Saudis visit non-lethal weapons program.
USASAC PAO Members of the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Program (JNLWP), Quantico Marine Base, Va., provided a weapons orientation and briefing to Maj. Gen. Sulaiman Mohammed Fahad Zuair, Director General of the Military Procurement Directorate for the Saudi National Guard and his staff in May.Army Brigadier General Clinton Anderson, Program Manager, Saudi Arabian National Guard Modernization Program organized the orientation. The session was designed to familiarize the Saudis with many non-lethal weapons systems and their use under U.S. domestic law, existing treaties and international law, to include the laws of war.
The JNLWP is a Department of Defense activity that provides warfighters a family of nonlethal weapons systems with a range of optional non-lethal capabilities across the full spectrum of threats and crises.
These weapons are explicitly designed and primarily employed to incapacitate personnel or materiel, while minimizing fatalities, permanent injury to personnel, and undesired collateral damage to property and the environment. "Many of the systems displayed are currently in use in Afghanistan and Iraq," said Marine Colonel Dave Karcher, director of JNLWP.
The types of available systems, as well as the demand for training, has increased dramatically since the program began in 1996.
According to Colonel Karcher:
We hold twelve resident classes a year at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., and our average through-put is about 400 students. We currently have 160 U.S. Marines, 200 Soldiers, 25 Air Force personnel, 5 members of the U.S. Coast Guard and 4 international students going through the course. Attempts are being pursued to expand the program due to the increased demand.
Air Force Major Troy Roberts stated the following:
Orientations like these are very important JNLWP capabilities and requirement specialist. This is technology we can share to enhance our interoperability with friends and allies. These systems help minimize the amount of force required to restrain or diffuse any opposition.
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| Title Annotation: | Defense Security Cooperation Agency Partners; Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Program |
|---|---|
| Publication: | DISAM Journal |
| Geographic Code: | 7SAUD |
| Date: | Jun 22, 2005 |
| Words: | 309 |
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