Tasers are used by police officers to immobilise people, but they must be used at close range. Now the US Marine Corps is testing a longer-range alternative: a projectile called SPECTER that contains tethered electrode darts.

SPECTER – Small arms Pulsed Electronic Tetanization at Extended Range – is being developed by Harkind Dynamics in Colorado with funding from the US Department of Defense’s Joint Intermediate Force Capabilities Office (JIFCO). The makers say SPECTER can be fired from any 12-gauge shotgun and claim …