Brits invent "force field" for tanks
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kinda old story.. but just asking if this is reality yet?
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Boffins invent grenade vaporising ‘electric force field’
By John Leyden
Published Monday 19th August 2002 10:29 GMT
Boffins at Britain's Ministry of Defence have invented an electric 'force field' designed to protect armoured vehicles against anti-tank grenades.
The 'electrical armour' is designed to vaporise copper projectiles released from grenades on impact before they are able to penetrate a tank's inner hull, the Daily Telegraph reports. The idea is to make tanks less vulnerable to anti-tank launchers, such the RPG-7, which is commonly and cheaply available in the world's trouble spots, such as Afghanistan.
When armaments like RPG-7 grenades hit a tank, a "shaped-charge" warhead blasts a jet of hot copper into a target at around 1,000mph - capable of slicing through a foot of conventional solid steel armour.
The new electric armour is based on a highly charged capacitor connected to two separate metal plates on the tank's exterior. The outer (armour-plated) plate is earthed while the insulated inner plate is live.
When the crew of a tank feel they are under danger, they switch on current to the inner plate, using the tank's internal power supply.
If the tank is unfortunate enough to be hit by a grenade, the jet of copper produced will penetrate both the outer plate and the insulation of the inner plate completing a circuit, which results in the discharge of the capacitor and the vaporisation of most of the copper.
The Telegraph reports that despite the high charge generated by the system, the "electrical load on the battery is no more than that caused by starting the engine on a cold morning".
It sounds bizarre, but the paper reports that in a recent demonstration an armoured personnel carrier protected by the system withstood repeated attacks by rocket grenades that would normally have destroyed it many times over.
Boffins hope to develop the armour further and fit it in Britain's next generation of tanks and armoured personnel carrier. The Pentagon is also reportedly showing a keen interest in work on the technology. ®
(source: The Register) -
i posted b4 leh
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yeap...i also saw this several years b4Originally posted by |-|05|:i posted b4 leh -
just asking if they actually made it reality yet...
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how can u vaporise copper??
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Has no one ever thought of harnessing.Magnetics...like.emiting out a high enerygy frequency...to create a force field.
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wtf are you talking aboutOriginally posted by Saint Valentinian:Has no one ever thought of harnessing.Magnetics...like.emiting out a high enerygy frequency...to create a force field.
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The copper is already very hot and it would not take much to change it into gasOriginally posted by the.raven:how can u vaporise copper?? -
I wonder how much power supply will such a defense suite require? I reckon an extremely powerful and economical battery pack must first be created to ensure that this device functions for long durations.
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wtf are u talking about, when something is very hot it is harder to increase the temperature further.Originally posted by |-|05|:The copper is already very hot and it would not take much to change it into gas -
ill check waitOriginally posted by the.raven:wtf are u talking about, when something is very hot it is harder to increase the temperature further. -
apparently by running the current through the molten copper they can heat the thing high enuf to actually change it into gas...
ill check somemore for more details -
This much I noe about HEAT rounds....Originally posted by |-|05|:apparently by running the current through the molten copper they can heat the thing high enuf to actually change it into gas... ill check somemore for more details
It is essentially a focused jet of hot molten copper. The inverted shape of the round focuses the molten copper onto a single point and hence penetrates into the armour. It will not work if the shaped charge is not formed properly.
Hence, one of the newer ways to defeat HEAT charges is to prevent the formation of the shaped charge, i.e., the focused jet of molten copper. I suspect this is what the "force field" attempts to do by disrupting the formation of the focused jet, as is with Russia's active armour system, except it uses explosives and projectiles to intercept the incoming HEAT round to destroy it, failing which would prevent the shaped charge to form.
Regards
Southpark
The Dude