(GIST OF SCIENCE REPORTER) SONIC WEAPONS

(MAY-2025)

SONIC WEAPONS

The Serbian government denied that security forces used a military-grade sonic weapon to disperse and scare protesters at a huge anti-government rally in the capital, Belgrade.

About Sonic Weapons

Acoustic or sonic weapons are devices that deliver deafening sounds over long distances.
They can be designed to emit painful audible or inaudible sound waves.
These devices can also be used to act like voice amplifiers to deliver voice messages or other sounds.
In 2004, the United States military used speciality devices that could project loud sounds over very long ranges in Iraq for the first time.

Working of Sonic Weapons

Sonic weapons usually comprise hundreds of modern transducers to create highly concentrated and amplified sound.
A transducer is an electronic device that converts energy from one form to another.

Types of Sonic Weapons

Long-range acoustic device (LRAD)

It has a range of 8,900 metres for intelligible speech, and produces a highly directional “beam” of extremely loud sound which can go to up to 160 decibels (dB).
Manufactured by: US-based Genasys Inc.

Mosquito

It produces very high-pitched sounds that are audible and painful to only younger people, usually teenagers and those in their twenties. It does not affect older people (30 and above).

It’s not audible to adults because your hearing fades as you get older.

Infrasonic weapon

It is a newer technology and could deliver very low-frequency sounds that would be inaudible but could cause pain and disorientation.
Its capabilities are under investigation.

Health Effects of Sonic Weapons

There is little medical literature on the effects of acoustic weapons on people.
There are reports of hearing loss and prolonged ear pain or ringing, but adequate data is not yet available to develop a consensus.
However, the weapons can be indiscriminate, causing harm or pain to protesters, bystanders and even police officers themselves.