Air Force develops safer flash bang grenade

[unhappycamper]

Air Force develops safer flash bang grenade
Staff reports
Posted : Friday Mar 6, 2009 16:20:20 EST

You probably wouldn’t think of going to the Air Force to develop a better hand grenade, but that’s exactly where the Department of Defense went.

The Pentagon wanted an improved version of the “flash bang” grenade, which explodes with — just as its name implies — a bright flash and a loud bang. It stuns bad guys, giving troops a chance to seize a room while their foes wonder what happened.

The U.S. Special Operations Command and the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Program wanted a flash bang grenade that was louder, brighter and even safer — and decided to see if the Air Force Research Laboratory could give it to them.

The research lab’s 711th Human Performance Wing did, by studying injury statistics and developing software to analyze flash effects and sound exposure limits.

For their efforts, the researchers received the David M. Clark Technology Transition Award in January. The award honors the wing’s most significant technology transition achievement of 2008.


Rest of article at: http://airforcetimes.com/news/2009/03/airforce_flash_bang_030609w/%2e