ARWEN 37

The ARWEN 37 is a less-lethal launcher[1] which fires 37 mm less-lethal rounds (foam or wooden or tear gas payload) designed for riot control. It has a 5-round rotary drum magazine. "ARWEN" is an acronym for "Anti Riot Weapon ENfield".

ARWEN 37
Place of originUnited Kingdom
Service history
Used byBritish Army
Production history
ManufacturerRoyal Small Arms Factory
Specifications
Mass3.1 kg
Length710 mm
Caliber37 mm
Barrels310 mm

It was designed in 1977 by the British Royal Small Arms Factory (RSAF) Enfield, then part of the Royal Ordnance Factories. It came out of a British Military request for a multi-shot riot control weapon to replace the single-shot Federal Riot Gun. Three prototypes were designed and tested: one semi-automatic, one rotary-drum, and one pump-action. At the end of testing the rotary-drum model was put into production. The case has a rebated rim, so although the projectiles are comparable with other 37 mm riot control weapons, the loaded rounds are quite different.[2]

As of 2001, all ARWEN trademarks and patents are owned by Police Ordnance Company Inc. The weapon is manufactured under license in Canada.

Sage Control Ordnance, Inc., located in Oscoda, Michigan has been producing less-lethal 37 mm Sage Rifled (ARWEN 37 compatible) munitions since 1991 for law enforcement use only. Current production includes the following nine munition variants:

KO1 - Standard Impact Baton
KO2 - CS Smoke
KO3 - Irritant Impact Baton
KO4 - White & Colored Screening Smoke
BP5 - Irritant, Barricade Penetrating
KO6 - Irritant, Muzzle Blast
KO7 - Multi-Ball Area Impact
KO8 - Soft Tip Impact Baton
KO9 - Sub-caliber Training/Marking

Sage also produces a variety of projectile launchers chambered for 37 mm Sage Rifled (ARWEN 37 compatible) munitions.

See also

References
Notes
  1. Haar, R.J, et. al. Death, injury and disability from kinetic impact projectiles in crowd-control settings: a systematic review
  2. Anthony G Williams. "Less-lethal Ammunition". Archived from the original on 2009-09-03.
Bibliography
  • Bishop, Chris & Drury, Ian (November 1987). Combat Guns. London: Book Sales, ISBN 1-55521-161-5


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