By Robert Green, Senior Editor

Acoustic devices are not often immediately associated with the military, even less with homeland security, but are emerging in both realms and especially as potentially big cost-savers for those seeking to protect critical infrastructure in the U.S.

The Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) from American Technology Corporation (ATC), used in the Navy shipborne environment and more recently added to US Army Stryker units patrolling in Mosul, Iraq, is also being adopted here at home by the New York Port Authority as part of the security package protecting the Hackensack Bridge in New Jersey.

The LRAD is a focused-beam, phased array long range hailing and warning system that can transmit either spoken voice or a warning tone as far as 700 meters in some cases, creating a larger security perimeter than otherwise could be managed physically, said Carl Gruenler, ATC vice president of government and force protection systems.

The system has also been employed by PDs for crowd control situations such as protests at the national convention in New York this past summer. LRAD gives security people at critical infrastructure and at any event where crowd control is important an immediately escalating, non-lethal capability that can influence behavior, whether of an unruly group or a nefarious attempt to get closer to infrastructure, Gruenler said.

The LRAD warning tone for fixed infrastructure or a protected area simply grows more irritating as one advances into its range, creating what is called area denial. Focused voice warnings are seemingly so close-by that even battle hardened Marines who participated in tests of the system before deploying to Iraq were caught off-guard by the LRAD focused audio beam, Gruenler said.

The Navy's interest in LRAD dates back to the USS Cole incident in Yemen, after which the ability to effectively warn off approaching threats became a paramount concern for shipborne and waterside security. The USN 5th fleet is now using the system for high seas interdiction and protecting the Basra oil platforms.

The use of LRAD at a prominent New York-area bridge follows from specific al Qaeda-based threats to- or surveillance episodes at bridges in America including the Brooklyn Bridge, Chesapeake Bay Bridge and San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, mentioned in captured target lists carried by one of al Qaeda's chief Cole attack plotters.

Gruenler said LRAD can greatly reduce manpower needs at sites like power plants and bridges, by focusing a hostile tone into high security zones as part of an overall system of area denial defense that can contain numerous other sensors and warning elements. A non-lethal audio beam that delays a would-be attacker can buy defensive forces valuable time or eliminate the threat by itself. The protective tone delivered by LRAD can be very hostile to anyone approaching, Gruenler said.

You can learn more about LRAD by visiting www.atcsd.com.

In a related matter: the Israeli Defense Force reports it is experimenting with new counter-insurgency acoustical sensors that can detect tunneling and digging activities that might be occurring as far as 15 meters underground. The experimental system is being tested in Gaza, where Palestinian terrorist organizations have used tunnels in the past for moving arms and terrorists into Israeli security sectors and Israel proper.

Robert Green can be reached at RobertGreen@PubSector.com.

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The Data Center Storage Pavilion Featuring Modular Computing, Network Storage and Business Continuity will feature exhibitors with Network Storage, Data Backup, and Network Storage Solutions.

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