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VIDEO - Invisible Forcefield System for Military Vehicles
techeblog.com — General Dynamics has just released a new video demonstrating its Trophy Active Defense System, which is basically an invisible force field for military vehicles that disables incoming RPG rounds. Direct youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62jzAupr044
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- tboutcher, on 10/12/2007, -74/+17So how star trek is this! How long until I can this installed in my car.
- afex, on 10/12/2007, -2/+142do RPG rounds come at your car often? you may want to rethink the routes you're taking.
- OMGWTFROFLMAO, on 10/12/2007, -5/+40The video itself reminds me more of a UAC weapon briefing video from Doom 3. I kept expecting an Imp to pop up on the screen midway through it.
- Imagine3, on 10/12/2007, -42/+12well yes, no rpg's comming towards my cars, but i would love to have it stop stupid drivers from entering my personal space while driving. There has to be some way to detect any kind of metalic object entering its protection area.
Imagine a car speeding up behind you and about to ride your tail. All of a sudden, he gets a huge jolt as his car hits an invisible wall. lol. Ok maybe it wouldn't work but it would be really funny to see even though this is not a force field. Just day dreaming at work. - Crass22, on 10/12/2007, -1/+20You're right Cheney,
Another worry is collateral damage, he said. “In a tight urban area, the Trophy system may take out the RPG, but we may kill 20 people in the process,” Sorenson said. “That is a concern we have that we haven’t fully evaluated.”
from: http://www.defense-update.com/products/t/trophy.htm
either way technology like this always get me exited, last year it was MTHEL, and the year before it was the DREAD weapon system, i wonder whatever happened to DREAD... - ThinkBox, on 10/12/2007, -4/+29OK, I'm not a dupe Nazi - but please dont say "JUST RELEASED" or "NEW" in the description if it wasn't just released.
Youtube video was posted July 22nd 06 - (and isn't the only Youtube post on this topic) this has been on digg multiple times. Techeblog is just slow on this one.
Again, this is cool, post it again if you think more people need to hear about it, just dont include false information. I already saw this video and clicked the link hoping for NEW JUST RELEASED information. - portwojc, on 10/12/2007, -25/+2...
- ThinkBox, on 10/12/2007, -7/+1@ portwojc
Wrong threat, but good info, repost below. - maklershed, on 10/12/2007, -8/+6Crass22: "either way technology like this always get me exited, last year it was MTHEL, and the year before it was the DREAD weapon system, i wonder whatever happened to DREAD..."
I understand that he entered the city through fire filled tunnels, defeated his evil brother, and cleared his name. - DuoPros, on 10/12/2007, -9/+4@thinkbox
I just copied and pasted from the source article, and I dont usually bother looking at youtube submission dates. After I submitted, the page didnt report dupes, although I realized there were dupes a short time afterwards.
And BTW, use the button.
@CHENEYTHEDICK
Forcefield sounds cooler. - JohnCrichton, on 10/12/2007, -8/+3I would rather have some British mercenaries in my car shooting at random drivers so they can get out of my way.
- OBKenobi, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3The Russians have had anti-missile systems like this since the 1970s (Arena, Zaslon, Drozd, Shtora). GD copies it (actually, it's an Israeli design they licensed) and suddenly it's an "invisible forcefield"!
It doesn't have ANYTHING to do with forcefields. Someone should sue them for false advertizing. You know they wanted the DoD to buy this from them, and YOU would have paid for it.
See how these military contractors work? Invisible forcefield... what a joke. It's questionable where it even works as advertized. The Russians seem to think it does, but it hasn't really been tested in combat yet.
INACCURATE. LAME. DUPE.
- ABadInAlbany, on 10/12/2007, -7/+40cool, except it's not a force field, it's more of a particle beam. but not a high energy particle beam, a macro particle beam.
- ArchieAndrews, on 10/12/2007, -1/+22Exactly. This was through here before and people called it a force field then too. It isn't:
"Once an incoming threat is detected identified and verified, the Countermeasure Assembly is opened, the countermeasure device is positioned in the direction where it can effectively intercept the threat. Then, it is launched automatically into a ballistic trajectory to intercept the incoming threat at a relatively long distance."
http://www.defense-update.com/products/t/trophy.htm
It tracks and shoots down incoming threats. - Antagonist, on 10/12/2007, -3/+26Particle beam? you mean projectile, right?
How much ammo does this thing have?
