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Pirates Thwarted by Sonic Weapon
Kristian Hermansen was one of dozens to submit a story about would be pirates attempting to take control of a cruise ship of the coast of Africa, only to be twarted by some sort of
sonic weapon known as an LRAD, or Long Range Acoustic Device.
Wikipedia reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_range_acoustic_d evice
...only to be twarted by some sort of sonic weapon
Did you mean thwarted?
Haydn.
Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so. - Douglas Adams
Looking at news.google.com one can find a bit more detail from more familiar sources:
a .pirates.sonic.ap/
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/africa/11/07/somali
The 100 mile figure is that that's how far off the coast the cruise ship was --- the weapons used don't have near that sort of range.
William
Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow.
Oh yes. Pirates are as active as ever. Only nowadays they have machine guns and RPGs instead of blunderbusses and cannons...
Just read IMB's Weekly Piracy Report for an idea of how active and how dangerous modern pirates are.
It's application by the military and police is controversial because of ethical questions, but this seems an ideal use of this technology in private sector. Commercial ships at sea cannot use heavy weapons by international treaty. The Long Range Acoustic Device, or LRAD, is a so-called "non-lethal weapon" developed after the 2000 attack on the USS Cole off Yemen as a way to keep operators of small boats from approaching U.S. warships. The 45-pound, dish-shaped device belongs to a developing arsenal of technologies intended not to kill but to deter. The sonic weapon, which measures 33 inches in diameter, can direct a high-pitched, piercing tone with a tight beam. Neither the LRAD's operators or others in the immediate area are affected. The LRAD's shrill tone can be as loud as about 150 decibels well beyond the threshold of pain. Inside 100 yards, you definitely don't want to be there. The device is currently being tested in regions of Baghdad, Fallujah, and other regions of Iraq as well as by police in New York City during protests of the 2004 Republican National Convention. It is based on "Hypersonic Sound" - a process called acoustic heterodyning. What makes acoustic heterodyning possible is that air molecules behave nonlinearly. Ultrasonic speakers create sound at more than 20,000 cycles per second, a rate high enough to keep in a focused beam and beyond the range of human hearing. Step into the beam and you hear the sound as if it were being generated inside your head. Reflect it off a surface and it sounds like it originated there. At 30,000 cycles, the sound can travel 150 yards without any distortion or loss of volume.
"It can be as loud as about 150 decibels..."
According to this decibal chart, that's somewhere between "jet at 100 feet" and "death of hearing tissue." I used to go to a summer camp near an air force base, and A-10 warthogs would frequently fly overhead. I doubt they were any closer than a few hundred feet, but they were still incredibly loud. It was near impossible to hear anyone speak/yell until the aircraft had passed. As for this weapon, my guess is that the pain of the sound it produces (while the most noticeable of the effects) is probably no more important than the fear and confusion it imbues.
Wikipedia says that most "lethal sonic weapons" are science fiction, although they note that underwater sonic weapons are definitely lethal. High powered sonar has killed fish and whales, and there is speculation that some whales may use sound to stun prey.
John
Noise cancelling headsets (and noise cancelling technologies in general) don't work all that well for high-frequency sounds since the impinging noise and the 180-degree shifted sounds need to be perfectly aligned at the ear to cancel each other out. That's difficult to do with high-frequency sounds because of the relatively small wavelengths involved.
Now passive hearing protectors (e.g. ear plugs) work very well at high frequencies. However, the best ear plugs reduce sound by 20-30 dB at high-frequencies. If the LRAD literature is true, and it can produce sound levels of 150 dB, than ear plugs can reduce it to 120 dB, which is still uncomfortably loud.
...including the L.A. Sheriff's Department's ultra-powerful sonic blaster, is here. nms
In any event, we're told to just do whatever the pirates say, and don't try to act like a hero.
That's just an urban legend.
quidquid latine dictum sit altum videtur.
Something you left out from the wiki content:
"At maximum volume, it can emit a warning tone that is 151 decibels (1000 W/m) at 1 metre, a level that is very capable of permanently damaging hearing."
I'm not sure I'd call that "an ideal use of this technology in private sector" as you put it... ethical concerns don't just go away if you're "private sector".
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Your very own link suggests that the experiment may have been flawed.
The rumor that I've heard most often is that it's a specific frequency next to 8Hz, and that it's sort of a universal resonance frequency. (ObDisclaimer: I believe in the fractal nature of the universe.) See also: Schumann Resonance.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Most cruise ships do not have an armory, a few very well may but the next question then would be "is anyone trained to use the weapons?" Cruise lines generally don't like paying their crews very much, at least the folks one doesn't see, and I just can't see an investment in "security" when it is a relatively simple matter to change cruise routes. The last time a cruise ship was taken by pirates/terrorists was in 1985 when the Achille Lauro was "seajacked" by four terrorists. How can 4 guys take control of a cruise ship with over 400 people on board? It is amazing how easy it is to pacify tourists with a few AKs and some grenades. Shipping companies that transit areas of high pirate activity rarely arm their crews, but many opt for other defensive systems. These include, but are not limited to: electrified railings, audio weapons, and trained security personnel. Some areas, like the Straits of Malacca, have such a high rate of piracy that ship owners are hiring ex-military types as armed security. Maritime piracy is an interesting issue, the well organized gangs in South East Asia may have ties to elements of the Chinese military, or the government of Indonesia. Entire ships have "disappeared" only to be spotted undergoing a paint job and name change in a remote bay. Naturally this is not what the pirates were after in this case, they were out to take as much as they could as quickly as they could and then get off the ship.
Sorry, only close to correct. Most modern piracy occurs in Southeast Asia. You can check the Piracy Reporting Centre of the International Chamber of Commerce's International Maritime Bureau for more data. There's a number of fun stuff at the site including a weekly report of all reported pirate actions (though, a lot goes unreported for various reasons). The link is here: http://www.icc-ccs.org/prc/piracyreport.php You can also see yearly break downs in number of attacks here: http://www.icc-ccs.org/prc/piracy_maps_2004.php http://www.icc-ccs.org/prc/piracy_maps_2003.php http://www.icc-ccs.org/prc/piracy_maps_2002.php http://www.icc-ccs.org/prc/piracy_maps_2001.php It is a truly fascinating subject and I'm glad I got the opportunity to research and write about it last year. Yarr!
To be honest, everyone I know with a yacht in deep waters already carries decent guns for protection. It is pretty easy to dump them if you're boarded by a coast guard or naval vessel.
I guess that you've never been boarded. I have. After that experience, I wouldn't take the chance of getting caught with an illegal gun. You're under constant surveillance from the momement they decide that your boat looks interesting. You might not have any idea that a cutter is approaching until it's right in front of you. They can come up real fast on a yacht puttering along at five knots.
You *might* have the opportunity to go below and dig out your illegal gun. You *might* have the opportunity to toss it out a port hole on the lee side of the boarding party. But don't count in it.
On the other hand, I've had friends who were attacked by pirates off the coast of Venezuela. It was a close call for them.
I suggest keeping plenty of flares stocked for a flaregun and travel in groups when possible...
The Company that makes LRAD technology is called American Technology Corporation.
Looks like they are losing money but small enough that something like this might cause the stock to jump!
Full disclosure: I'm in.
Watch and learn, kids. Next, the SPAM will start going out, touting the stock (not from me!). In a couple months, the bottom will drop out. But between now and then, there's money to be made.