SAVELEC (Safe control of non cooperative vehicles through electromagnetic means) aims to provide a solution for the external, safe control of a non cooperative vehicle without any consequences on the persons inside the vehicle or other persons and objects nearby. The proposed solution is based on the use of electromagnetic means, electromagnetic pulses (EMP) and high power microwaves (HPM), in order to disrupt the proper behaviour of the electronic components inside the vehicle, which will lead it to slow down and stop.

SAVELEC aims to provide a solution for a well-defined problem in the scope of police/security/border guards and forces: The safe control and stopping at distance of noncooperative vehicles. This will be done using a new technology approach based on electromagnetic means, basically EMP and HPM. The basic idea is to evaluate which type of signal in terms of waveform, frequency and duration is the most suitable for interfering with the electronic components and systems in a car and which could lead to slowing it down and stopping it. This technology could be applied in a wide type of missions that shall be evaluated and assessed in the very beginning of the project with the close participation of a group of end-users involved as advisory experts. Although the project is orientated at evaluating the feasibility of the technology in the field of cars, the results could be easily extrapolated to other kinds of vehicles like fast vessels, trucks or motorbikes. For these future missions, specific safety assessment should be performed as will be done for the case of cars in SAVELEC.

SAVELEC will provide a new kind of technology for security forces that could help them in their daily operations, providing important added value in terms of safety and security. The preparation of a regulatory framework for the use of this new concept means considering all the ethics and legal aspects concerned, which is also one of the important objectives of the project.

One important aspect regarding the SAVELEC project is that the proposed solution would be optimized in terms of field strength for minimizing the impact on persons and things nearby the operation scenario. The safety and security of the technology user and the suspicious persons inside the vehicle is at the heart of the SAVELEC project.