Oh, and an RPG Vs. a Abrams, Abrams will win almost 90% of the time. Continued, sustained RPG fire barely makes a dent. This'll be good on Strikers and APCs though. - noodlez, on 10/12/2007, -5/+13indeed. it detects, aims, and then shoots a smallish matter beam at the incoming target.
its closer to a really accurate, rapid fire BB gun than a star trek style force field. - ilyag, on 10/12/2007, -5/+11This submission is either purposefully inaccurate or mind-numbingly ignorant. This countermeasure is essentially a smaller version of a weapon that has been used on many Navy ships for decades. It's a gun connected to some sort of a radar/sensor device. When the radar/sensor detects an incoming missile, it aims the gun into the incoming missile's direction and fires conventional ammunition to shoot the missile down.
It's just a small anti-missile system, folks. Nothing to get too excited about. - ewok85, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Think of a shotgun attached to a rig that has freedom of movement in 2 planes (leftright/updown) and a radar. Radar detect an incoming threat, moves the rig and fires the shotgun. Pellets are released at the incoming RPG and the threat neutralised. Have multiple firing platforms and you can handle multiple incoming threats.
Theres nothing extraordinary about it. Stick metal storm on the sucker and you could be firing hundreds of thousands of rounds per second at incoming threats - FireStrife, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I think your trying to say CIWS or Close In Weapons System, A Gatling gun with a radar housing designed to intercept incoming missle threats to Navy Ships. This is close to the same thing but CIWS's are quite large and have usually a lot of radar room to track. This differs though on ground vehicles due to the close proximity and the weight of such a system.
- nodong, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9Macro Particle Beam?
What a stupid way to refer to what is basically a high tech shotgun. - portwojc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9@Antagonist
No an Abrams will not win 90% of the time against an RPG. I was a tank driver and I was taught to worry about RPGs as much as mines. RPGs target the vulnerable spots like the rear and the tracks. Usually it doesn't destory just disables which is the same for a tank. - dclowd9901, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2If you look at the one video where they label all the parts of the system, you can see an explosion emit from the Trophy mounted unit at the top right. This is a clear indication of an explosive projectile emission, such as a flak gun or kinetic-based weapon. Not a "high energy particle beam." Jesus.
- klawz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@ ilyag - what you're thinking of is the Phalanx system, CIWS as described above...
good unclassified info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phalanx_CIWS
And yes, this is the same sort of technology. - Thuktun, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I've always thought that the Phalanx CIWS looked like the child of an A-10 Thunderbolt and R2/D2.
- basselope, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5good intro to the Israeli "Trophy" system (with video)
http://www.qando.net/details.aspx?Entry=4532
Article from Sept-2006 about U.S. not using Trophy system
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14686871/
And, what the hey... how about some frickin' Laser beams
(U.S./Isreali weapons testing, from June 2000)
http://www-cgi.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0006/07/wv.04.html - wuxia, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1It's VAPORWARE at best which can be easily compromised with simple made EMP rockets (launched and handheld). A modified katyusha would be perfect.
I dont know why less technologically advanced peoples arent using these against the 'big boys'.
http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/kopp/apjemp.html - popfrogs, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2@wuxia:
LOL noob. Every single piece of military hardware (ground or air based) since 197x has been EMP-shielded and hardened. That's why nobody is using EMPs against military vehicles. EMPs are only effective at crippling civilian infrastructure and vehicles. Oh...and smaller countries that don't reinforce their weapons systems like the US and friends do. - wuxia, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3popfrogs:
Odd that you should call me a noob. Before you open you mouth and say stupid things again, you should check your facts. I am sure you are confusing EMP hardened structures with what I said... there is no such thing as a guarenteed emp proof mobile device. Specially when you have to plug it into an power source to charge it up.
"The National Academy of Sciences recently stated that tailored hardening is "not only deceptively difficult, but also very poorly understood by the defence-electronics community."
This new force field is vaporware. What happend to the HMS Sheffield will happen to some hapless tank commander one day thinking that this will save him. heh
- ArchieAndrews, on 10/12/2007, -1/+22Exactly. This was through here before and people called it a force field then too. It isn't:
- Deepbluetank, on 10/12/2007, -14/+15This was on digg months ago.
http://digg.com/tech_news/Direct_Link:_Video_of_Israeli_Made_Forcefield_- jgtg32a, on 10/12/2007, -8/+2Beat me to it,
buried
but it's still cool - zybch, on 10/12/2007, -6/+6Yeah. It was crap then and its crap now.
'Forcefield' my ass!
- jgtg32a, on 10/12/2007, -8/+2Beat me to it,
- Slybri, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13When I saw this on the web 4 months ago they said it was Isreali technology.
- spiralspirit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12If you check out the video, it says its made for the merkava 4 and "idf specifications". Sounds pretty isreali to me.
- M4tt3r, on 10/12/2007, -8/+3I believe this is the USA's version, developed by Paython (sp?).
