that is so cool!!!!!!!!!

Pretty cool, I remember a while ago some company featuring a less mobile (but I think, a bit more powerful) exoskeleton....

Eventually we'll have an exoskeleton that actually enhances mobility and power, but that is some time away now >_>

That's Awesome! One of those looks like the marine armor in halo 1.

Ah yes, less mobility and more physical strength. Exactly what the troops need in today's environment!

I can't see any military force going for these outside of a handful for loggies to give them a hand when lifting&shifting. Considering FIST and the various other incarnations of attempting to 'upgrade' the squaddie via technology are almost dead in the water, I'm surprised to see anyone spending money on something like this.

Perhaps more useful for the firefighters, rescue teams, et al. The added strength would be a huge bonus and the lower mobility wouldn't generally be an issue.

Delta, this is an early stage. It'll bet better. So stop doing this "It'll never get better" crap.

Think before you spew.

Good points Delta.. this kind of thing would also be useful for manual intensive jobs, such as for warehouse workers and construction dudes.

I'd think though that an armored one of these would be a useful weapon platform though, don't you? A lot of that FIST and squaddie research was misguided, (to bulky and not really helpful) IMHO.. but this, I don't know, I could see it being useful if they kept the costs reasonable.

An armored one of these guys would make a very mobile and tough weapons platform with the intelligence of a human dude (unlike, say a SWORDS bot or something).

Exactly Kspiess. Thoguh the SWORDS bot is controled by a human. lol. It is also useful NOW, this is a ways off. However, if they once put armor plating on it, and maybe instead of a minigun, a Light machine gun. Or grenade launcher. It could, possably, replace a Tank in urban combat.

I'm not sure about the validity of even an armoured one of these as a weapon platform. There's already a number of pretty good armoured platforms for fire support, I can't really see how much more useful it would be to heavily armour one guy and have him bumble around, than to simply run around a Scimitar or the like. A Scimitar or even a Snatch Landrover would likely have more armour, be cheaper, be faster, and isn't tied down to a single soldier (If a lucky shot takes out the guy in the suit, you have to drag him out of there and stick someone else in there to regain the fire support. While if the gunner takes a hit, it's a much easier job (And with a smaller training footprint) to stick someone else in there). Perhaps with new composite materials to reduce the weight, and a fully gyroscopically stabilised weapon system this could see use in taking an organic fire support weapon such as an LMG or grenade launcher. It would add a good bit of resilient firepower to a squad, but I think we're a long way off technology-wise.

There would also have to be a large shift in the way war is conducted, something like this would be almost useless in the current zones of Afgan and Iraq (Too slow, too expensive, provides no military benefit over squaddie with normal bodyarmour), seems to me something like this would be more useful in conventional warfare rather than the unconventional warfare seen in current operations.

Bizzarely I do see this having far more civilian applications (Normally it's the military that use it first, then it finds a civilian niche afterwards. Reference satcoms and mobile phones) than military applications, at least for the foreseeable future. Ah well, it's their money so off they go. I'll just be very surprised if they get a DoD contract.

Hmmm...good points...good points. I think your right about the conventional / unconventional war thing. This platform would not be super-useful in a big, large scale war.

But I still think this thing would be useful in some situations. Especially in urban fights, because the platform is much more mobile: it could go up stairs, in buildings, etc. A tank will probably always have heavier guns and thicker armor though, I guess I see your point there.

Hmmm...

Deltagorno,



First off, this is a first generation design, it has a long way to go. So obviously, right now it is pretty useless. However, within 10 years, it would be ready, at the current rate we are advancing. Also, this provides [ when ready for combat] a massive advantage over a man with a vest.


Now, about the validity of this as a weapons platform. Does anyone remember what the initial thoughts about tanks? No one thought they would be use full. They were too big, too slow, and seemed to offer no advantages. Now, that finishes the thought about it not evolving into a useful military unit. Lets talk about weapons platforms.


Tell me, Delta, what effect would lugging a 15 pound M249 SAW LMG have on a man, carrying 6 or more 200 round clips of ammunition, plus another 60 to 100 pounds of gear on his back, have on that man?
Now, take this Mech suite, once it has been debugged and has been tweaked to the point that it does not hinder movement and those other issues. Now depending on how much it increases the soldiers physical abilities. It could, very easily carry up to three times the ammunition, AND the gear, and not hinder the soldier. Also, this would reduce fatigue, the number one soldier killer. When you can’t run, you die.


Also, all that nonsense about gyroscopically stabilized gun platform. That is not needed. It will not be carrying a gun that could over power it. Like, a small tank gun or a ridiculously large heavy machine gun. It would be using a single man weapon, like a LMG, assault rifle, sniper rifle or what have you.



So this really has more promise than you give it. Also, expense should bug you, not with a puny little suite like this. If you want expense take the Abrams tank! Those things cost over 4 million each to build. I cannot remember the exact number, but it is a lot. Though, this cost goes into the most durable and lethal tank in the world. Also, it is the most survivable tank. If the same type of care is taken in making this suite, we may send over an army or deploy an army to defend our country, and loose less than a dozen men!



So Honestly, please think about it, this is only the beginning, stop saying it’ll never work. Cause, it probably will.

Sorry, "lose" not Loose.

I just noticed. I was using Suite..sorry...it should be Suit.

