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posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday March 28 2018, @01:48AM   Printer-friendly
from the mr.-fusion dept.

Lockheed Martin has quietly obtained a patent associated with its design for a potentially revolutionary compact fusion reactor, or CFR. If this project has been progressing on schedule, the company could debut a prototype system that size of shipping container, but capable of powering a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier or 80,000 homes, sometime in the next year or so.

The patent, for a portion of the confinement system, or embodiment, is dated Feb. 15, 2018. The Maryland-headquartered defense contractor had filed a provisional claim on April 3, 2013 and a formal application nearly a year later. Our good friend Stephen Trimble, chief of Flightglobal's Americas Bureau, subsequently spotted it and Tweeted out its basic details.

In 2014, the company also made a splash by announcing they were working on the device at all and that it was the responsibility of its Skunk Works advanced projects office in Palmdale, California. At the time, Dr. Thomas McGuire, head of the Skunk Works’ Compact Fusion Project, said the goal was to have a working reactor in five years and production worthy design within 10.

[...] Considering the five year timeline Dr. McGuire put out in 2014 for achieving a workable prototype, maybe we’re due for another big announcement from Lockheed Martin in the near future.


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  • (Score: 2) by richtopia on Wednesday March 28 2018, @03:46PM (2 children)

    by richtopia (3160) on Wednesday March 28 2018, @03:46PM (#659549) Homepage Journal

    I'm surprised they went after any patents, it probably means they see competition in the marketplace and there could be a patent first dispute. The reason I'm surprised is that this is a Skunkworks project, so the customer is probably the DOD. If Skunkworks is making progress on container sized fusion, that is not something you want to advertise to potential adversaries, as it could be a game changer for armies so very dependent on energy.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 28 2018, @08:43PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 28 2018, @08:43PM (#659672)

    Could be investor/stockholder 'bait'. Hey, look here, we have a patent! Investors flock in their direction. In five years time: oh, that patent, yeah, didn't really include anything that wasn't already readily understood and known. Turns out it didn't work. But, look again! We have another new patent, this one will definitely work. Trust us, we're MBAs and financial controllers!

    • (Score: 2) by kazzie on Wednesday March 28 2018, @10:08PM

      by kazzie (5309) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday March 28 2018, @10:08PM (#659710)

      Or alternatively:

      Look at this new patent - it's the size of a shipping container1 (Are you sure you wouldn't prefer a digital download?)