Waste of money when you think about it. We just had to develop our "own". - spiralspirit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5actually the video is from rafael, an israeli company under the Israeli Department of Defence.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAFAEL_Armament_Development_Authority - rusty_g, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2yeah, i saw this on digg a while back... can't remember when.. but this is old
- OBKenobi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Ok, so why did you all Digg this?
INNACCURATE. LAME. DUPE.
- bcorder, on 10/12/2007, -5/+12Aye, Captain, I canna give ya any more power to the shields or we'll blow her apart.
- agentVivid, on 10/12/2007, -13/+1wow. where's the holodeck ?
- rparesh, on 10/12/2007, -9/+1This was released earlier on foxnews ..
http://media2.foxnews.com/040606/040606_fr_tobin_300.swf - coheedcollapse, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13I've seen this before. It's not a high powered laser or anything energy-based for that matter, but rather a detection system that reaches out from the tank and basically lets loose a handful of pellets at any incoming projectiles that activates an explosion before it actually has a chance to pierce the shell of the vehicle.
Innovative, yes, but nothing star wars. - muyuu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+17Yep, it's old, it's israeli and it's NOT a force field.
But I guess it's cool nonetheless if you missed it the last time around. - sputza, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Thats awesome!
- panique, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8The background music reminded me of C&C. I think that's sorta funny.
- daborg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Marked as inaccurate because this is not a force field. Cool but the title leads to disappointment.
- LordofShadows, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Neato torpedo.
- Madh2orat, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Are we sure this isn't from section 5 at Global Dynamics?
- UnlivedPhalanx, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2Old as Sh*^&
Saw this ages ago: http://digg.com/tech_news/Direct_Link:_Video_of_Israeli_Made_Forcefield_
Search is your friend buddy. - dimplemonkey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4So what about a multitude of elephant guns? Can it stop it's onslaught?
- tdkyo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Don't know if it can stop a road side bombs in Iraq as the shell is more of a solid metal "bullets" that is designed to penetrate the shields of tanks.
- mlock2k, on 10/12/2007, -4/+0i used to work at this place they have alot of cool stuff like this. But this was like three years ago. Marked old
- Thunderrock, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5"Another breakthrough for cyberdyne systems."
- BillGod, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0Discovery channel showed this a year ago.. NEW NEWS??
- IceIX, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Nice concept, but what is the rate for false positives by the tracking system? Would you really want to be the infantrymen who have to run alongside these things when any sudden movements may trigger the BB gun of doom to lace you with anti-ballistic pellets???
- loneBoat, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1+Digg for "BB gun of doom" comment. Heh-heh, I like that...
- jasonlyvers, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3It isn't Paytheon, it's Raytheon. They also make fish finders. Unlike the Trophy, the fish aren't actually blown up.
- moonwell, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1c00l, I bet they got the idea from this movie http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086955/ :D
- gwolf, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Sounds like a danger to adjacent forces, can’t stop Sabot Kinnetic ammo, artillery, mines or a variety of other heavy duty threats. I just hope they don’t pay too much for this or let the salesman give them too much false confidence.
- popfrogs, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Yeah, it's not designed to stop artillery shells (nearly impossible) or other long range ordnance. It's specifically designed to counteract the most dangerous close range threats, which in this case arehandheld RPGs. You could mount one of these babies on a Blackhawk and put a stop to RPGs taking them down on a monthly basis.
- charlietuna, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I thought it emitted some RF that detonated the RPG, but the shotgun appraoch makes more sense generally. So what about kinetic kill rounds like railguns? Would that be the direction that projective manufacturers would move in response?
- Azur2, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1The Israelis had immense problems with russian-made Kornet missiles during the recent conflict with Hezbollah. Many israeli casualties could've been prevented if they'd had this system in place (and it's as good as claimed).
- Slovenian6474, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Old news but interesting how it's been used. The new howitzer named Crusader (http://www.army-technology.com/projects/crusader/) using this and they significantly lightened the armor on it in an attempt to improve speed. This howitzer can do 40 mph, fully loaded.
- uttles, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1That's pretty damned sweet. I have another question: Is there any way similar technology could be used to detect and destroy IED's buried beside the road?
- mandarin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2This will work till someone gets your prefix code number to order your tank to lower the shields....
- joerod, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1this reminds me of something I'd see in X-men or something. Very cool!
- dgh1973, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2OK, so it's not an "invisible forcefield"... it's simply a point defense system.
- TexMurphy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I read about this wepon system from Isrealies it sucks. The video is missleading it leads you into beleaving the system protection is all 360 degrees. It does not only the sides not the bottom or the top. Furthermore most insugents attack the viechels weak points witch are the top and bottom of any armored vehicle. RPGs come from the top, double stacked mines come from the bottom. Also one main point the US goverment will not buy these is because any civilin cought next to the shield is *****.......
