Feds Fund Less-Than-Lethal Flashlight Weapon Development

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Homeland Security awarded Intelligent Optical Systems an $800,000 contract to complete development of the California company’s LED Incapacitator flashlight.

The less-than-lethal unit, which also functions as a standard flashlight, emits alternating LED light pulses at several specific frequencies. The human eye and brain have difficulty and discomfort in processing the unit’s rapidly alternating multifrequency strobing, which is augmented with multiple colors, officials say.

The strobing light creates a state of disorientation, temporary blindness and incapacitation in the target subject that allows security staff to tackle, subdue and restrain the subject with less-than-lethal force. Although the effect lasts long enough that security staff have sufficient time to place the subject in restraints, the unit does not cause long-term damage to the eye, officials say.

Additional trials of the unit will be conducted at Pennsylvania State University’s Institute of Non-Lethal Defense Technologies in State College, Pa.