Boeing patents force deflector fields

FROM Star Trek to Star Wars, Dune to Dr Who, force fields have long been a staple of science fiction. Now Boeing has taken out a patent to produce the real thing.

LOCK S-foils in attack position: We’re about to switch our deflector shields on — if a Boeing patent produces the goods.

From Star Trek to Star Wars, Dune to Dr Who, force fields are a staple of science fiction.

But Boeing thinks there may be more to it than special effects. It’s just been granted a patent for a proposal to build a working example.

Boeing doesn’t call it a deflector shield. Their name is much more elaborate: “Shockwave attenuation via electromagnetic arc”. Code-name SuAVE?

Nor do they claim it can stop a speeding bullet or blaster bolt.

News_Rich_Media: Lock S-foils in attack position

Instead it is intended to deflect the raw energy of an explosion’s shock wave — a force which can kill people inside even a heavily protected tank.

The patent includes sensors capable of detecting the electromagnetic pulse of an explosion in the milliseconds before the blast — slowed by the atmosphere — arrives.

Boeing is less specific about the force field generator itself.

It argues the sensor would trigger an arc generator which ionises a patch of atmosphere defined either by lasers or conductive pellets. Lasers, microwaves or electricity could be used to flash into this charged patch of air, causing a plasma field to form.

An electromagnetic field would hold it all in place just long enough to be effective.

News_Image_File: Deflector ... An image depicting Boeing’s vision of a deflector field from its patent submission. Source: Boeing

“Such embodiments as described above may reduce the energy density of the shock wave by creating a second medium in the path of the advancing shock wave that reflects, refracts, absorbs and deflects at least a portion of the shock wave,” the Boeing patent reads.

In plain language, this airborne plasma field — which lasts mere moments — has enough density to provide a buffer between an explosion and its target. The blast spends its force on this patch of highly charged air, leaving the “softer”, more vulnerable vehicle and troops behind it untouched.

News_Rich_Media: Deflector shields up

Such a shock shield would come with a price: It would use a lot of energy — and therefore need large generators. It would require perfect timing and coordination. And a superheated plasma pulse would likely be incredibly bright.

Boeing has come on hard times recently and is said to be considering shutting down its jet fighter construction operations after losing out on the controversial Joint Strike Fighter contract.

So it is understandable it is boldly going where no defence manufacturer has gone before.

News_Image_File: I think I can ... While technically possible, creating and controlling a plasma field requires immense energy — as Violet of The Incredibles found. Source: Disney

However, this is not entirely a new idea. Students at the University of Leicester early last year demonstrated in the Journal of Physics Special Topics that super-hot plasma deflector shields were possible.

They’re now probably regretting not patenting it.

The physics students based their thinking on the Earth’s ionosphere — a natural plasma field some 50km above the planet’s surface. It’s used to bounce radar and radio signals over-the-horizon. But mostly it helps protect life below by deflecting harmful radiation back out into space.