What is a Non-Lethal Weapon?

NATO led testing of non-lethal weapons aims to trial different systems and how military personnel use them. In the North Sea, near Zeebrugge, Belgian, German and Dutch forces conduct a boarding scenario of a suspicious vessel with a combination of rifles, loudspeakers, lasers and water guns to see how best to give enforcers an additional option to safely deescalate a potentially dangerous situation.

In a conflict situation, security personnel often don’t have an option between shout and shoot. Non-lethal weapons that can incapacitate, but not kill or inflict lasting damage can give that option. NATO is leading tests of a range of weapons systems, aimed to understand how best forces can use these to safely conduct operations.