DARPA Developing Defensive Plasma Shield

galactic_grub writes "According to an article at New Scientist, DARPA is developing a plasma shield that would allow troops to stun and disorientate enemies. The system will use a technology known as dynamic pulse detonation (DPD), which involves producing a ball of plasma with an intense laser pulse, and then a supersonic shockwave within the plasma using another pulse. The result is a gigantic flash and a loud bang in a the air. 'The company has also pitched a portable laser rifle, which would be lethal, to the US Army. It would weigh about fifteen kilograms, would have a range of more than a mile, and could have numerous advantages over existing rifles - better accuracy and the ability to hit a moving target at the speed of light.'"

Comments

Lasers?

[kungfujesus]

Any chance we can put them on sharks? I believe that would greatly increase the lethality of the lasers.

"disorientate"?

[kalpol]

God forbid they should be terminatated.

Re:"disorientate"?

[FMota91]

*Whooosh!*

Re:"disorientate"?

[Anonymous Coward]

A bird? A plane? No! It's low-flying joke!

Re:"disorientate"?

[FiloEleven]

"I read it in the papers, it must be true!"

I recall a Slashdot post from a while back in which a British citizen poked fun at our American use of the word "burglarized." A burglar burgles! There's no need for the extra syllable! (The reason I remember this was the humorous follow-up of, "You're right; we apogle.")

Seeing a word in the dictionary doesn't automatically make it a good word. Sure, it's in use, sure some group of people decided it should be put there, but that doesn't make it any less foolish. Language is a living, growing thing, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't prune out the rotten bits.

I, for one, don't want to give the Brits any more ammo for their merciless mockery.

ASMD Shock Rifle

[npaufler]

Unreal Tournament-esque Shock Rifle, anyone?

New products

[spleen_blender]

Fresh from the R&D of UAC, we today present you with... THE FUTURE. BEHOLD THE BFG-9000! The future of all warfare, never again will the people of your country stand a chance of usurping your power even if they are the majority! I for one welcome our superiorly armed overlords. (Two memes in one post!)

Ancient Chinese Secret, Huh?

[AbsoluteXyro]

"It uses a programmed pattern of rapid plasma events to create a sort of wall of bright lights and reports (bangs) over the coverage area," says Keith Braun of the US Army's Advanced Energy Armaments Systems Division at Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey, US, where the system is being tested.

So.... they've invented fireworks, then. Finally. I mean, the Chinese military has had access to fireworks technology since the freakin' Han Dynasty! Glad to see our boys in blue are getting with the times!

Woah

[smilingman]

According to an article at New Scientist, DARPA is developing a plasma shield that would allow troops to stun and disorientate enemies

Not as much as I was disorientated by that spelling...

Re:Lasers efficient at killing?

[Anonymous Coward]

I could use another hole in the head. It could come in useful to hold many things, extra pencils, screw driver, the possibilities are endless.

Knowing is half the battle

[Agrippa]

Extensive documentaries of GI Joe vs Cobra battles during the early 80's show laser weapons have a complete inability to hit anything of value.

.agrippa.

Re:Knowing is half the battle

[earthforce_1]

Extensive documentary footage of old A-Team episodes show that automatic rifles ( especially M-16s ) are useless at ANY range, except for maybe giving the enemy's jeep a flat tire. It is much more effective to simply drop the rifles and bludgeon the enemy into unconsciousness with your fists.

Bah! I heard about this years ago

[Anonymous Coward]

I can't recall where, but I know that at least ten years ago, I heard of the technique of routing all the antimatter inductors through the main deflector array to creat a plasma shield just like TFA.
Probably involves phase reversal of the warp coils or some other commonly used engineering technique.

I wish I could remember where I heard about this...

TDz.

Re:Lasers efficient at killing?

[geekoid]

imagione a whol appearing anywhere in your torso. Now does it really matter if it keeps bleeding through the hole?

You are screwed.

Rifle or field oven?

[FredThompson]

How long after laser "rifles" are deployed before troops figure out how to use them to heat food?

"Comrade, I see fireflies in the woods and smell burnt popcorn."
"Prepare for battle, the running dog Americans are here!"

Misread...

[masterzora]

My first time through, I thought it mentioned as one of the advantages that one can hit a target *moving at the speed of light*. And here I was wondering what target we could want to hit that would be moving at the speed of light when I realized the actual phrasing.

Re:I'd better get one, too

[textstring]

if you're wearing your tin foil hat you may be able to reflect the beam back at the shooter

Better buy stock in Highly polished mirrors

[Danathar]

I can see it now, terrorists running around cities with multi-faceted segmented mirrors all over their bodies...