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Electric force field protects tanks An electric force field that vaporises grenades and shells on impact has reportedly been developed by the Ministry of Defence. The electric armour would be used on tanks and military vehicles and would make them lighter and more manoeuvrable. It works on RPG-7 anti-tank grenades which fire a stream of copper into tanks at 1,000mph, reports the Daily Telegraph. The armour has a highly-charged capacitor connected to two separate metal plates on the tank's exterior. The outer plate, which is bullet-proof and made from an unspecified alloy, is earthed while the insulated inner plate is live. When the warhead fires its jet of molten copper, it penetrates both the outer plate and the insulation of the inner plate. This makes a connection and thousands of amps of electricity vaporise most of the molten copper. The rest of the copper is dispersed harmlessly against the vehicle's hull. In tests an armoured personnel carrier survived repeated rocket attacks from grenades that would normally have destroyed it. The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory developed the Pulsed Power System at its site at Fort Halstead, Kent. Prof John Brown said it was attracting a lot of interest. He added with the easy availability of RPG-7 rocket launchers "it only takes one individual on, say, a rooftop in a village to cause major damage or destroy passing armoured vehicles".
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