Unpacking the Boeing "Force Field" Patent

Science fiction loves the force field. It’s such a popular concept that it needs no explanation.

The force field idea — some form of an invisible shield — has been used in every classic piece of sci-fi: from Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series to War of the Worlds to Star Trek.

It’s no wonder that a new patent from aerospace and defense engineering company Boeing (NYSE: BA) would be described by the media as a “force field.” It’s easy to understand, it’s futuristic, and it captures the imagination.

And it’s definitely a lot sexier of a name than “System for Shockwave Attenuation Via Electromagnetic Arc,” which is the actual header for the new patent. But it’s somewhat misleading.

The patent itself has a broad scope that covers an extremely lethal part of combat. When we strip away the sci-fi veneer from the story, we see a brilliant and valuable new design for protecting troops from the damage of high explosives.

—BOOM—

Most of the immediate deaths from an explosion are not caused by fire or flying debris — they’re caused by the blast wave, and they are classified as “primary blast injuries.”

Blast overpressure (or BOP) is the force of the air pushed away from an explosion. It’s as if the atmospheric pressure is massively cranked up in the immediate vicinity of a blast, and it has the power to damage reinforced concrete buildings and rip straight through human bodies.

The hollow spaces inside the human body are most susceptible to damage from blast waves, as they get forcibly compressed — and the damage is not immediately visible. Someone who walked away from a blast without any outward sign of damage could still die from internal trauma in short order.

Because of the air it contains, the pulmonary system is the first victim of blast overpressure, and the severe trauma known as “blast lung” is the biggest killer.

Boeing’s patent protects against this kind of injuries.

The Idea

Armor can protect you from shrapnel, but it does not protect against the concussive force of the blast wave. Sometimes the air gap between a piece of armor and the human body can actually make the damage worse.

Boeing’s new patent creates a thin-air shield outside of a vehicle or structure to disrupt the blast wave. The system described in the patent can sense the size and direction of an explosion and then generate an “arc” to act as a shield.

This arc can be made of different things, and the patent describes a number of ways in which it can be made.

In one form, it uses converged laser beams or concentrated microwaves.

In another, it creates a kind of electrified chaff with “pellets leaving conductive trails.”

In yet another, it uses high-current conductive wires fired like a taser.

And in one other, it uses a stiff, one-time-use wire cage around the vehicle.

The patent filing cites no fewer than 50 pieces of prior art that date all the way back to the first World War and include various anti-missile technologies and threat detection systems.

It’s a rather broad design that includes a handful of different ways to mitigate blast damage. It is really not even a “force field” in the way we’d like to imagine it.

However, it shows us the long, slow process it has taken to get this far and just how close we actually are to having real force fields.

When this system becomes a reality, it has the potential to be outfitted on every single military vehicle and building. Down the road, it could be used to make personal shields for personnel on the ground.

While these may not be made by Boeing, this patent will certainly be involved.

Good Investing,

Tim Conneally

 @TimConneally on Twitter

For the last seven years, Tim Conneally has covered the world of mobile and wireless technology, enterprise software, network hardware, and next generation consumer technology. Tim has previously written for long-running software news outlet Betanews and for financial media powerhouse Forbes.