National Institute of Justice, Office of Science and Technology, 633 Indiana Avenue NW, Room 903, Washington, D.C. 20531

13 -- KINETIC ENERGY LESS-THAN-LETHAL PROJECTILES TESTING Due 070196. POC To receive a copy of the test protocol, contact George Wagner at fax number 202-307-9907. The National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the research arm of the Department of Justice, is interested in conducting an evaluation of Kinetic Energy Less-Than-Lethal Projectiles that are available commercially off-the-shelf (COTS) for criminal justice and military use. This announcement seeks to determine the level of interest among manufacturers interested in participating in the evaluation program. If you would like to submit projectiles for testing, please send a letter of interest. The letter should include the model designation for each projectile and launcher, the type and composition of the projectile, and documentation describing the projectile and launcher. In addition to the letter, please include a catalog or brochure about the company. NIJ encourages manufacturers to review and comment on the test protocol. The evaluation will consist of test firing the candidate projectiles at an instrumented range and measuring the following characteristics: velocity at muzzle, velocity at intermediate distances, velocity prior to target impact, accuracy/dispersion at target, impact energy on clay and anthropomorphic structure, and aerodynamic characteristics. All projectiles will be fired from the corresponding launcher from a fixed rest. Multiple view photographs and x-rays will be taken at a number of stations at the discretion of the test conductor. Not all projectiles may be tested for all characteristics, such as those that do not have sufficient accuracy to reach the longer range targets. The test ranges planned are: 10, 20, 30, and 50 feet. NIJ anticipates that testing will begin this fall and the preliminary test results will be available after the conclusion of the evaluation program. The testing will be conducted at no expense to the manufacturer except for providing the required number of projectiles and launchers. The type of kinetic energy projectiles NIJ intends to evaluate are divided into the categories listed below. Groups of projectiles planned to be evaluated include shotbags in sizes. 410, 12 gauge, 37mm, and 40mm. Rubber bullets will be tested in sizes 12 gauge, 37mm, 38mm, and 40mm. Plastic projectiles will be tested in 12 gauge, 19mm, 37mm, and 40mm. NIJ understands that there may be other projectiles that may fall into the kinetic energy category; therefore, we will also consider them for evaluation. At the conclusion of the evaluation program, the Institute will issue its findings, which will be available to interested parties upon request. (137)

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