Evaluation of the Long-Distance Conducted Electrical Weapon XREP®

The TASER® eXtended Range Electronic Projectile (XREP®) is a self-contained, wireless conducted electrical weapon (CEW), which is shot from a 12-gauge shotgun. On impact it delivers short high-voltage, low current energy pulses to temporarily paralyze a person by causing electrical interruption of the body's normal energy pulses. The present study analyzes the specific weapon-projectile interaction and accuracy of the XREP® live and training rounds at different distances in order to draw conclusions on mission effectiveness. To evaluate the ballistic features of the XREP® ammunition, a high speed camera, photoelectric barrier, reference scale, and coordinate calculator were used. Thirty live rounds (LR) and 35 training rounds (TR) were fired from the TASERX12TM with a customized 18.5 in. barrel. The shooting distances were 4.5 m, 12.1 m, 19.7 m, and 27.4 m. The average velocity of the XREP® TR was v0 71.8 m/s (range 57.6-84.0 m/s) and of the LR 67.0 m/s (range 58.2-73.5 m/s). The standard deviation in accuracy varied within the live rounds vertically from 7.6 mm at a distance of 4.5 m up to 152.1 mm at 27.4 m. The training rounds showed a vertical standard deviation between 7.5 mm (shooting distance 4.5 m) and 222.8 mm (shooting distance 27.4 m). The standard horizontal deviation was noted the highest at 109.4 mm with the TR and 57.7 mm with the LR, both at a shooting distance of 27.4 m. The maximal vertical variation was at a firing distance of 27.4 m; for the TR it was -649.2 mm and for the LR it was -866.7 mm. The XREP® ammunition showed a remarkable high variation in velocity and accuracy. This effect increased disproportionately at shooting distances over 12 m. Furthermore, a significant variation between the training and the live ammunition was noted.