This application relates to a projectile launcher in which the amount of fuel supplied to the combustion chamber can be varied to shoot the projectile in a lethal or non-lethal mode. The amount of fuel determines the velocity at which the projectile is fired. A low velocity launch on the order of 150 feet per second will be non-lethal at all but very short distance whereas a high velocity launch on the order of 450 feet per second will be non-lethal at a typical range of 100-150 meters but may possibly be lethal at a range of the order of 30 meters or less.