Photos from training exercises by Ukraine's Special Operations Forces, known as the SSO, showed a vehicle-mounted LRAD 1950XL-RT, an unusual acoustic system that looks like an oversized loudspeaker. The device is made by the U.S. company Genasys and is designed for more than broadcasting messages, it can project sound at up to 160 decibels and deliver clear instructions over distances of up to 5 kilometers.
Unlike ordinary speakers that spread sound in all directions, the LRAD focuses audio into a narrow beam, described as a kind of "sound spotlight." In modern warfare, the article notes, force is not used only through gunfire, and special units around the world are increasingly using tools meant to influence an opponent, confuse, deter, and change behavior without necessarily opening fire.
For units like Ukraine's SSO, which specialize in operations deep in enemy territory, the system could be used to give remote orders, apply psychological pressure, address enemy troops, and handle checkpoints more safely. Its main advantage is distance, soldiers can stay inside an armored vehicle and send messages from a secure range instead of approaching dangerous areas.
LRAD systems were first developed in the early 2000s, partly to give militaries and security forces an intermediate option, louder than a normal shout but less lethal than a firearm. The war in Ukraine is now serving as a testing ground for new technologies, and the article suggests that sound may become a battlefield tool in its own right, even if it remains primarily a psychological aid rather than a decisive weapon.