Add all these factors and you cant justify the wieght this crap add to our vehicle - Endemoniada, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Inaccurate - It's not a frikkin' forcefield. It's a system to destroy rockets and missiles before they hit. No "force" is involved, merely counter measures"
- awm4, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1When is the Tractor Beam set to be released.
- gabeN, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1It looks like usefull technology, one that could save lives... Too bad our burecratic military industrial complex can't get armored humvees to the troops efficently... I have little hope of seeing this in action any time soon...
- lordmetroid, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Awsome, I could even imagine myself to be a part of the Israeli army considering their technological advances prioritzing survival due to their scarse population.
- addw, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1OK, so we just throw lots of rocks at it until it runs out of ammo, then hit it with an RPG. I won't run out of rocks, I just pick them up off the ground.
Can it tell the difference between a rock and a grenade, I doubt it.- zbeast, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Rock or RPG that's easy..
not only can't you tell what type of weapon is coming at you.
You can even determine it's size, weight and composition.
systems like this use mm-Wave radar and can be very discriminating
- zbeast, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Rock or RPG that's easy..
- evansls, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This technology is made and developed by the Israeli's a few years ago.
- Azur2, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Was it deployed on Merkava 3's & israeli apc's in the recent campain in Lebanon?
Hezbollah (who did not use sucky rpg's like the iraqi insurgents use, but russian anti-tank missiles) inflicted heavy casualties on israeli armor.
- Azur2, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Was it deployed on Merkava 3's & israeli apc's in the recent campain in Lebanon?
- cplusplus, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1So the US soldiers will just huddle in their tanks (equipped with Trophy).
That's not exactly going to win any hearts and minds. - sung, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1if this radar gun thing can compute the trajectory for the incoming small missile, can it also figure out where it cames from and shoot back?
- sliderocity, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I think this is the same technology that circulated the internet in video form a few months ago, although the previous one was hardly official. Either way, this looks very promising.
- 1337zork, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Thats siiiiiiiiiiiick... Finally some Sci-Fi in RL XD
- Siriquelle, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Yes, quite, that is rather sublime, perhaps i can get one of those for my R&R when I stop in compton for to get's my green from me hoe's,
- diggdong, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1The IDF has the pimpest toys. From guns that shoot around corners to the dango2 APC. Oh, yeah, Desert Eagle, biotch. Apparently, the round from the kit is precise enough on the propellant housing that it seldom sets off the round. If true, that is PIMP *****. Now they should add a cell and pager freq-type jammer for IED's.
- TexMurphy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1I would beg to differ if they are so pimp why did they fail in lebanon ?
- Larke2000, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"The system can simultaneously engage several threats"
irrelevant statement if this truly was an "invisible force field" which it's not. cool video but highly innacurate description. - elpayo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2That video reminds me of the commercial at the beginning of 'Real Genius' for the Crossbow.
"The Crossbow Project. There's no defense like a good offense." - protogenxl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This was installed on the Aston Martin V12 Vanquish James Bond car.
But this just proves that we should start outsourcing Homeland Security to Israel.- protogenxl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2MSNBC has reported that there is resistance against incorporating TROPHY in the US Army. The US has contracted Raytheon to develop an equivalent system, which will not be ready before 2011 at the earliest, whereas TROPHY could be deployed much sooner. According to MSNBC's sources, the reason for not adopting TROPHY for now is that it would remove the need for the Raytheon program, causing it to be canceled.
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14686871/page/1
- protogenxl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2MSNBC has reported that there is resistance against incorporating TROPHY in the US Army. The US has contracted Raytheon to develop an equivalent system, which will not be ready before 2011 at the earliest, whereas TROPHY could be deployed much sooner. According to MSNBC's sources, the reason for not adopting TROPHY for now is that it would remove the need for the Raytheon program, causing it to be canceled.
- Botrax, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1That kicks ass! Palestinian kids won't be able to throw rocks at Israeli tanks anymore!
- brwntiger, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Cool....but I just hope that soldiers don't get over confident with new technology. I can see a tank just plowing through everything and run smack dab into a land mine!
- videoCT, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1interesting they only show missiles exploding in mid-air, with no tank or APC in sight.
- kutsal, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Uhm.. It's not really a force field you know.. It's just a device that scans for threats and once it finds them (i.e. RPG rounds), it figures out the trajectory, and fires a high-speed projectile at it, thus "disabling" the incoming threat..
While a cool idea for mobile units that go into battle alone or with other heavily armored units, guess what happens to those things that are not armored (think marines, ground support, etc) that happened to be in the way of these projectiles.... -
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