Star Trek-style force-field armour being developed

A space-age "force field" capable of protecting armoured vehicles and tanks by repelling incoming fire is being developed by British military scientists.
The new type of armour will use pulses of electrical energy to repel rockets, shrapnel and other ammunition that might damage a vehicle. Researchers at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), which is the research and development arm of the Ministry of Defence, claim it is possible to incorporate material known as supercapacitors into armour of a vehicle to turn it into a kind of giant battery.
When a threat from incoming fire is detected by the vehicle, the energy stored in the supercapacitor can be rapidly dumped onto the metal plating on the outside of the vehicle, producing a strong electromagnetic field.
Scientists behind the project claim this would produce a momentary "force field" capable of repelling the incoming rounds and projectiles. Although it would last for only a fraction of a second, if timed correctly it could prevent rocket propelled grenades, which detonate on impact, from reaching their target. The supercapacitor could then be rapidly recharged ready for another attack.

www.telegraph.co.uk...

This sounds like quite a breakthrough,with the armour being very light and effective against RPGs and even shaped charges:

Armour piercing rounds, RPGs and "shaped charge" roadside bombs pose a far greater threat to armoured vehicles and tanks as it is not possible to put enough armour plating on all parts of the vehicle to protect it completely.
The comparatively lightweight electric armour, however, could be used to protect the entire outer shell of a vehicle by using a thin cloth-like flexible supercapacitor material. This can be used to form a lining beneath the armour that turns the vehicle into a giant battery pack.
An early incarnation of a different type of electric armour technology has already been trailed by Dstl. It used several layers of metal which have electric current flowing through them.
When an RPG round penetrates the outer layer, it completes the electrical circuit creating a highly electrically charged field between the layers. This charged field vaporises the copper jet that shoots out from the front of the RPG warhead, preventing it from penetrating the inner hull of the vehicle and keeping the soldiers inside safe.
At a test in 2002, senior British Army officers saw the chassis of a Warrior infantry carrier, which was fitted with the early electric armour, survive repeated attack by RPGs before being driven away with only minor damage.

Lighter armour will also lead to faster vehicles,which will alllow quicker deployment and retreat capabilities.Interestingly,this type of armour does not need vast amounts of electrical power to work,another reason why this could be very useful.

What do you think?Will this become the standard for armoured vechicles of the future?

The israelis have had it for years now...it throws a "force field" over what ever its protecting and the RPG or whatever explodes on impacting the field and not the Humvee or whatever its protecting.

reply to post by andy1972


Thats cool,but uses projectiles to "attack" the incoming threat,rather than the way the Brits are attempting to use an electrially generated magnetic field to deflect the threat.

They are similar in the way that both systems must rely on split second timing in order to be effective.

Maybe some kind of combination of the two could work well together,or one system could be used in reserve,when the other is "charging."

It's not like a Star Trek:TNG shield where the projectile splats against an invisible dome over the vehicle.

It's more like Enterprise, with charged hull plating.

Basically, what the armor tries to do is to break up the Munroe jet from shaped charge warheads, using an electric charge placed across the armor plating. While you could say "it's a force field", that's not very descriptive other than, I guess, for dramatic purposes to get people to read the article.

edit: and by that, I'm not talking about the OP, but the articles linked to. It's not clear if the journalists are being overly dramatic, or don't have a clue.

[edit on 22-3-2010 by Bedlam]

our tanks don't need it anyway

the challys can take anything you throw at them (*cough* 8 rpgs and a milan *cough*)