The North America non-lethal weapons market is estimated to register a CAGR of over 3% during the forecast period, 2020 - 2025.

  • The geopolitical tension in the region has resulted in general discontent amongst the general population resulting in the staging of several protests and strikes that have quickly escalated into acts of violence. Hence, the law enforcement agencies in the US and Canada procuring non-lethal weapons as a deterrent to control these unruly incidents and protect the loss of life and property.
  • Technological advancements, in terms of non-lethal weapons by various players across several countries in the region, are expected to provide growth opportunities for the market during the forecast period.



Key Market Trends

The Ammunition Segment is Expected to Register the Highest CAGR During the Forecast Period

Currently, the ammunition segment has the highest share out of all the segments. Technology advancements may lead to an increase in the demand for non-lethal weapons, such as rubber bullets, bean bag rounds, and smoke munitions, in the region. Non-lethal weapons, such as rubber bullets and tear gas, have become common tools for the police forces to control civilian protests. Although law enforcement agencies had been using tactics and tools such as handheld impact weapons, (police batons, expandable batons, nunchakus), tasers and other electronic stun devices, and chemical agents such as OC and CS, which the officers may use to subdue combative subjects and protect themselves and others from a potential threat.

The effective use of such forces options requires that officers should be near their opponent, which increases the risk to officers and thus presents the possibility that an altercation may escalate to a point where deadly force becomes necessary. Hence, to reduce the possibility of such an altercation, law enforcement agencies are rapidly adopting high impact ammunition such as wooden dowels, foam rubber projectiles, small bean bags to disperse the violent crowd. The various ongoing advancements are expected to boost the growth of this segment at a relatively higher CAGR.

The United States is Expected to Experience the Highest Growth

The North America non-lethal weapons market is driven by an increase in violence-related incidents, and the subsequent demand for non-lethal weapons by law enforcement agencies to effectively contain the situation. Moreover, growing issues regarding personal safety may also lead to the growth of the non-lethal weapons market in the United States. Additionally, the US Department of Defense (DoD) is now focusing on developing non-lethal weapons with the intent to minimize the probability of fatalities, as well as permanent injuries. The US army has recently acquired the new batch of Pepperball VKS launchers, which are supercharged paintball guns fitted on an M4 Carbine rifle. The actual ingredient for the VKS launcher ammunition is made out of chili, which burst upon impact, as well as leads to a burning sensation in the primary human sense organs - the eyes, nose, and mouth. Use of non-lethal weapons by the US army is increasing as it is been very essential in places where the army cannot engage targets that are located or positioned such that the application of lethal, destructive fires are prohibitive or would be counter-productive to the initial goal and objective. The US military has invested significantly in Directed Energy Weapons (DE) over the past few years. In FY2019, the Department of Defense (DoD) allotted USD 1 billion for DE Weapons, which increased from USD 535 million in FY 2017. The funding was divided between three military services and several program offices across the DoD. In October 2019, the US Air Force successfully tested five prototype systems which include four high-energy lasers and one high-power microwave as counter-drone weapons, the Air Force is preparing to deploy at least two of them overseas by the end of 2020. The Air Force also ordered two laser weapons and one microwave from Raytheon Technologies, out of which the first laser weapon was delivered in October 2019. Thus, various upcoming developments in the United States are expected to lead to a positive impact on the growth of the market studied.

Competitive Landscape

Various players, such as Lamperd, Inc., Pepperball Technologies, Inc. (UTS United Tactical Systems, LLC), Genasys Inc., Taser International (Axon Enterprise, Inc.), and Safariland, LLC, are expected to occupy significant market share during the forecast period. Various initiatives and product innovations are done by the companies, which has led these companies to strengthen their presence in the market studied. For instance, earlier, in June 2017, SDI entered into a multi-year agreement to supply Safariland with its patented collapsible head blunt impact projectiles (BIPs) and collapsible head payload projectiles, including OC (pepper spray), CS (tear gas), ML (marking liquid), MP (marking powder), MO (malodorant), IN (inert powder), and DNA (plant-based DNA forensic marking rounds).

Reasons to Purchase this report:

  • The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
  • 3 months of analyst support