Analysis of operations to curb riots shows a sharp increase in the aggressiveness of participants in illegal actions. Moreover, homemade weapons are widely used by extremists. If we summarize the data on known recent events that took place in different countries, it turns out that among policemen there are on average twice as many injured than among participants in the riots. The latest developments demonstrated at the test site in the Leningrad region, make it possible to secure personnel opposing the radicals and calm any crowd.
The events in Kiev in January-February of this year revealed additional risk factors for law enforcement officers. Among them: special training of militants who skillfully disguised themselves in a crowd of demonstrators; a reduction to the negligibly small threshold of the permissibility of violence against police officers; active use as weapons the damaging effects of improvised means; continuous improvement of improvised incendiary compounds and explosives, mass throwing of projectiles loaded with them not only from the hands, but also with the help of primitive catapults. The severity of the defeat of the personnel was aggravated by the fact that the regular uniforms were not designed to protect against new types of damaging means. For example, the helmets of the special forces "Berkut" made their way from the first strike with a metal rod or a long pole with nails mounted on it. In addition, the uniforms of the staff are made of combustible materials that are relatively easily ignited under the action of improvised incendiary agents and even ordinary gasoline.
In connection with the identification of new types of threats arising during the conduct of police operations, specialists of the NPO Special Materials, under the guidance of the authors and with the participation of special forces officers of the Russian Interior Ministry, tested equipment, including resistance to fire damage. The assessment was given in field conditions; the riot police of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region were involved as “experts”, participating in special tactical exercises on the topic “Unit operations during mass riots at various city infrastructure facilities”.In the course of the tests, the simplest liquid and incendiary throwing means were used. It turned out that many elements of equipment and protective equipment of special forces do not take into account the above-mentioned damaging factors, moreover, they are made of flammable materials. For example, the presence of a gap between the sight and the helmet itself allows a burning incendiary fluid to leak onto the face and, which is especially dangerous, to a damper pad. She, like the slam of the slam, instantly ignites and burns in less than a second. That is, severe burns, injuries and even death are likely.
Reliable protection is provided by the 1 SAT helmet that was tested in class. The material from which it is made does not ignite, and the barmitsa can be made of fire-resistant fabric with special impregnation. The design of the helmet provides reliable protection of the cervical and auricles. The rubber seal on the visor ensures that the helmet is sealed in the frontal direction, and the volumetric convex shape of the visor itself allows it to withstand shelling from an airgun. The dimensions of the internal space allow installation of the radio, and the standard headset for its connection is already built into the helmet. There is a place for a video camera, which is extremely important in cases when you need to record a conflict.
Tests of body armor made with the use of refractory fabric have shown that when exposed to an intense flame of a gas torch for 15 seconds, they not only did not ignite, but did not even begin to smolder. The same results were obtained by checking suits such as “Skat-3С” and “Shadow-3С”.
A separate stage of the test was the assessment of the suitability of various fire extinguishing devices for use in police operations. Traditional pneumatic fire extinguishers (water, foam, powder) showed low efficiency for protection against incendiary weapons, and air-pulse ones have a high cost and significant weight and size parameters, are difficult to operate, especially in extreme conditions. Therefore, the development in industrial production and the supply of fundamentally new means — quick-acting, compact and reliable — to law enforcement agencies has become very relevant.
Such plants in various modifications were created under the guidance of one of the authors. They have been repeatedly and successfully tested at test sites and in real service-operational situations.
The first of these installations is a pulsed mini-sprayer (WRI) with ultra-low-power powder charge complete with 150 and 330 containers of grams filled with fire extinguishing powder. WRI effectively extinguishes the flames, even on woolen clothes, which, as is known, is the most difficult. Thanks to the pulsed spraying of a special mixture, the elimination of ignition occurs instantaneously - within a couple of seconds, a maximum.
Small-sized WRI for pocket or waist-carrying are also created. The radius of their action - up to three meters. These WRIs can be effectively used by police, firefighters or rescue workers as constantly wearable personal protective equipment against incendiary means, against hot spots after a massive domestic explosion, as well as fires in riots. Installations stably operate in the temperature range from -50 to + 50 оС in all weather conditions (snow, rain, wind). WRI is resistant to vibration, shaking, falls from a height of up to two meters. Can be stored without loss of performance up to 10 – 15 years, without requiring special conditions.
WRI designed for different operational situations. If, for example, containers are filled with inert dust or relatively weak irridants (tear, weakly toxic, sleepy), they can be effectively used as a special irritant for neutralizing the offender at short distances.
A modification of the WRI is a pulsed portable sprayer (IPR) with various weight and size parameters, such as, for example, pump guns or grenade launchers. At the same time, the effective fire extinguishing or non-lethal (stopping) impact distance can vary from 10 to 30 meters. The IRP is designed for special forces officers, police officers, rescue firefighters, guards involved in riot control operations. The combination of protective and diversified functions of IPR is achieved uniquely, achieved by means of flexibly controlled spraying of special compositions, for example, extinguishing and irritating. For the first time, such devices are designed to use natural non-toxic and environmentally friendly substances.
When spraying shots and even volleys from several IPRs, the absence of serious injuries and a threat to life is guaranteed. At the same time, in a matter of a second or two, quite impressive whirlwinds or clouds of a smoke screen with a surface area of several hundred square meters can be created. Irritant effect of IPP is limited to short spraying time and the level of safe concentration of active substances.
A gas-liquid squall or gas-dusty vortex created by a shot of inert and environmentally friendly substances give a combined effect: the object is affected by a strong but soft pushing blow, causing loss of balance and orientation, pain in the eyes and throat, asphyxiation, a strong cough. Rehabilitation lasts up to several tens of minutes and occurs naturally. After achieving the desired effect, it is possible almost instantly by finely dispersed spraying of water to precipitate an irritating or opaque cloud, in the latter case, visibility is provided on clearly defined local areas. Due to this, the IRS is effective in neutralizing terrorists in enclosed spaces.
With salvo application, you can double the effective impact radius, and the area - three - five times. Portable long-range ITS provides stopping of the driven vehicle.