LONDON -- A device that can be used as a “sonic weapon” will be deployed in London during the Olympic Games, the BBC reported, citing the U.K. Ministry of Defense.

The American-made Long Range Acoustic Device can be used to send verbal warnings over a long distance or emit a beam of pain-inducing tones, the BBC said. The equipment was spotted fixed to a landing craft on the River Thames at Westminster, London, this week, it said.

The device would be used primarily in the loud hailer mode, the BBC citing an Defense Ministry spokesman as saying.