Boeing Anti-Blast Arc Generator/Electromagnetic Force Field Tech Bends Shockwave around Vehicle or Soldier!

David Crane September 20, 2015

By David Crane
david (at) defensereview (dot) com

Images Credit: Boeing and “bird-man”, Newgrounds

September 20, 2015
Last updated on 9/21/15.

As long as we’re on the subject of Predator-type adaptive camo (camouflage)/visual cloaking tech, we might as well discuss a little Star Trek tech, as well. A Boeing engineer and senior research fellow named Brian J. Tillotson was awarded a patent (US 8,981,261 B1) for a “method and system for shockwave attenuation via electromagnetic arc”, which is techno-speak for an anti-blast/explosive arc generator, or electromagnetic force field, on March 17, 2015. Basically, the device Tillotson designed utilizes a detector/sensor that sees the explosion, and instantaneously heats the air in front of whatever you’re protecting (vehicle, soldier/warfighter, etc.), creating an electromagnetic prism comprised of charged/ionized air particles that bends the deadly and destructive shockwave around the protected object, similar to how a lens or prism (or the latest adaptive camo/visual cloaking tech) bends light. The air between the blast/explosion shockwave and the protected vehicle or soldier would be ionized instantaneously, as fast as a lightning bolt.

livescience describes the mechanism as follows:

Sound waves (and other wave types) propagate faster in hot air, Tillotson said. For that reason, the shock wave would speed up when it hits the heated air around the electrical discharge. As the shock wave speeds up, it would change direction slightly, or refract, away from the person or object behind the arc. That bending occurs because of the change in speed of the wave, and the shape of the area of hot air the shock wave hits determines the exact direction. [Read the livescience piece, here.]

An arc generator-type forcefield isn’t the only way to go, apparently. Tillotson says a laser-based anti-blast/shockwave system would also work, since a laser would have the same effect.

Here’s the patent application abstract on it:

“A method and system for attenuating a shockwave propagating through a first medium by heating a selected region of the first fluid medium rapidly to create a second, transient medium that intercepts the shockwave and attenuates its energy density before it reaches a protected asset. The second medium may attenuate the shockwave by one or more of reflection, refraction, dispersion, absorption and momentum transfer. The method and system may include a sensor for detecting a shockwave-producing event, determining a direction and distance of the shockwave relative to a defended target and calculating a firing plan, and an arc generator for creating the second medium. The arc generator may create the second medium by creating an electric arc that travels along an electrically conductive path utilizing at least one of high intensity laser pulses, pellets forming a conductive ion trail, sacrificial conductors, projectiles trailing electrical wires, and magnetic induction.”

Tillotson filed the patent on May 30, 2012.

DefenseReview (DR) will try to get some additional information on the technology as soon as possible.

Hat Tip: livescience

Company Contact Info:

Boeing Integrated Defense Systems
P. O. Box 516
St. Louis, Missouri 63166
314-232-0232
562-797-2020 (Seal Beach, California)
http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/ic/des/videos/index.html Boeing IDS ATL Videos Page
http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/ic/des/index.html Boeing IDS Directed Energy Systems (DES) Page

Boeing Corporate Offices
100 North Riverside
Chicago, Illinois 60606
Main switchboard: 312-544-2000
Investor Relations: 312-544-2140

© Copyright 2015 DefenseReview.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without receiving permission and providing proper credit and appropriate links.

Related Articles:

Berkeley Lab Team Develops Ultrathin, Flexible Gold-Nano-Brick ‘Invisibilty Cloak’: Adaptive Camouflage/Visual Cloaking Tech for any 3D Object!

UC San Diego Research Team Invents Teflon/Ceramic Metamaterial Visual Stealth/Adaptive Camouflage/Visual Cloaking Tech: Lighter, Slimmer, Better Invisibility Cloak for Future Warfare?

Lasing Skulls in the Digital Age: Tactical Laser Weapons Finally Maturing for Future Warfare Applications: Meet the Boeing ATL (Advanced Tactical Laser) Airborne Laser Weapon

Boeing CHAMP (Counter-electronics High-powered Advanced Missile) EMP/Microwave Missile Destroys Electronic Targets, not People

Boeing/Sikorsky ‘Defiant’ Joint Multi-Role (JMR) Helicopter: Coaxial/Dual-Rotor Compound Helicopter for U.S. Military Special Operations Forces (SOF)

Boeing Phantom Works Phantom Swift Tilt-Rotor/Tilt-Wing Ducted-Fan VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) X-Plane: 3D Printing and Rapid Prototyping at It’s Futuristic Best, and Fastest

“Pass the SHIELD ACT” to Protect Against Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack: R. James Woolsey and Dr. Peter Vincent Pry Issue the Warning

BAE Systems Electromagnetic Railgun (also written ‘Rail Gun’) for Obliterating Targets with Hyperspeed Kinetic Projectiles at Long Range without Using Gun Powder: Meet the ‘Lorenz Force’

IAT Electromagnetic Systems Division Developing Rail Gun Tech for U.S. Military

DR Exclusive Interview!: HyperStealth Quantum Stealth (QS) Light-Bending Passive Adaptive Camouflage (Camo)/Visual Cloaking Technology for the 21st Century Future Soldier/Warfighter: Beyond SMARTCAMO Color-Changing Hybrid Camouflage, Beyond Fictional Alien Predator’s Active Electro-Optical Camouflage/Invisibility Cloaking Tech!

BAE Systems ADAPTIV Hexagonal Pixelated Thermal/IR (Infared)/Multispectral Adaptive Camouflage/Invisibility Cloaking System/Vehicle Armor System for Infantry Ground Vehicles (Armored Vehicles, APCs and Main Battle Tanks), Aircraft (Helicopters and Fixe-Wing), Ships and Structures/Buildings: Active Camouflage for Vehicles Gets Real