http://blog.wired.com/defense/2007/11/video-fix-super.html Hm. Starship Troopers here we come. Minus the facism and alien slaughter though, hopefully.
cool..except for the part where it says next gen models will be able to perform tasks while the human is not in the enclosure. Terminator definately comes to mind.
And now the Army is getting into a death spiral. Yay! Modern day soldiers are becoming more and more expensive. Guns, NVGs, armour, supplies etc. etc. Although these things help the soldier they add to what he has to carry and the cost of one unit. These Exoskeletons will probably mean the grunt can carry more and do more. However as the unit cost per troop goes up wars become $$$. I don't see the practical aspects of these on the battlefield. Imagine 6 of these versus about 30 insurgents. The fully armoured versions are massive targets. Now imagine the same cost of units without the armoured exoskeletons. Yes, they are neat but there's a lot of things to be considered and a long way to go before these can be fielded in the frontlines as fighting equipment. Supply lines are the ideal place for them though.
Those 6 soldiers will be fully encased most likely, making them (semi)impervious to bullets and invulnerable in melee. plus able to carry bigger guns and more equipment. Yes they'll be much more expensive per soldier, but in the end you won't need as many. AK47 vs Minigun, my money is on the minigun ooh, Fallout in real life! Dude, too cool...minus the nuclear fallout part. current versions are perfect places for these units are in the airforce to load up planes, as REMFs loading trucks etc. armoured versions will be good for breaches and other front line work, and for riot cops.
The bigger they are, the harder they fall. I suppose a soldier might go tromping into battle like some perverted mech warrior. Then, the home-made guerrilla IED goes off and, while the soldier is unharmed, the force of the blast knocks him off his feet. To think, all the money invested in these suits could have been spent on someone worthwhile, like health care or education. A man can dream. -monkey
As stated the second generation should be able to walk around, so 30 insurgents vs. a few robots. Think about the cost of raising an army, takes 17 years, if the soldier stays alive then you need to pay him until his term is up.
They would be a massive target for RPGs and IEDs. I for one would not like to march into battle in one. Loading missiles and heavy goods though? Sign me up!
It it's current stage, it's useless, but with those future concepts (full body suits), they will be very very usefull. Your a target already, the suit is making you live longer, I'm guessing it will be immune to bullet fire in the future, so a single person could take out a whole team of ambushers with AK47's. I'm guessing this will be used for people surronding vehicles in the battlefield, because right now, whoever is walking next to a tank get's sniped and dies instantly.
I can't wait for these mechs to be real and then one day Arnold Schwarzanegger will be general of the army. "hastalavista baby"