I agree with iamjoe56, look at the first cell phones,their weight was over several pounds and had almost no practical use.

Today they weigh only a few ounces and have more features then any one person could ever use.

So give it some time this armour may become the exoskeleton of many videogames and science fiction writers.

Actually the first cellphones had a lot of practical use, the military had been using similar technology for ages

Being that my job is a military analyst, I like to think my experience and training gives me a reasonable grasp on things like this and my experience and training is telling me this product has minimal military benefit without extensive modification. This is the problem with scientists (Of which I am one, though barely use my degree in Physics anymore), they come up with something snazzy and awesome but fail to make the connection between the item and the actual use of said item. The question should not be 'How great can we make our rocketboots?' it should be 'Ok so we've got rocketboots, what do we do to them to make them actually useful?'.

My gut feeling is that without a lot of funding, a lot of technological breakthroughs (Mainly around portable power supplies, would suck for your suit to crap out after 2 hours because the damned battery is dead), and a change in how war is fought for this to be usable for the military. As I said, I can see a lot more civilian applications for this, I just can't see any immediate or even near-future military benefit for this over spending the same money on improving body armour for the troops.

Deltagorno,



Forgive me for saying this but I doubt you work as a military analyst, because if you did. You would know that in today’s current theatres, this thing is more use full than a tank. Especially when clearing homes and such.



Now I will admit the method of power could be a problem, but things like that are easily overcome. For instance, why not use a variant of a hybrid engine in it? Or maybe on of those wonderful Hydrogen cells everyone is in a rave over. Also, improvements in body armor only go so far, this you should know.


As you SHOULD know, Kevlar is the best bullet stopping fabric out there, hands down. But, to have enough to come close to stopping a 7.62mm Rifle round. It would take somewhere on the order of 3 or 4 inches, based upon the power of the 7.62. Similarly, just over an inch of composite metal, such a titanium, for instance, can and will stop a 7.62 round from nearly point blank range.


Now, if you still feel that the suite cannot offer better protection than a vest. Fine, then push for Dragon’s skin to be send over there, and fast. In case you didn’t know, Dragon’s skin is a new type of Kevlar/ceramic hybrid body armor. On the Show Future weapons. I stopped a grenade from damaging a dummy, while the dummy was resting on top of the grenade. And just to get rid of any doubt, they did set the grenade off. So that stuff works, and it was shown to stop 7.62 Armor piercing rounds. All well and good, but one problem it is a VEST.


For a soldier to be protected on all sides, from all angles and to be totally bullet proof, the resulting amount of Kevlar armor. Would weigh in at, at least. 60 or more pounds. I get that number from the knowledge that the Vest soldiers use today, while large and slightly bulky. Weighs 20 pounds. For a VEST. Not a jacket, or suite. But simply a vest.



A last point, Shotgun was talking about civilian applications for the cell phones. The military had been using them since 1942. And they had been very use full, because communication in warfare it key. So, I shall end it on this note. I perceive your in ability to see this as a viable tool in Modern warfare, slightly short sighted and a bit lacking in creative thinking.

Really? And what experience do you base your opinion on? 16 years of being 'interested' in the military? Of course you clearly should know more about this than someone who does *exactly* this kind of analysis for a living, how stupid of me!

You're wrong. Again.

Deltagorno,



Evidently you cannot take a bit of skepticism. I only said that, in my opinion, you do not seem the type to be a military analyst. So excuse me for exorcising my right to free speech.


Now to answer your question about my “16 years of interest in the military”. Actually, it is impossible for me to have been interested in it THAT long. That would mean I was interested in it from the day I was born, now if you wish to imply I am that smart, I readily except, but that comment makes no sense on the whole. But, in all honesty I do not hold a passing interest in the military. For me, it is a passion, so I pride myself on knowing just as much, or more as it would seem, than people I get involved with. I also hold a rather strong interest in the Sciences and again, pride myself on the fact that I can grasp much of what anyone throws at me. This includes you, I am afraid.


Now, I never once claimed to know more, or did I say I knew more. I simply voiced my skepticism about your occupation. Now if you wish to provide me with evidence of your chosen career, please do so, otherwise I would still doubt it. I am sorry if this offends you or grates you. But that is the View I hold.



Now, allow me to elaborate on why I think this way. You ability to not see the uses for this in an High risk Urban combat environment is what triggers this though process. Correct me if I am wrong, but shouldn’t a Military Analyst know something about the combat conditions a troop will be facing? It would seem to me that such an understanding is needed to form a judgment on any given piece of military equipment, be it an Air craft, weapon or tank. So, this obviously should open the idea of House clearing, or street to street fighting in today’s combat zones. And, being that the average range at which urban combat takes place, is under 30 yards a fully armored Robotic suit provides much greater protection than a simple vest would. Surely, this is the case.



So, as stated above, I have noticed you seem to lack any knowledge of how the soldiers fight, what they fight, and what kinds of dangers are prevalent in urban combat. So, again, forgive me for being a skeptic, but I doubt you are a military Analyst.

Cover that up with some heavily plated green battle armor with an orange visor. Then put it on a guy named John and you got masterchief.

I'm hoping they'll instead build a masterchef. You know, he could withstand a rocket attack, yet still throw together a good burrito, under enemy fire.

Kspiess, they have that already. His name I Emeral.