Army orders 2,500 Taser guns - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Army orders 2,500 Taser guns

The Army recently ordered 2,500 Taser guns in an ongoing effort to give soldiers alternatives to using deadly force.

Law enforcement units have used Tasers for years, but the Army only began issuing them to combat units in the summer of 2008 as part of the Brigade Non-Lethal Capabilities Set program.

The X26 ECD Taser, made by TASER International, looks and feels like a toy pistol. But it fires a special cartridge containing two tiny, barbed darts designed to penetrate up to one inch of clothing out to about 35 feet.

The darts spread apart during flight. Once they strike the target, the coiled wires connected to the Taser create an electrical arc between the two darts that reaches an intensity of 50,000 volts.

The voltage is then spread out over 19 pulses per second for five seconds and causes the recipient’s muscles to lock, rendering him temporarily immobilized.