Force field for tanks
posted June 14th 2004 3:52PM
In another sci-fi to
reality transition, the British Ministry of Defense has developed an electric force field for its armored vehicles. But
before visions of Star Trek dance in you heads, understand that it's not a forcefield in the traditional sense. It
specifically defends against anti-tank grenade launchers such as the RPG-7, which use a jet of immensely hot copper to
sear through armor and let the explosive in. The shield consists of two metal plates on the tank's exterior connected
to a highly charged capacitor. When the RPG hits, it burns through the outer plate and the insulation of the inner on,
thus completing the circuit and triggering thousand of amps, which vaporises the copper and keeps tho soldiers inside
nice and safe. We would have loved to have seen the demonstration for this system, where they basically fired a bunch
of rockets at an armored personnel carrier and watched them fry on contact. They then drove the APC away, instead of
carting it away in piles.
I came across this as I was trying to find research for my preliminary science fair project : Is it possible to create an electromagnetic force field for military planes that could divert/repel anti-aircraft fire? This article makes me realize that I don't know enough about the types of weapons being fired at planes,tanks, etc. Any info you have that could point me in the right direction would be heplful! thanks!