High-Tech on the High Seas

'Stuff You Can Buy Out of a Catalogue'

Targets are only stunned while the system is on -- in five-second discharges -- and can be used until the person is safely controlled.

In 2009, Tuttle said the company will unveil even more powerful technology. The wireless eXtended Range Electronic Projectile fires from a 12-gauge shotgun and can be delivered to a distance of 65 feet.

Another innovation, the Taser Shockwave System, deploys multiple Taser cartridges at once and can be activated wirelessly from up to 120 feet away. Stacked vertically or horizontally, the system could create something akin to a force field that makes it difficult for attackers to come within 35 feet of a given area.

While the technology is considered nonlethal, many argue that it is not risk-free. Tasers have reportedly injured, and even killed, their targets. Amnesty International says that, since 2001, more 320 individuals in the United States have died after being shocked by police Tasers.

Michael Lumpkin, a maritime security specialist who served as a Navy Seal for 21 years before retiring last year, told ABCNews.com that though the pirates off the Somali coast have ramped up their technological resources, their gear is largely "stuff you can buy out of a catalog."

Their power lies in their ability to attack ships with speed and surprise.

"The pirate's decision cycle is very fast -- they can change on a moment's notice," he said. "It's cumbersome for the industry to change."