Bruce Lund, the toy-maker behind Tickle Me Elmo, has also created a Variable Velocity Weapon System, dubbed the Big Hurt:
Lund recalled seventh-grade science demonstrations in which an electric current is passed through water, producing oxygen and hydrogen gas. Mix the two together, add a spark and boom! The company used the same concept to create a successful line of hydrogen-powered rockets that electrolyze water and then ignite it, the biggest innovation in toy-rocket power for decades. NASA even awarded Lund a prize for developing the product.
Lund’s enthusiasm for hydrogen combustion power led him to look at all sorts of unlikely applications, including a hydrogen-powered lawnmower and even power tools. But Lund made little progress with other combustion applications — until a friend alerted him to a Pentagon Small Business Innovation Research request for technology to power a nonlethal weapon. The problem with existing weapons firing rubber bullets, beanbags and other crowd-control rounds is their velocity. Anything that is effective at 50 yards may be lethal at 5 yards; anything that is safe at 5 yards won’t be fast enough to be effective at 50. Lund’s solution is a weapon that automatically measures the range to the target and varies the muzzle velocity accordingly.
The application was an ideal fit for Lund’s combustion technology, which can measure out the appropriate amount of gas for each shot. Hydrogen is not a standard military fuel, so Lund’s Variable Velocity Weapon System (VVWS) uses cans of methylacetylene propadiene gas, the kind that fuels blowtorches and nail guns, sold at hardware stores. “You might view the VVWS as a repurposed nail gun,” Lund says.
The weapon’s effectiveness has been tested on blocks of gelatin that simulate human flesh; the projectiles hit with considerable force, but do not penetrate. The weapon is geared to meet the military requirement for an impact energy of 30 joules. This is similar to existing nonlethal weapons; paintball guns are limited to 12 joules. Lund says they have not yet carried out human tests but he suggests it will produce the pain of a severe wasp sting.
The muzzle velocity is normally set automatically, but at the military’s request it has a manual override, so the shooter can dial it up to maximum power and fire lethal shots. Lund sees the gun as a lifesaver, providing a less lethal option when circumstances demand. “At the moment, a soldier has to choose between carrying a nonlethal and a lethal weapon — and he’s always going to choose the lethal one,” Lund says. “This way he can carry one weapon and still have a nonlethal option.”