http://services.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f8/271552990
I met a guy at a friend’s birthday party who works for Raytheon out here in the Boston area and he was really dodgy when I asked him specifically what he did for the defense contractor. He took an interest in the fact that I wrote for a gadget web site and mentioned that he “sorta works with gadgets” but wouldn’t elaborate further.
Maybe he’s been working on this thing. According to the Boston Globe, it’s “a portable device that firefighters and search teams can use to quickly pulverize concrete walls as they look to rescue people trapped in rubble by disasters.” It’s 100 pounds and it’s called the Controlled Impact Rescue Tool.
Here’s more…
“During a recent demonstration, the device smashed through a concrete barrier in 13 minutes, compared with the 29 minutes it took for conventional methods to achieve similar results, Raytheon said…
…Conventional methods to breach concrete often involve power-saws, drills, and small jack-hammers, which in many cases are powered by electricity, a Raytheon spokesman said. That means rescuers have to drag electrical cords behind them.
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San Francisco | October 27-29, 2025With CIRT, operators carry blank ammunition cartridges that when fired, cause a specially designed impact head to generate pulverizing shock waves to create a hole large enough for a victim to escape from, a Raytheon spokesman said.”
The device is currently in the prototype phase so price and availability haven’t been announced but I’m guessing “too much for one man” and “not for the public”.
Raytheon unveils device to blast through concrete [Boston Globe]
