ABSTRACT
In the debate on non-lethal weapons (NLWs) which has gone on for about a decade, a wide variety of weapons principles were brought forward. Some NLWs, such as police batons, water cannon and tear gas, are well known and have been in wide use for a long time. The areas mentioned for ‘new’ NLWs are listed in Table 1. Note, however, that not all such NLWs concepts are actually new. Several had already been looked at (and many rejected for various reasons) decades before.1^
It is questionable if psychological operations should count as ‘weapons’. Computer-science weapons and operations represent a very complex field of their own and will not be discussed here. These technologies often come under the heading ‘information warfare’, which
comprises deception and perception management that are also aspects of psychological operations.
