Tasers are awesome. When it comes to dispersing large crowds, though, firing thousands of zappers blindly into a mass of people doesn’t seem like the most sound idea. That’s where the Thunder Generator, a cannon that unleashes shockwaves from range, comes in.
It looks no more ominous than a harmless farm tool kept inside the barn. Well, it actually used to be one. In fact, the non-lethal artillery was originally employed by Israeli farmers to scare away birds feeding on crops in the fields. It’s still the same thing, except now they’ve armed it to blast people from a distance.
Calling the Thunder Generator non-lethal is somewhat of a misnomer. While it’s going to leave targets from 30 to 100 meters away stunned (but unharmed), the sonic blast will cause more permanent damage from shorter distances. That means if some idiot walks in the line of fire while you’re pushing a horde of zombies back, they’ll likely end up worse off than the undead – they’ll either turn into corpses or get seriously messed-up for life. It’s a non-lethal lethal weapon, if you will.
Originally developed by PDT Agro for use in agriculture, it performs the blasting effects by detonating a mixture of liquefied petroleum, cooking gas and air. The modified models produced by ArmyTec can deliver a series of deafening and stun-inducing shockwaves (60 to 100 hits per minute) that are fired out of the barrel in high-velocity bursts at the rate of 200 meters per second. According to the company, a standard 12kg LPG canister can produce up to 5,000 bursts, which makes for plenty of value for $25 worth of ammunition.
ArmyTec claims you can mount the system on a curved barrel design and produce waves that will reach targets hiding around the corner. Yep, I can blast you all I want and you won’t even see me coming. No pricing details, so you’ll have to get in touch directly with the manufacturer to arrange for one.
[Thunder Generator via Defense News]