Acoustic Device to be deployed during London Olympics

PanARMENIAN.Net - British Ministry of Defence has confirmed a sonic device will be deployed in London during the Olympics.

The American-made Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) can be used to send verbal warnings over a long distance or emit a beam of pain-inducing tones, according to BBC News.

The equipment was spotted fixed to a landing craft on the Thames at Westminster this week.

The manufacturer denies it is a weapon and the MoD said it would be used "primarily in the loud hailer mode".

A spokesman for the San Diego-based LRAD Corporation said the1000Xi was "an effective long range communications system that broadcasts focused, highly intelligible, multi-language messages, instructions and warnings over distances up to 3,000 metres to peacefully resolve uncertain situations".

Royal Marines operating in patrol craft from HMS Ocean are also heavily armed with conventional firearms.

The piercing beam of sound emitted by the device is highly directional. Some versions of the LRAD are capable of producing deafening sound levels of 150 decibels at one metre.

But the device, which was used this week during Exercise Olympic Guardian, can also be used to broadcast verbal warnings, such as ordering crowds to disperse.