Small business developing long distance non-lethals.

The Department of Homeland Security's advanced technology shop is looking at small businesses to provide improved non-lethal equipment to bring to bear on unruly crowds. The goal is to create a product with the incapacitating effects of a Taser, but at stand off ranges.

The Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency said it is seeking untethered electromuscular disruptor devices that are inexpensive, safe, lightweight and portable. The systems would be used in environments varying "from a small room to a city street or a sports stadium," the solicitation stated.

Awards for stun gun technology have been granted to several companies. Winners include the Mide Technology Corporation, with a "Piezer" system that combines the "effectiveness, legal and social acceptability of the Taser with the ease of use, practicality and extended range of shotgun shells," according to the company.

"Utility of the Piezer is probably best realized in crowd-control situations or riots having high levels of aggression," the company advised in its proposal.

The 12-gauge shotgun-compatible device boasts an increased range 40 to 50 meters more than existing non-lethal weapons. The system uses piezoelectric technology to generate high voltage in a small package. In a piezoelectric material, the application of force or stress results in a charge. Computer keyboards operate this way. The ordinance used by the Piezer is designed to deliver high-energy stun pulses upon impact.

UHV Technologies, Inc. is also developing projectiles to be fired from a grenade launcher or shotgun that stuns targets using a strong electrostatic charge. Think of the crackle from running a hand over fur, multiplied by several orders of magnitude.

Physical Optics Corp. is pursuing a gentler approach by developing a soft ring airfoil, laced with a thin film voltage generator.

The company's Inertial Capacitive Incapacitator offers a heavy charge delivered with a low impact. ICI projectiles are charged when manufactured, and company officials said the system could maintain this charge for decades.

The projectiles "will dramatically reduce the risk of accidental lethal injury, and can replace present non-lethal weapons," the company said. "The ICI technology will replace blunt trauma with much safer electrical incapacitation."

Other companies are looking at light to incapacitate. Intelligent Optical Systems won an award to work on its prototype dazzler that uses an array of super-bright diode clusters to disorientate crowds with strong afterimages. The HSARPA project funds development of a device that can operate at longer distances, incorporates a laser rangefinder and can cover a much larger area "while still providing a flash frequency and exposure level as effective as the single beam."

One of HSARPA's missions is to harness talent from small businesses to meet domestic security needs. The Small Business Innovative Research funding level will be approximately $23 million this fiscal year, a $20 million increase from last year. The funds will pay for new HSARPA projects, as well as a program that can provide technical assistance or commercialization support to SBIR award winners, according to the agency.