Sticky foam is a type of

less-lethal weapon Non-lethal weapons, also called nonlethal weapons, less-lethal weapons, less-than-lethal weapons, non-deadly weapons, compliance weapons, or pain-inducing weapons are weapons intended to be less likely to kill a living target than convention ...

, consisting of various extremely tacky and/or tenacious materials carried in compressed form with a propellant and used to block, entangle, and impair individuals. A

National Institute of Justice The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is the research, development, and evaluation agency of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). NIJ, along with the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), Offic ...

-funded project at

Sandia National Laboratory Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), also known as Sandia, is one of three research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Headquartered in Kirtland Air Force Bas ...

developed a "gun" which could fire multiple shots of sticky foam. After testing the product for corrections applications, Sandia provided the

U.S. Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionary ...

' Operation United Shield with sticky foam guns and supporting equipment to assist in the withdrawal of U.N. peacekeepers from

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

. Problems with this technology include: the serious risk of smothering (suffocating) the subject; skin clean-up (the foam may not be toxic, but solvents are often harsh); "gun" clogging; targeting and firing; and gun cleaning. The U.S. Marine Corps reportedly successfully used the sticky foam guns as part of the operation in Somalia. The sticky foam was mentioned in the bestselling book '' Men Who Stare at Goats'', becoming better known to the general public. It was reportedly invented by U.S. Army Col.

John B. Alexander John B. Alexander (born 1937) is a retired United States Army colonel. An infantry officer for much of his career, he is best known as a leading advocate for the development of non-lethal weapons and of military applications of the paranormal. ...

. In an article by

WIRED Wired may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Wired'' (Jeff Beck album), 1976 * ''Wired'' (Hugh Cornwell album), 1993 * ''Wired'' (Mallory Knox album), 2017 * "Wired", a song by Prism from their album '' Beat Street'' * "Wired ...

, the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

allegedly hired a private company, Adherent Technologies of Albuquerque, a small business contract to develop a "foam-based vehicle arresting system," thought to possibly halt the path of a vehicle through "low-profile containers," described as "each containing enough foam base to generate several cubic meters of high-strength foam." The idea is thought to clog the engine of a car and "absorb the vehicle’s kinetic energy, bringing it to a stop".

References

External links

*
Bibliography (updated 6 Jun 2006) of Aqueous Foam Technology Uses in Military, Defense and Law Enforcement
Non-lethal weapons Riot control weapons Riot control equipment {{weapon-stub