Is it a loud hailer… or is it a non-lethal weapon? Only experience will give the answer, but American forces in Iraq are to be equipped with a noisy piece of equipment known as a Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD). One use is to give instructions from a safe distance to crowds, vehicles, shipping or anything else which may be a potential danger. However, the LRAD also packs a punch as a generator of loud and unpleasant sounds. Flick a switch and change from voice messages to a built in generator, giving an ear-splitting and piercingly unpleasant output, designed to make you wish you were well out of its beam. The LRAD is a development from a new form of highly directional loudspeaker, HSS (HyperSonic Sound), from the American Technology Corporation (www.atcsd.com)