Scientists invent force field - psi weapons to come next

[aelf]

Just joking on the latter bit

Star Trek-style force-field armour being developed by military scientists
By Richard Gray, Science Correspondent

A space-age "force field" capable of protecting armoured vehicles and tanks by repelling incoming fire is being developed by British military scientists.

The new type of armour will use pulses of electrical energy to repel rockets, shrapnel and other ammunition that might damage a vehicle.

Researchers at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), which is the research and development arm of the Ministry of Defence, claim it is possible to incorporate material known as supercapacitors into armour of a vehicle to turn it into a kind of giant battery.

When a threat from incoming fire is detected by the vehicle, the energy stored in the supercapacitor can be rapidly dumped onto the metal plating on the outside of the vehicle, producing a strong electromagnetic field.

Scientists behind the project claim this would produce a momentary "force field" capable of repelling the incoming rounds and projectiles.

Although it would last for only a fraction of a second, if timed correctly it could prevent rocket propelled grenades, which detonate on impact, from reaching their target. The supercapacitor could then be rapidly recharged ready for another attack.

The idea is similar to the force fields portrayed in science fiction movies which produce an invisible protective shell around a vehicle or object.

Professor Bryn James, head of Dstl's armour and protection science and technology centre, said the electric armour had the potential to dramatically decrease the weight of military vehicles and tanks.

Currently few tanks are able to carry enough armour needed to resist impacts from RPG rounds, which produce jets of molten copper capable of punching through more than foot of solid steel upon impact.

He said: "The supercapacitor material can be charged up and then discharged in one powerful event to repel incoming fire.

"You would think this would require huge amounts of energy, but we have found it can be done with surprisingly small amounts of electrical power.

"Conventional armour is just a lump of metal but an RPG round can punch through more than a foot of steel. Carrying around enough armour to protect against that is extremely heavy.

"The real advantage to the electric armour is how light it can be by comparison."

Sophisticated tracking systems will also need to be developed to work in conjunction with the new armour so that incoming threats can be identified and the electrical discharge timed correctly to repel the rocket.

It is unlikely that such a system would be used against fire from small arms as the outer skin can be made to be bullet proof.

Armour piercing rounds, RPGs and "shaped charge" roadside bombs pose a far greater threat to armoured vehicles and tanks as it is not possible to put enough armour plating on all parts of the vehicle to protect it completely.

The comparatively lightweight electric armour, however, could be used to protect the entire outer shell of a vehicle by using a thin cloth-like flexible supercapacitor material.
This can be used to form a lining beneath the armour that turns the vehicle into a giant battery pack.

An early incarnation of a different type of electric armour technology has already been trailed by Dstl.

It used several layers of metal which have electric current flowing through them.
When an RPG round penetrates the outer layer, it completes the electrical circuit creating a highly electrically charged field between the layers.

This charged field vaporises the copper jet that shoots out from the front of the RPG warhead, preventing it from penetrating the inner hull of the vehicle and keeping the soldiers inside safe.

At a test in 2002, senior British Army officers saw the chassis of a Warrior infantry carrier, which was fitted with the early electric armour, survive repeated attack by RPGs before being driven away with only minor damage.

Scientists from Dstl outlined their plans to use this technology at an MoD showcase of military technology last week.

The MoD has tasked Dstl with reducing the weight of armoured vehicles by 70 per cent over the next decade in a bid to improve speed and manoeuvrability.

Dstl has also developed an experimental armour steel that is covered in holes known as Super Bainite, which could also be used on vehicles.

Scientists found they could double the ballistic performance of the armour by introducing the holes to the steel, while halving its weight.

Professor Peter Brown, who headed the Dstl team that developed Super Bainite, said: "This is because when a bullet hits, it's always near to the edge of a hole.

"This causes the bullet to topple over, turning it from a sharp projectile to a blunt fragment which is easier to stop."

Link

Interesting, if probably somewhat bad for humanity.

And of all examples, Star Trek?

 

[Shaihulud]

I wonder how high of a charge it has to be to repel an rpg round and what it portents for the crew inside the tank, hopefully it doesn't sterilize them.

 

[mangxema]

Holy this is awesome.

 

[Quackers]

omg we are gonna invade ing USA lol

 

[The Imp]

Hey Britain... America has been your faithful ally for along time...

Share?

 

[bhsup]

It actually sounds more like hull plating that gets polarized from "Enterprise" (the prequel series) more than an energy force field from later dated series.

Btw, Britain IIRC shared their reactive armor with us. It's actually our turn

 

[The Imp]

It actually sounds more like hull plating that gets polarized from "Enterprise" (the prequel series) more than an energy force field from later dated series.

