Boeing Wants to Make a Protective 'Force Field'

Boeing has filed a patent for force field technology that could be used to protect military vehicles, civilian jetliners and buildings from explosions, USA Today reported.

The system — as Boeing described it to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, which approved it March 17 — would utilize sensors to detect the path of explosive shockwaves.

An "anti-shockwave" laser would then be deployed, which would send out high-intensity pulses in the path of the blast. This would create a plasma field of superheated air between the detonation area and the target.

As a result, at least in theory, the force of the explosion would be absorbed, deflected, and diminished, as illustrated by Patent Yogi.

In its patent application, Boeing described the scheme as a "method and system for shockwave attenuation via electromagnetic arc."

The force field notion has been a staple of science fiction at least since the early 1920s.

But in the movies, force fields act like virtual walls. Boeing's idea might not actually block projectiles from reaching their target, would not necessarily protect an entire vehicle, and may not necessarily always be turned on, according to Wired.

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