http://defensetech.org/2010/09/30/robot-armor-cage-match-in-the-works/

Exoskeletons that allow soldiers to carry 150 pounds for a fraction of the encumbrance..... I seen Enclave armor just around the corner

J

These things have been in development for years. The only thing holding them back is power- presumably, these will be run off of batteries, and good luck having one keep a charge for over 5 hours of usable energy under battlefield conditions.

Once we hit the 10, 12, or even 15-hour battery life will these things hit production. Until then, they're only learning how to walk.

Seen these years ago, reminds a bit of those loaders from Aliens...

But the problem is power, we just don't have a portable power source with long operation time for such heavy-duty machines. Someone needs to invent the Fission Battery

They need to talk to Robert Downy Jr.........................

I hate that most new technology goes to the military first. It makes war not fair at all..
Oh well

All's fair in love and war...

Let's take that into consideration and start production on an uber suit that makes the user invincible to everything and if he were caught, the suit blows up to prevent anybody else from reverse engineering it...

THE END.

The more ability to carry you give a soldier, the more cr*p he ends up carrying. Eventually, one dark night when his power armour fuel cells are empty, the night-vision gear is on the blink, the comms are down, the all-singing all-dancing scope on his light-weight ultra-modern assault rifle is blurred up from the rain, some half trained, half-starved enemy will sneak up and bash him on the head with a lump of wood.

Soldiering and fighting is about training and skill, not fancy gear.

QUOTE: But the problem is power, we just don't have a portable power source with long operation time for such heavy-duty machines.

That's also why we don't have laser weapons. The technology exists to create a five milliwatt laser that puts a red dot on a target to indicate where the bullet is headed (one of my guns is equipped with one), so the technology exists to create a 50,000-watt version, a handheld weapon that could burn a hole through a steel plate. But we can't make a portable power source that kicks out 50,000 watts.


QUOTE: Eventually, one dark night when his power armour fuel cells are empty, the night-vision gear is on the blink, the comms are down, the all-singing all-dancing scope on his light-weight ultra-modern assault rifle is blurred up from the rain, some half trained, half-starved enemy will sneak up and bash him on the head with a lump of wood.

Or ventilate him with a cheap Czach-surplus AK-47, which is probably easier to find in some places than lumps of wood. The rifle in question might be all clogged up with rust, dust, sand, dirt, mud, ash, gravel, and bird poop. But when the guy pulls the trigger, it still goes bang bang bang.

Presumably, the Power armor would have a battery life indicater and several backups to make this an extremely rare occurance- the soldier's going to know that he needs to recharge (so he should be near base) and the backup batteries should kick in if something unfortunante would happen to the main (such as the soldier ignores the low battery life indicator.) Same thing with hospitals and military bases; they don't shut down if the power grid goes offline, they have backup generators to kick in and power emergency equipment if someone took out the power.

You're also assuming that the Military won't give him plates of armor to protect his soft, squishy body. Kevlar's probably going to be in the first-gen model, but later models will probably look like something out of Halo; actual armor plating.

I think these resources could be put to things like folks with no legs, or broken spines. Other than that, it seems so very badass that they're getting this good with our technology.

The power thing is easy: You just need a pack of Fission Batteries, and you can recharge 'em with fuel and motor parts modified from your atomic car!

Power armor is like an extreme version of the M-16A2 rifle that our troops today use. It's a fine tool, as long as the military using it has good logictics and can keep it clean, maintained, and in good repair. But if you're going to be off in the boonies for days or weeks at a time, and can't keep your equipment properly serviced, you're better off with an AK and a combat knife. They're low-tech, but they're far more resistant to abuse.

@Marss:

You sound like some of the defence officials I have known, lol.

I'm actually assuming that the grunt will be required to operate and survive in a real war zone, where you aren't a soft easy walk from base, where choppers can't get in due to either the terrain, the rules of engagement, or the political situation you are operating in, and what you have you carry, and there 'ain't no resupply'. And where your team/patrol/mates/friends have to carry you out for a day and a half after you took a round because Command won't provide a bird to do a medevac because you were 'outside of the AO' (area of operation - i.e. over the border zone where 'we' weren't actually operating).

Rule number 1 in war: It never happens as it was supposed to.
Rule number 2 in war: It never works as well as it did in the dealer's promo.
Rule number 3 in war: Don't get shot in the butt. It hurts like h*ll, you can't walk, and everyone laughs at you.

maybe we can use really long extension cords? or extra batteries?

True, true. And I'm assuming these things will be issued out to Spec. Ops. teams, not every groundpounder on the field. You know, the guys who are sent in to remove high-risk, high-profile targets, not the guys who go out on patrol to keep an area secure.

There are a few flaws with this idea.

1- No viable power source.
2- Hard to store / not very portable.
3- Very expensive (In other words regular foot soldiers aren't worth that much to the gov.)
4- With lightweight armors like Dragonskin and Kevlar, that is the direction we are going into. Eventually they will probably have fabric stronger than five inch thick steel.

Power Armor is freaking bad ass though :celebration:

edit- One more thing. With weapon technology the way it's going we won't even use ground troops soon enough. Everything will be remote operated.

Yeah, there does seem to be tons of things coming out for killing people better but not much in the way of preventing/curing serious diseases/illnesses. With all the pollution I think medical research should be way up there, and alternative energy sources.

But I've heard even crazier things than these power suits. Such as spider webs being experimented with for potential bullet proof vests. Lightweight and resilient so it's perfect. Pretty soon we'll be doing the Starcraft deal with inhibitors implanted in soldier's brains that prevent fear.

"If you want to be a surgeon, follow an army."-- Hippocrates

"Necessity is the mother of invention but War is the mother of Necessity."

Very good point. We'd also probably see enemies attempting to target battery and other components. If the exoskeleton get's disabled, I highly doubt our soldiers could quickly get out of the things.

Besides, Raytheon clearly has the best exoskeleton, and I'm not just saying that because they make a paycheck and bonus based contribution to my college tuition.

The Japanese already have a Metal Gear, kind of looks like an AT/PT to me though. Lockheed has the HULC exoskeleton.

the HULC is clearly a prototype hulk buster.

I actually see it as ideal for law enforcement.

Now, if someone will come up with Judge Dredd's bike for me, I might actually go back on the road (not that they'd let me...)

Agreed. If the things could keep people cool enough in intense conditions, the strength amplification could also help firefighters.

... And who says military tech is only useful for killing people?

I wonder if a version of these could be used in medical rehabilitation, like a version that may lessen weight but not totally remove it for a person that has has lost muscle mass because of illness or injury