Boeing gets patent for Star Wars-like force field technology

This is about as futuristic as it gets: Boeing has officially been awarded a patent for a technology that can generate force fields meant to protect military vehicles from the shockwaves that result following an explosion.

Entitled “Method and system for shockwave attenuation via electromagnetic arc”, the paperwork was originally filed way back in 2012. 

The technology is described as such in the patent:

“A shockwave attenuation system is proposed. It has a sensor for generating a detection signal based on at least one of detecting an explosion capable of producing a shockwave traveling through a first fluid medium to a protected region, and estimating a location and time of the explosion, and detecting an explosive device and estimating a location and time of an explosion from the explosive device that is capable of producing the shockwave traveling through the first fluid medium; and an arc generator in communication with the sensor for receiving the detection signal therefrom, and in response thereto heat a selected region of the first fluid medium rapidly to create a second, transient medium, different from the first medium, interposed between the shockwave and the protected region such that the shockwave contacts the second, transient medium and is attenuated in energy density before it reaches a protected asset in the protected region. “

The patent goes on:
“Explosive devices are being used increasingly in asymmetric warfare to cause damage and destruction to equipment and loss of life. The majority of the damage caused by explosive devices results from shrapnel and shockwaves.” Though shrapnel is a big problem when it comes to an explosion, shockwave damage is harder to protect against. “Damage from shrapnel may be prevented by, for example, physical barriers. Shockwaves are traveling discontinuities in pressure, temperature, density, and other physical qualities through a medium, such as the ambient atmosphere. Shockwave damage is more difficult to prevent because shockwaves can traverse an intermediate medium, including physical barriers.” 

Damage from shockwaves could be prevented (or, at the very least, lessened) by interjecting a reduction material between explosion and object that needs protection. The patent filing said the “need exists for a shockwave attenuation device that is capable of dynamically interposing a medium between an explosion source and a protected asset. There is also a need for an intermediate medium that effectively attenuates the energy from a shockwave and that allows for protection of a protected asset in a marine environment.” 

So, in layman’s terms, Boeing’s solution to protecting military vehicles, buildings, and persons, from the harmful effects of shockwave exposure is to harness electrical energy and use it stop or slow down the shockwaves themselves. 

Specifically, the technology would combine a rapid explosion sensor with an arc generator to protect the vehicles, buildings, and people, by way of creating, more or less, a buffer zone, wherein different temperature, air density, and other characteristics would either reflect, refract, absorb, or deflect some or all of the shockwave. 

In terms of how it would react when out in the field, a military vehicle, building, or person outfitted with this technology would see its sensors detect a nearby explosion and determine its direction by reading the light generated by the explosion. As soon as this happens, the anti-shockwave system is deployed, whereupon laser sources send out high-intensity pulses in the direction of the explosion. This laser pulse ionizes the air to form a laser-induced plasma channel which, it’s worth noting, differs from the ambient air when it comes to density, temperature, and composition. As a result, this channel causes some of the shockwave to be reflected, refracted, absorbed, and deflected, thereby defending the vehicle, building, or person, from the damage that could occur from being exposed to the explosion’s shockwave. 

Read the full specs included in Boeing’s patent on the USPTO website.

Via Phys.org