Royal Ordnance ARWEN 37 (Anti-Riot Weapon ENfield)

History of Royal Armouries ARWEN 37 (riot weapons ENfield)

The ARWEN 37 anti-riot weapon was developed in the late 1970s and finally received acceptance and production in the early 1980s. The system stemmed from a particular need for British law enforcement to replace the generally ineffective riot weapons in use at the time.

As tensions escalate in Northern Ireland, the need to develop a new multi-shot weapon with sufficient range and the ability to fire various types of (non-lethal) ammunition for crowd control has become increasingly apparent. The result of this initiative was the "ARWEN 37", the design of which was attributed to engineers at the Royal Small Arms Factory (Enfield) and manufactured by the Royal Small Arms Factory.

The name "ARWEN" comes from the acronym "Anti-Riot Weapon, ENfield".

The finished ARWEN 37 ended up in several special forms, including the base/standard production model, the short-range ARWEN Multi-S, the ARWEN 37 Multi-V, and the ARWEN ACE. The standard model is 4.5 kg and has an overall length of 30 inches (barrel is 11.2 inches). It features a rotatable 5-round cartridge loaded with 37mm ammunition. The ARWEN Multi-S short-range version has no stock, a shorter barrel and a more compact profile. ARWEN Multi-V realizes vehicle installation by spherical arrangement.

The ARWEN ACE becomes a more convenient single-shot alternative to the standard ARWEN 37 and is lighter (2kg). However, this version was a breech-loading weapon that had to be reloaded after each shot.

The ARWEN 37 has since shot to fame, expanding its use from police service to military service, including the SAS (Special Aviation Service) in the UK. Seen as a reliable and effective weapon, it exploits the nature of repeated fire to give the operator an advantage over older single-shot weapons with similar capabilities. Also, unlike the "destroy action" type on single-shot products, the cylinder is easily reloaded.

Due to the rotating nature of the ARWEN 37, the rate of fire is further improved, especially when the operator needs to deploy a protective wall of riot ammunition against advancing mobs.

The weapon was licensed in Canada and surfaced in attacks across Iraq. All ARWEN models are now owned by Police Ordnance Company, Incorporated.

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