NATO AEP-103 PDF

The scope of the document presented here is to define an assessment method, in line with the current state of science, to quantify the head injury risk of non-lethal projectiles, due to an impact on the frontal, temporal and parietal regions (the maxillofacial and the occipital regions are not considered in this document). The method allows assessing the level of the risk on unconsciousness, coma, brain injuries or bone fractures.

The assessment process and the different thresholds are the result of a major study using biological models carried out by the Land Systems Division of the French Defense Procurement Agency (DGA Land Systems) and its partners [1, 2].

The level of the injury risk, defined in the present document, is in direct relationship to the transient intracranial pressure inside the magna cisterna or indirectly to the maximal contact force on a human head.

Preference for any method, presented in the document, could not be confirmed at the time this document was produced. The user can choose one of the methods presented to quantify the level of the injury risk from non-lethal projectiles. Note that future research and extended experience with non-lethal projectiles combined with the two risk assessment methods can lead to preferences for one of the methods in combination with specific types of projectiles.