Grenade Launcher Taser Can Hit People 60m Away

This is exactly what the world needs: another taser. This one can be fired using a standard 40mm grenade launcher, which gives it a 60m range — three times the range of the XREP. Supposedly, it’s non-lethal. Some disagree:

There is a known risk of severe injury from impact projectiles, either from blunt force at short ranges or from hitting a sensitive part of the body.

That’s what security researcher Neil Davison says. Given the strength of the grenade launcher, it sounds logical. On the other side, Wes Burgei — an engineer at the US Department of Defense’s Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate — says that the device is designed to “reduce the projectile’s mass and mitigate the impact forces on the target through innovative projectile-nose design.” Whatever. I bet the target would prefer this to a bullet round.

The development cost for the military taser is $US2.5 million, but it’ll be totally free for soon-to-be-incapacitated victims worldwide. [New Scientist]