In the list of the most important events of police reports around the world, confrontations between the police and large groups of street demonstrators and fans are increasingly mentioned. According to analysts, the repression of attacks by aggressive groups of hooligans is suppressed by police units with great effort and not always successfully.
Analysts have already identified an urgent need for new tactics for such police actions and the need for new weapons.
Examples of such "hostilities" can be the events that took place in Israel and some countries in Africa and Asia. All the same analysts say that the number of such anti-government group confrontations in the modern world will increase.
One of the variants of non-lethal armament of the police to counter the groups of demonstrators is the non-lethal complex “Koba” developed in 2001 by the Ukrainian enterprise “VALAR” (Ivano-Frankivsk). The complex is designed to combat anti-government demonstrators by covering a group of demonstrators with high-strength mesh and simultaneous treatment with tear gases at distances of up to 200 meters. Long-term operation revealed some operational shortcomings of the product, which became the basis for modernization.
The new tactical task of the modernized complex was to ensure a non-lethal impact on groups of an aggressive enemy on distant approaches to contact with police forces.
The term "distant approaches" in this concept means a distance of 100-200 meters in the conditions of settlements. At such a distance, a very aggressive "enemy" cannot use improvised means of attacking the police forces (stones, sticks, Molotov cocktails, tear gas, etc.). In addition, at such a distance, the enemy is still in compact groups and their movement can be predicted in the cramped conditions of city streets.
The tactical result of using the new non-lethal weapons of the KOBA series is to confuse plans for the further action of large groups of intruders, stop a column of intruders, “capture” large groups of intruders and partially disperse them, and create barriers to their possible retreat from the “battlefield”.
Suddenly covering the group with a strong net is a powerful psychological factor and changes the psychology of the offender's behavior. Experience has shown that a group of violators, after being covered with a net, develop psychological shock and a kind of stupor (numbness). It is especially important that the high-strength mesh that entangles the enemy is simply impossible to break with your hands. Attention should be paid to the presence of a possible additional factor - fumigation with tear gas. Studies have shown that the new technique is highly effective in suppressing groups of aggressive offenders in urban environments.
In further events, after using the entire arsenal of the "KOBA" product, other countermeasures can also be used, used in contact close combat at distances of up to 50 meters.
Comparative tests were carried out to upgrade the product. During the comparative tests, other products with similar characteristics were also subject to verification, which ensure the coverage of a group of enemy manpower at distances of up to 150-200 meters with a high-strength mesh with dimensions of about 8 by 8 meters. Such a grid provides overlap of the entire width of the roadway in the settlement. Particular attention was paid to the quiet use of this type of weapon to prevent a premature response by violators. During the tests, various types of non-lethal ammunition were used on the enemy.
Joint tests in parallel with the product "KOBA-2M" were products "GORGAN", "GORN" and others. The new product was named "KOBA-2MO" (stands for Bazovy Container, 2-double-barreled, Modernized, Lightweight).
The new product "KOBA-2MO" differs significantly from the initial version. The dimensions of the product have been somewhat reduced, the weight of the product has been reduced to 14 kg, the charging system and the firing control system have been changed. Design changes have been made for the possible installation of several units of products on vehicles or on armored personnel carriers.
In the design, the electrical ignition system for the shot was replaced with a mechanical design with self-cocking. The design of the aiming and range setting device has been simplified, and a knapsack for carrying ammunition has been created. As for the new non-lethal ammunition "KOBA", they are structurally simplified and lightened, the dimensions are reduced, the effectiveness of "combat impact on the enemy's manpower" is increased.
After making all the design changes, in fact, a new generation product will be obtained, which will be comprehensively tested in conditions as close as possible to combat.
