Non-lethal weapons featured at Ottawa Technology Convention
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The North American Technology Demonstration ran from October 25 to 27, 2011 at the Ottawa Convention Centre
Narrator: Weapons, ammunition and military equipment.
Ji Kinnear: We’re selling an airsoft fully automatic gun and it shoots 6mm plastic pallets and it shoots 150 rounds per second.
Bruce Timan: Once fired this will drop to the ground, this piece here will drop and this piece here will go down range and will hit the subject and the weapon itself will come back to full battery.
Narrator: But this is no ordinary arms fair.
Andre Blouin: It’s Non-lethal, exactly, after about ten minutes you wipe the subject clean and he is almost back to normal, about 85% back to normal, then all he needs is a little water and that’s it.
Bruce Timan: It’s the same principle as a rubber bullet, but it is a much larger one going down so a larger mass hits you. And it is comparable with being hit by a fast ball from a mayor league player.
Ji Kinnear: It’s Non-lethal, because our company is about saving lives.
Narrator: This is the North American Technology Demonstration in Ottawa, Canada. The NATD in short, is the biggest
showcase of Non-lethal weapons in the world.
Gabor Iklody: What these technologies do is that they try to incapacitate adverseries temporarily and not to cause permanent damage.
Narrator: The industry showcase and conference was jointly organized by the US and Canada and is sponsored by NATO.
Gabor Iklody: Developing Non-lethal capabilities are a very important part of NATO’s response, both in different battlefields as part of NATO’s ongoing and future operations and also NATO’s counter-terrorism efforts. And through which NATO can actually achieve its objectives in a way that spares human life and property too.
Narrator: The latest technology in the field of Non-lethal capabilities ranges from blunt force weapons to pyrotechnics and are meant to control crowds, to neutralize vehicles or to incapacitate individuals without killing them. And the demand for
these less-lethal weapons is growing.
Andre Blouin: “Nowadays a lot of the officers and a lot of the soldiers really don’t want to shoot anybody to kill, they rather bring him in. And sometimes it’s an attitude where they need to take somebody in as a prisoner, not kill him cause they need to interrogate him and so on.”
Ji Kinnear: “Military and law enforcement equally we got response from both, because like I said, with things going on in the
world right now, that they are looking for new Non-lethal, less-lethal weapons systems. And yes it is growing, it is
growing everyday.”
Narrator: In fact Non-lethal weapons can become a game changer, especially when it comes to countering terrorism.
Gabor Iklody: When addressing the problem of terrorism we obviously need to find primarily non-military responses, we need to find responses through which we can prevent terrorism rather than deal with the consequences of terrorism. I think that al these technologies help us achieve that objective.
Ji Kinnear: It’s pretty threatening looking you know, it is a weapon after all whether it is Non-lethal or not. And to be effective I think you have to have that look about it too also, you can’t have military personnel or a police officer come out to the crowd with some kind of toy-looking funny thing. So, I think the look has to be effective as well. So, yes it is a little
threatening looking.
Narrator: So, Non-lethal or not, the use of less-lethal weapons should still not be taken lightly.
