The term “non-lethal” denotes the use of
incapacitating, non-fatal, and reversible capabilities
that allow precise, selective targeting of threats
(often covered or concealed by civilians and their
possessions) while avoiding collateral damage.
US forces may use non-lethal effects
against people, weapons, and equipment that threaten
them. Non-lethal effects drive away, neutralize,
disable, or stop threats while not inflicting permanent
injury. Common non-lethal effects used by law
enforcement range from nightsticks and handcuffs to
pepper spray and the TASER.
Non-lethal effects against people deny
them access to friendly forces, move them to a safe
distance, temporarily disable them, and/or suppress them
from taking further threatening or hostile action.
Common forms of these non-lethal effects are body
armor; bright, disorienting lights; loud, low frequency
sound; water cannon, TASERS, physical barriers, and use
of dogs and horses.
Non-lethal effects against material stop
vehicles, vessels, aircraft, radios, or weapons from
functioning effectively. Effects can disable them,
divert them to safe areas, and/or deny access to our
forces’ locations. Spiked tire barriers, concrete
gates, road blocking structures, broad spectrum radio
jamming, and camouflage are common types of material
non-lethal effects.
Non-lethality means:
- Immediate incapacitation of threat and
reversibility of effect.
- Delivering a level of force that achieves the
intended effect immediately.
- Incapacitating specific personnel or
materiel.
- Incapacitation renders the specific
individual(s) or equipment ineffective by disabling
them, inhibiting further action, and/or degrading
their ability to harm our forces while minimizing
fatalities, permanent injuries, and undesired damage
to surrounding areas or people.
- Providing predictable and reversible effects.
- Reversibility is the ability to return the
target of the non-lethal effect to its original
condition. It is usually measured by level of
corrective effort required for the target to recover
its original condition.
- Reversibility for individuals is specified in
terms of acceptable levels of injury. Injuries
resulting from non-lethal effects are expected and
are acceptable when they do not exceed the use of
immediate basic and advanced first aid and basic
combat lifesaving skills to ameliorate.
- Reversibility for materiel tasks is the level of
maintenance required to return the materiel to its
original function. A certain level of damage
is to be expected when applying non-lethal force
against materiel. Acceptable damage should not
exceed that which can be repaired by routine
maintenance procedures normally performed on a daily
basis such as inspections, servicing, handling, and
preventive maintenance. Servicing includes
activities such as changing/repairing tires,
replacing sparkplugs, and repairing radiators
- Nonlethal effects applied to materiel must
remain non-lethal against the humans occupying the
vehicle.
Our deployed forces encounter
threatening and fluid operational environments every
day. Situations arise where the use of lethal
force is undesirable or counterproductive, but assured
suppression of a potential threat is needed. In
these situations, selective use of non-lethal effects
can reduce negative outcomes, allow missions to be
achieved, and promote war winning.
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