Blowing up rockets in midflight is easy – as long as you ’ve get a fast enough computer .
That ’s the thought at Artis , the Virginia firm trying to outfit the Army ’s armored vehicles with so - called “ combat-ready trade protection ” technology – defenses that can stop incoming projectiles before they ever have a chance to slay . If the approaching works , it could not only protect U.S. force from rocket salad and projectile . It could shield troops from the most deadly roadside bombs , as well .
Rocket - actuate grenades and anti - tank missiles are some of the most potent weapons in the guerilla arsenal , because they can punch through even the thickest armor . The Israelis , for representative , saw40 of their tanksget hit by the projectiles in their 2006 war in Lebanon . So U.S. and Israeli defense contractors have sample all sorts ofways to boom these munitionswhile they ’re still hurtling toward their target – to make one speeding bullet with another , essentially .
But draw off that trick snapshot requires a whole bunch of schism - indorsement calculations : from detecting the incoming rocket to figuring out its flight of stairs practice to deciding when to fire the countermeasure . To do it all , you need a whole heap of processing power .
“ combat-ready protection is a testament to how fast computer are these days – especially when you ’re not burden them , by go an operating arrangement , ” sound out Artis CEO Keith Brendley .
Artis ’ approach is a footling more algorithm - intensive than others . Rather than blast the projectile too soon in its trajectory , Artis’Iron Curtainsystem waits to dismiss its countermeasure until the very , very last moment , when the weapons system is just a few inches away from ramming into its target . Iron Curtain does n’t shoot out at the projectile . Mounted on the fomite ’s roof , it shootsstraight down .
The idea is to minimize the harm to any civilian nearby – and to get as effective a tone at the incoming ordnance store as possible before dismiss . But waiting does have a drawback ; it means those life - or - end , smoke - on - smoke reckoning have to be made even quicker that they would normally .
“ The further aside from the fomite , the harder the job becomes , ” Brendley , a former computer modeler at the Rand Corporation , severalise Wired.com . “ Which would you look on : the physics becoming easier or the computers getting faster ? ”
Iron Curtain has pulled off the feat dozens of times in military trials , and is now undergoing safety reviews and component - level testing by the Army’sprogram manager for blast - resistant vehicles . Once that $ 5 million testing period is done – likely by the ending of the year – it ’s on to circumscribed user tests , where the Iron Curtain will be wax on the panoplied , off - road vehicles presently used in Afghanistan . The systemwon’t be head to the war zone immediately , despite what you may have read in previous reports . But by this time next year , limited production of Iron Curtain could be underway .
Brendley , meanwhile , is looking for even tougher object to pink down . Eruca vesicaria sativa - propelled grenade fly at295 meters per second – pretty damn fast . But Iron Curtain ’s smacked away these weapon system so consistently , Brendley started looking at even quicker threat : namely , theexplosively mould projectilesthat were , for a time , the deadliest weapon of the Iraq insurgency . These “ superbombs ” ardor out armour - pierce squirt of liquefied metal at a blinding two to four klick per second – 10 times as tight as the grenades .
Darpa – which originally backed Iron Curtain – furnish a bit of cash for Artis to work up a “ brassboard ” pre - epitome for this superbomb - smash up system . In tests held over the Christmas week , the Artis system hold its own .
“ Even I was surprised , ” Brendely read . “ allow ’s look it : it ’s kind of unvoiced to believe you may intercept something that fast . ”
This stake earlier look onWired ’s Danger Room.Wired.com has been expanding the hive mind with engineering science , scientific discipline and flake finish newsworthiness since 1995 .
ComputersDefensemilitaryPhysicsrockets
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