Creating a force field isn’t such a far off, futuristic concept if the Boeing team and their latest patent are to be believed.

The latest patent by Boeing claims to be a “Method and system for shockwave attenuation via electromagnetic arc”, and is for all intents and purposes, a force field. This system was designed to be used by military vehicles, especially the ones transporting soldiers, yet it can’t protect against bullet impacts or phisical objects, but is aimed to stop shockwaves of nearby impacts – say, missiles or bombs that explode nearby.

In order to achieve this, the system uses a sensor that detects the shockwave, and is then connected to an electromagnetic arc generator that ionizes the affected area creating a plasma field that intercepts and weakens the wave before it ever gets to the vehicle, and the carriers.

What this device does exactly is changing the density and temperature of the air so it acts like a shield. This is nothing like the movies or videogames, where forcefields last for several seconds or even minutes, but an instant process that activates at the time of the impact only. The required energy to use this technology is huge, and is the greatest problem the Boeing team are facing. Furthermore, this technology is, as of now, harmful to the users inside the force field, and even blocks light, which render the concept interesting, although unusable.

This is just a patent, as of now, and a long time might pass before something comes off of it, yet it is a first step to create the futuristic technology we imagine when we think of future wars. Who knows, maybe the battle fields of the future will be safer…

Via USPTO

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