Familiar Weapon Gets Unexpected Features

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Stun grenades are a non-lethal weapon used by law enforcement, SWAT teams and military servicemen in order to temporarily disorient a suspect’s or an enemy’s senses. While legacy stun grenades achieve tactical advantages, by current design, the collateral damage is burning down structures and can also cause injuries to operators.

A new flash-bang stun grenade designed to greatly reduce collateral damage to buildings and hostages, as well as enhance the safety of its users, has caught the attention of the U.S. military.

After four years of research and development, the Enhanced Diversionary Device was introduced to the market by Liberty Dynamic.

The product received an innovation research grant from the US Air Force, which is interested in firing the weapon from a small drone. The Marine Corps administered Joint Non-lethal Weapons Directorate, which is responsible for fielding all non-lethal weapons for the U.S. military, has also shown interest.

The new device uses a digital fuse with zero deviation from the time it detonates. A standard flash-bang grenade deviates in plus-or-minus milliseconds. And in tactical surgical entries – every millisecond matters.

If something goes wrong and the warfighter can’t get rid of the grenade fast enough, the operator is not holding any energetic material, there is a visual LED indicator warning the user that they have made a mistake, as reported by nationaldefensemagazine.org. It is not a pre-mixed energetic material. It is a binary A-B explosive, meaning both compounds in their separate chambers are inert until they are mixed upon detonation. The detonation doesn’t take place until the two chemicals are pushed out of their exhaust ports. Unlike conventional stun grenades, the flash and sound effects can be adjusted.