Posted on 07/24/2015 1:37:16 PM PDT by Brad from Tennessee
A new system to resist terrorist bombs smuggled onto aircraft has been tested in dramatic experiments.
A device called FlyBag is designed to absorb the shockwaves and shrapnel caused by explosions.
If security fails and a bomb reaches the luggage hold, the idea is that the blast would be safely contained.
The trials - using old jets at Cotswolds Airport in Gloucestershire - showed that explosions on board caused no damage.
The bag involves a novel mix of four different layers of material including one based on Kevlar, which is used in bullet-proof jackets.
The idea is that the bag is not only lightweight but also strong and flexible enough to handle the energetic effects of a blast without breaking.
Current designs for hardened luggage containers are based on reinforced metal and many airlines have seen them as too heavy and costly. . .
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Ran across this on a link from the site you you linked.
How about lining the insides of HMMVs, MRAPs, tanks and APCs with this stuff to protect the soldiers from IEDs and RPGs?
Interesting idea. Hope it works out.
A way to ‘safely’ transport lithium batteries..
Hmmmm
Cool! That thing seats a small concert .. If everybody stands .. Maybe 2,000.. Great party plane..
Who knows what the future holds in the Airways?
I think it’s a very cool design myself. I love the initial look of some of these concepts.
I wonder how they compensate if something interesting can only be viewed on one side and people all congregate to that side?
The present day long tube body design more or less prevented that.
Some of the designs I’ve seen, make me wonder if those designs are practical due to this problem.
I’m not engineer, so maybe it’s not the problem I see it as.
Well. Maybe they could strap big sails to the thing and use them to maneuver around and compensate for load shift.
ITs not a rocket ship so .. We’ll see.. If we live long enuf. :-)
I hope we are. Seeing thing fly would take my breath away.
initially tested on ted kennedys ass.
and certain aircraft system power supplies....
yup.
Good sentiment but wrong application. This device keeps the inside explosion in. What you want is to keep the outside explosion out.
Depending on the vehicle, these vehicles already use multiple layers of protection from stand-off bar armor, explosive reactive armor, various types of solid and composite armor, and interior spall liners. The later contain all the bolts and nuts and handles and fixtures that may be dislodged by an outside explosion and prevent them from becoming shrapnel inside the vehicle (along with scabs of armor plate that may come off of inner surfaces of body armor due to kinetic shockwaves).
What this technology demonstrates is that there is a lot of innovative research and development going on right now that promises great levels of blast protection along with very significant reductions in weight. What we need to do is be very, very, very prudently in buying just enough of the old armor technology to meet current needs. That way we don’t foreclose investing in the new technologies once they mature because we blew our available procurement dollars in buying too much of the old armor technology. Once bought, some of these vehicles may serve 30, 40, or more years before being replaced.
The first US HMMWVs came into service in the early to mid-1980s. The last won’t leave service until the mid-2030s (if then). Yes, the last model HMMWVs are not anything like the first but the point I am making here is the deadening effect on future procurement of all that sunk capital investment.
Is that what the plane looks like after the bomb has inflated the bag?
Thanks for the info. I was imagining simply a lightweight, flexible barrier lining to stop the blast, but you’re right - an outside explosion is going to have an asymmetrical effect on the target, pretty much defeating the whole point of the lining acting as a bag to contain the whole blast from within.
LOL
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