When we previewed the release of the Taser X3 stun-gun a couple of weeks back, details on what it looked like were scarce. Now images have been released to coincide with the official launch, along with more detail about the new three-shot Electronic Control Device (ECD).
The Taser X3 can engage multiple targets almost simultaneously, display Warning Arcs (even while fully loaded) and has increased sensor and computing grunt.
In an effort to diffuse disorderly situations, the new Warning Arc feature allows the operator to safely display the electric arc, synonymous with ECDs, while not actually having to fire the probes (even when the X3 is fully loaded with live cartridges). If that’s not enough to deter resistant subjects, Taser says studies have found that 80 percent of targets will comply with verbal commands when the arc is displayed or the subject is ‘painted’ with the laser sight.
To that end, the X3 can recognize which cartridge has been selected - standard or long-range - then activate a paired-laser targeting system that adjusts the point of aim and shows where the top and bottom probes will hit the target.
The new Rotational-Pulse Drive in the Taser X3 delivers a shaped pulse that discharges sequentially to whichever electrode sets have been fired, up to 57 times per second. This is what gives the X3 its additional fire power, equivalent to three separate Taser X26s.
The X3 also has an enhanced power magazine (EPM) with enough energy to disperse more than 300 five-second firings across all bays.
Taser says when struck by the probes, the electric charge from the X3 is diffused across the outermost layers of the target’s skin reducing charge density deeper in the body.
The X3 is also described as is the first truly networked handheld weapon. Information from its logging system can be uploaded securely to a website where the data is encrypted, stored securely, and organized into dashboards that allow an agency to monitor the use and system status of their entire arsenal of Taser X3s.
A video of the Taser X3 launch presentation is available here.