Able to stop a speeding van at 35mph? Vijay Pattni presents this week’s Weird World of Wheels special on the amazing ‘X-Net’ device.

This has to be on Batman’s ultimate gadget wish-list – unless he’s got it already.

It’s designed to stop suicide car-bombers in the world’s hot spots such as Iraq and Afghanistan, and has the ability to stop a speeding car in a short distance.

And this stunning device could be making its way to your crime-ridden neighbourhood in the near future…

“What are you?”

Made by a company called QinetiQ, the new 'X-Net' is a thoroughly modern 21st Century take on the classic ‘Stinger’ used by police forces up and down the country.

Currently, officers lay down a bed of spiked nails across the road – clearly visible – and wait for the offending car to speed over them, bursting tyres to force the driver to halt.

But this new system – more evolution than revolution – punctures the offending car’s tyres and wraps itself around the car’s wheels like a net, forcing it to come to a stop within seconds.

“I’m Batman”

According to QinetiQ, around 5,000 X-Net systems have been sold since its launch three years ago, for use by soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as police officers in 15 countries across the globe.

And now – it’s coming to the UK. QinetiQ has confirmed the sale of an X-Net to Gloucestershire Constabulary, with a number of other forces showing interest in the £3,000 device.

The X-Net is made from a lightweight and strong polyethylene fibre netting called ‘Dyneema’, constructed to “give substantial elongation to enable the kinetic energy of the vehicle to be absorbed”.

The spikes which are embedded in this high-tensile netting are machined from high carbon steel, and the entire X-Net can “be carried in a backpack for foot patrol use”, and can be manually deployed in under 20 seconds.

“Those toys…where does he get those wonderful toys?”

QinetiQ has also designed the X-Net to be deployed from a distance thanks to something called the “Remote Deployment Device”.

This means officers can use the X-Net from a “safe stand-off distance, removing the user from the potential danger zone”.

And these danger zones include “mobile checkpoints to control vehicle flow – specifically for peacekeeping operations and states of high terrorist alert”, “cordoning off areas or roadways”, and something called “pursuit management, where specific vehicles can be targeted for arrest”.

But the raw stats explain more than any marketing bumf can hope to – just check out the stopping distances of the X-Net:

A QinetiQ spokesperson said “the device is the only non-lethal, man portable system that can be deployed in less than 20 seconds and can bring a range of vehicles to a stop within a similar distance to an emergency stop”.

Phew. Makes for arresting reading…

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