Thread: Smart Bombs, are they possible as they are illistrated in scifi?

Smart bombs are a popular weapon for space ships in science fiction. They are bombs that explode around a ship, the bombs blast goes outward but not towards the ship, so the ship is safe from the explosion. The explosions blast can go very far and damage anything in its radius.
I guess maybe you can have a whole bunch of tiny bombs around this theoretical ship, and have them all explode simultaneously, but then the ship will explode too?!

Such weapons are now in testing for use to protect armoured vehicles. In space there would be no concusion wave backward from the detonation so they would have no effect on the ship they are protecting but also the only effect they could have on their target would be projectiles, ie bomb fragments. There would be no blast effect.

Originally Posted by Sealeaf

Such weapons are now in testing for use to protect armoured vehicles. In space there would be no concusion wave backward from the detonation so they would have no effect on the ship they are protecting but also the only effect they could have on their target would be projectiles, ie bomb fragments. There would be no blast effect.

What about the radiation of a nuke, or maybe gamma rays super heated plasma ? Does it have to be fragments

Originally Posted by Japith

Originally Posted by Sealeaf

Such weapons are now in testing for use to protect armoured vehicles. In space there would be no concusion wave backward from the detonation so they would have no effect on the ship they are protecting but also the only effect they could have on their target would be projectiles, ie bomb fragments. There would be no blast effect.

What about the radiation of a nuke, or maybe gamma rays super heated plasma ? Does it have to be fragments

The law regarding the strength of radiation applies, that is it changes in inverse proportion to the square of the distance. The easiest way to protect yourself from radiation damage is to move away from the source. A bomb pumped laser, carried by a missile to a safe distance from the mother ship, before being detonated gets around many of these problems.
In any case this type of weapon is not what is usually meant by "smart bomb". Usually what is meant is some sort of weapon that steers itself to its target. The smarter it is the more autonomy the weapon has. I visualise missiles that can be placed in random orbits in deep space, with instructions to change their orbits randomly so that no one can know where they are. On a coded signal they could be told the a certain class of ship in now a target, and if one comes in range to destroy it. You could put the weapon in place long before there was an actual war.

No one has yet to come up with a way to violate Newton's 3rd law of motion. The best that can be done is put the recoiling reaction forces in a way that can be absorbed in the direction of what's being protected...such as a tank, or ship.

Sealeaf, how exactly is it that detonating an object in space would not react to the vessel detonating said weapon. I have a rather extensive knowledge of explosives so I will say it simply. When something goes BOOM the concussive shock wave expands from the point of detonation outward in a SPHERE. This would damage anything within the range of the blast. The armor you are refering to is called reactive armor. It is not in development. It has been being utilized for almost 20 years check out the link How Reactive Armor Works : Great History.

The proper definition for a smart bomb would be something that knows what it is supposed to destroy and does it. Or like the movie Dark Star. It gets tired of waiting and decides it is going to detonate and you have to talk it down. Just think, a device in the million mega range with an A.I. that gets depressed and suicidal... how FUN

Originally Posted by dmwyant

Sealeaf, how exactly is it that detonating an object in space would not react to the vessel detonating said weapon. I have a rather extensive knowledge of explosives so I will say it simply. When something goes BOOM the concussive shock wave expands from the point of detonation outward in a SPHERE. This would damage anything within the range of the blast. The armor you are refering to is called reactive armor. It is not in development. It has been being utilized for almost 20 years check out the link How Reactive Armor Works : Great History.

The proper definition for a smart bomb would be something that knows what it is supposed to destroy and does it. Or like the movie Dark Star. It gets tired of waiting and decides it is going to detonate and you have to talk it down. Just think, a device in the million mega range with an A.I. that gets depressed and suicidal... how FUN

In sealeafs comment he mentioned that the bombs were not being carried by a vessel, or fired from a vessel, they were just bombs orbiting a planet and exploded when there orbits intersected with a target.

Originally Posted by Japith

Originally Posted by dmwyant

Sealeaf, how exactly is it that detonating an object in space would not react to the vessel detonating said weapon. I have a rather extensive knowledge of explosives so I will say it simply. When something goes BOOM the concussive shock wave expands from the point of detonation outward in a SPHERE. This would damage anything within the range of the blast. The armor you are refering to is called reactive armor. It is not in development. It has been being utilized for almost 20 years check out the link How Reactive Armor Works : Great History.

The proper definition for a smart bomb would be something that knows what it is supposed to destroy and does it. Or like the movie Dark Star. It gets tired of waiting and decides it is going to detonate and you have to talk it down. Just think, a device in the million mega range with an A.I. that gets depressed and suicidal... how FUN

In sealeafs comment he mentioned that the bombs were not being carried by a vessel, or fired from a vessel, they were just bombs orbiting a planet and exploded when there orbits intersected with a target.

Oooops. I apologize Sealeaf. I misread your comment. as an orbital defense weapon it would be useful a minefield with IFF(Identify Friend Foe) That would fit the definition of smart bomb as it would not target friendly craft and they could even have a drive system allowing them to alter their orbital path to increase the chance of interception... *wanders off to the drawing board*

What is shown in the video looks like some sort of energy wave emitter rather than a bomb. It is hard to tell where the wave comes from.

I have solved the problem with ship destroying it self as bomb detonates. solution, the bomb doesn't detonate, It doesn't detonate in the present space, the bomb inside the ship is contained inside a bubble, an warp hole, a split space bubble, worm hole what ever you have.
When you have got a enemy contact the bomb detonates inside this bubble of space that is still at the position the ship is, but is not in the same universe, or just somewhere else.
After a very small time delay the point when the bomb detonates and the explosion, radiation has moved away from the radius of the ship then at this point the warp bubble, or split space bubble, or worm hole the bomb is in what ever you see fit, "closes" and then the already detonated bomb and the dangerous radiation (which still is exploding by the way, remember this is during the explosion not even a millisecond has past since detonation) is placed back to existence in the position in space, and the explosion continues on and effectively achieves its roll as a eve online smart bomb.\


I'm sorry I know this is a real life military sub-forum, I'm sorry wrong thread, can't remove the comment. Also I posted that late at night
Made a tiny mistake

Japith... Not to be an ass but this is a science forum section regarding military weapons what you have here belongs in pseudoscience if anywhere.

Originally Posted by dmwyant

Japith... Not to be an ass but this is a science forum section regarding military weapons what you have here belongs in pseudoscience if anywhere.

I'm sorry wrong thread, can't remove the comment. Also I posted that late at night