Btw, Britain IIRC shared their reactive armor with us. It's actually our turn

Yea, but we saved them in WW2, so we are entitled to a freebie.

 

[pau17]

Didn't the space age begin decades ago? Newspaper articles on science are always funny to read...anyway, sounds like a fancier version of this:

An element of explosive reactive armour consists of a sheet or slab of high explosive sandwiched between two plates, typically metal, called the reactive or dynamic elements. On attack by a penetrating weapon, the explosive detonates, forcibly driving the metal plates apart to damage the penetrator. Against a shaped charge, the projected plates disrupt the metallic jet penetrator, effectively providing a greater path-length of material to be penetrated. Against a long rod penetrator, the projected plates serve to deflect and break up the rod.

The disruption is attributed to two mechanisms. First, the moving plates change the effective velocity and angle of impact of the shaped charge jet, reducing the angle of incidence and increasing the effective jet velocity versus the plate element. Second, since the plates are angled compared to the usual impact direction of shaped charge warheads, as the plates move outwards the impact point on the plate moves over time, requiring the jet to cut through fresh plate material. This second effect significantly increases the effective plate thickness during the impact.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reactive_armour#Explosive_reactive_armour

In fact, the electric reactive armor is featured in the same wiki entry.

 

[Speedo]

I think they're playing up the potential just a wee bit.

A. It's going to take an insanely strong EM field to stop or even significantly slow down something with the energy of an KE penetrator or even just a normal bullet. Generating something so strong with a few supercapacitors and some armor plate...? Not likely, methinks.

B. A whole heck of a lot of projectiles are made out of non-ferrous materials, so EM fields are kinda worthless against them.

Reading between the lines, it sounds like it's more of a special system meant specifically to protect against HEAT-type projectiles (which would include RPG's). I'll bet it actually works by using the EM field to prematurely detonate the warhead, so that the warhead's penetrating jet is less effective.

 

[cardgame]

Hmm... you may be right Speedo. I am envisioning the day when they use some crazy magnetism/electro-magnetism stuff to make bullet-proof force fields though

 

[Leonel]

omg we are gonna invade ing USA lol

Not again!

 

[Yeekim]

B. A whole heck of a lot of projectiles are made out of non-ferrous materials, so EM fields are kinda worthless against them.

My first thought exactly...

 

[Maniacal]

I wonder how high of a charge it has to be to repel an rpg round and what it portents for the crew inside the tank, hopefully it doesn't sterilize them.

How is sterilization a problem?

This system would be useful, but probably would be overloaded if you simply fired enough stuff at it.

 

[Lord Baal]

How is sterilization a problem?

This system would be useful, but probably would be overloaded if you simply fired enough stuff at it.

Depends on who you have in the tank.

I tend to agree with Speedo on this. Not that such a development wouldn't have tremendous military applications. I'm thinking helicopters with an immunity to RPGs here.

 

[Miles Teg]

Psi-tech after force fields?

Don't be stupid. To research Centauri Psi, you need Centauri Genetics and Advanced Ecological Engineering. Photon/Wave Mechanics aren't even the right part of the tech tree!

 

[stuge]

This is cool and all, but I don't think it's going to be a huge improvement.

Where it could be useful: In Afghanistan-type scenarios, where RPG fire is the heaviest hostile anti-tank fire, for IFVs and APCs, providing it's easy to maintain in the field.

When it comes to anything approaching conventional warfare, the usefulness declines fast. The main threats to MBTs are anti-tank guided missiles and APFSDS rounds, and the article doesn't mention any protection against those. IFVs could still benefit from this, since infantry RPG fire is more of a threat to them. But if you're adding extra mass, it might be better to improve the weapons system to better suppress enemy infantry, rather than adding something complicated like this that still leaves the vehicle vulnerable to enemy IFVs.

Lord Baal's idea of using this on helicopters is interesting, but RPGs aren't exactly the number one threat to them. If this could defeat handheld AA missiles, though...

EDIT: Or what Speedo said.

 

[GenMarshall]

Somewhere, Nikola Tesla is smiling

Though personally, I would make more referances to Star Wars and other scifi mediums that use force fields. Not ignoring them and just mentioning Star Trek.

 

[Mise]

I make a point of never believing "science" articles in newspapers. Does anyone have a more informed source?

 

[IAM]

I'm still holding out for hover tanks with laser cannons! The article sounds like some first step experiments have gone OK but having a combat ready, practical, effective unit deployed in a war zone is still probably decades out.

 

[h4ppy]

So how long will it take to discover that this causes cancer?