A NEW SLOVAK defence mechanism called Božena RIOT, a technical device designed to help control riots, demonstrations, extremist rallies, unrest in residential areas or “wild” football or other sports fans, was presented on May 4 at the International Defence Equipment Fair IDEB 2010 in Bratislava.
The mechanism was designed by Way Industries from Krupina in cooperation with the Police Corps. Its design is based on the Božena flail system used for clearing landmines. Defence Minister Jaroslav Baška said at the presentation of the unit that new threats require a new approach as well as new technologies.
The technical parameters of the machine include a sophisticated camera system able to monitor a situation and a remote-control system which enables the commander to navigate the vehicle from the safety of a command car 500 metres away. The machine has a teargas gun and megaphone to announce instructions to an unruly mob.
Serial production of the Božena RIOT unit will be launched in July and six units should be produced this year. The annual production capacity should then be some 16 to 20 units, the company said.
The Božena mine clearing flail system units, produced in Krupina, are currently being used in 25 countries and the company has produced over 200 of them. According to a 2007 news report about a Božena unit that was ‘lost’ by the Polish military en route to Afghanistan, that single piece of machinery was worth $725,000.
