Europe

German newspaper article: https://www.derstandard.at/story/3000000262056/die-schallwaffe-von-serbiens-machthaber-wurde-identifiziert

Translation (DeepL + minor corrections):

The sonic weapon of Serbia's ruler has been identified

Recordings on social media show sound cannons on the riot police's off-road vehicles. The interior minister becomes entangled in contradictions.

The disturbing images of panic among the peaceful participants at a protest rally in Belgrade went around the world. In numerous videos show thousands of people suddenly trying to escape and trying to flee and stumbling over each other. Some of them fall.

An extremely shrill sound can be heard in the videos. There are many indications the use of a sound weapon by the large contingent of Serbian riot police. Serbian riot police represented in the large contingent. The regime of President Aleksandar Vučić denied any use of such a weapon, DER STANDARD reported.

However, images emerged on Wednesday that contradict the official account from Belgrade. On the images, which were shared by opposition politician Marinika Tepić on X can be seen in police off-road vehicles on which so-called are clearly fitted with so-called Long-Range Acoustic Devices (LRAD). As research by several Serbian daily newspapers has revealed, this is likely to be that this is a product of the US company Genasys.

Weapon for psychological warfare

Specifically, the Serbian police are said to have used an LRAD 450XL. This is, despite its name, a device in the medium size category. Officially the device is marketed as completely harmless: according to a video from the manufacturer, it is a powerful speaker with an MP3 player.

The speaker is designed to make announcements which, according to the manufacturer Genasys are still understandable at 1700 meters distance. The fact that that it can also be used to quell protests is indicated by the sound the sound pressure levels: Sounds at 145 decibels are said to be continuously continuously for over eight hours thanks to the built-in rechargeable battery. Sounds can be reproduced at a relatively sharp angle of 15 or 30 degrees.

Loud noises above 85 decibels are already harmful to human hearing. Acute acoustic trauma can occur from 140 decibels. A fraction of a second is enough to damage the hearing. The weapons are marketed as “non-lethal” and manufacturers do not mention permanent hearing damage.

What the manufacturer only briefly mentions in the official product video is the button for the alarm sound. Only when you click further through the website, it becomes clear that the device is mainly sold to armies or police units. According to the manufacturer 100 countries and over 500 police authorities in the USA are already using such sonic weapons.

The LRAD 450XL is also advertised as a device for psychological warfare: It can be used to acoustically simulate the sounds of gunfire or even even entire battles acoustically. Something that conventional loudspeakers fail, according to the website. The “loudspeaker” also makes it possible to immediately create an acoustic “safety corridor” and disperse crowds of people.

On the hood

The device has a magnetic stand. This allows the weapon to be mounted on the hood of a car. In the case of the material that has now emerged, this is on the Defender jeeps of the Serbian police.

Remote control is also possible. The manufacturer offers a kit for wireless control from a distance of around 200 meters. This is consistent with the statements of the anonymous police officer in the Danas report: he stated that several such weapons were used during the mass protests on Saturday.

Interior Minister Ivica Dačić confirmed on Tuesday that the police have sonic weapons. These were purchased in 2021 and are the property of the Serbian Ministry of the Interior. However, they are not used according to the Minister of the Interior: “These systems (...) have not been neither put into operation nor installed in any of our vehicles or systems installed,” Dačić told Danas.

Sonic cannon? Yes, no, maybe

The police sources quoted by the publication contradict this account. All major police stations in Serbia would have sonic weapons, they say. Research by the newspaper Vreme also comes to the same conclusion.

Dačić had previously stated that the Ministry of the Interior had neither a sonic cannon nor similar sonic weapons. It was later said that this claim was “clumsy”. “What was meant was that the Ministry of the Interior has not included this instrument in its arsenal of means of coercion,” Dačić explained. And: “These systems are in boxes in our warehouses.” On Wednesday afternoon, things sounded different again: yes, sonic weapons were available, but they had only been used as loudspeakers, Dačić explained at a press conference.

President Aleksandar Vučić had categorically ruled out the possibility that the Serbian army had sonic cannons. A diversionary tactic, because it is obviously not the army, but the police police that uses such systems.

At the same time, Vučić announced legal action against all those who accuse the police of using such weapons. Furthermore it was said that a drone gun had triggered the panic, which is highly doubtful from a technical point of view. In principle, drone guns are nothing more than jammers, and these are completely harmless to humans.

“At a moment when everyone was quiet, when thousands and thousands and thousands of people were completely peaceful and not threatening anyone, you come up with the idea of demonstrating violence. That is an attack on on your own people,” says military analyst Aleksandar Radić, sharply criticizing the use of a sonic weapon. (Peter Zellinger, 19.3.2025)

TelegrafRS without much content: https://www.telegraf.rs/english/4075115-this-is-the-device-filmed-close-to-the-assembly-this-is-how-the-communication-tool-works

LRAD-450XL manual: https://genasys.com/content/uploads/2021/08/LRAD-450XL_D00101-Rev.-B_3-4.pdf

Miran Pogačars Video: https://x.com/MiranPogacar/status/1902310681988255912