We’re sure most of you guys have seen sci-fi movies where vehicles or even robots can deploy force fields, ultimately protecting them from damage from the likes of missiles, guns, lasers, and so on. It would be pretty awesome if we had similar technology today that can be applied to modern day vehicles or in the military, and apparently that is something Boeing is said to be working on.
According to a recent patent as explained by the folks at PatentYogi (see video above), it seems that Boeing is working on such a force field system which in theory could be used to help protect military vehicles from bomb explosions. How it works is that the system when detecting an explosion, will be able to fire off laser pulses which in turn ionizes the air.
This results in a laser-induced plasma channel and because it differs from the air in terms of density, temperature, and composition, it could in theory help to cushion the shockwaves emitted by the explosions, thus reducing the overall impact to the vehicle which could be the difference between it experiencing a slight bump versus being tossed in the air.
The technology also has non-military applications, such as being used to protect fixed structures such as buildings, and could also be used to help protect airplanes and ships. Of course it remains to be seen if Boeing will ever take the patent and make it a reality, but it certainly sounds very promising with the potential to save a lot of lives in the future.
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