on a person in a down jacket or sheepskin coat is already much weaker.

[Eule]

At the "Archimedes-2004" there were warriors from Zagorsk, who presented the DESHO based on the transmission of current by water jets. There was no sample, several officers were sitting with posters. In the same place, at the stand in front of them, during the dispute, they carried out calculations that showed that the water flow would be 10 - 30 liters per second, and no current was needed anymore - it would knock you down, carry you away, or even break your ribs. He advised to put a filter at the pump inlet to keep frogs out of the pump to reduce lethality, but they did not understand the humor

[Knell wardenheart]

The very idea you described was popular almost in the 30s)) The fact that it can still be sucked somewhere is already funny in itself))

[Saxahorse]

A bullet with a parachute is certainly super! It is also necessary that she presented herself to the offender and checked his documents before triggering!

[psiho117]

Quote: Saxahorse

A bullet with a parachute is certainly super!

Yeah. the bullet itself must decide when to release its parachute, and when to shoot the electrodes ... And this despite the fact that the previous project with bullets for 125 bucks was excessively expensive, but this new one - please, at 1k dolyars per shot - is already normal

I drank it, I drank it ...

[Andrey.AN]

In general, a bullet in the barrel twists up to a thousand turns per second, in one hundredth of a second, this is a sickly energy, it was proposed in the Russian Federation to compensate for this shock with a screw or a turbine, but for some reason they heard in the USA, and put this impeller in the compensator of their machine gun, while our corrupt ones have pinched their tongues in the priest, there now the gun is piling up an order of magnitude. A bullet in the barrel can be charged, in theory, for a shock blow, only whores will merge, if they are told how. Here special officers are different in a large family, not without freaks, whom you cannot call otherwise, you can be whores, but so that normal prostitutes do not offend, whores in office are the last sewer junk, unlike whores who dispose of their own, whom to marry for happiness. although if this is a secret, then for sure ours will not get it, In short, two shells, as in a thermocouple, and the bullet will somersault by discharge.

[Andrey.AN]

I’m wondering, confidentially, our eyes can communicate, or again the Americans are using ours while the chupachups are here.