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First Military Exoskeleton Reaches Prototype
JonathanGCohen writes "The U.S. Military has created the first ever prototype for an exoskeleton to be worn by soldiers capable of making its 100 pound weight and a 70 pound supply package feel like five pounds." From the article: "Bleex 1 consists of a pair of hydraulically powered leg braces, more than 40 electronic sensors, a control computer, and an internal-combustion engine providing power from an attached backpack. The plastic and carbon-fiber braces are affixed rigidly to the soldier through a customized pair of standard Army boots, with more compliant and giving connections at the chest and waist. These looser connections prevent blisters and abrasions."
I really recommend reading Forever Peace by Joe Haldeman. It explores some of the issues (many of them moral) that come about when one nation can make war on another nation with no risk to its own men (through the use of robotic suits that have eventually had the humans taken all the way out). We're definitely headed that way...
It's a fabulous book - from the same guy who wrote Forever War, but it's not a series or anything.
Anyway, here's a question to toss out:
If one man can cause pain to another man with no risk to himself, then it's basically torture.
If a group of men can do it to a different group of men, what is it?
--LWM
Guard
Guards are high profile targets that tend to stay in one locationt. Make this thing a hybrid and give them a power cable that can disconnect easily and you give them the ability to carry a ridiculous amount of armor. Current body armor weighs in under 30 lbs. Now imagine being able to be able to wear 200lbs. Along with that instead of carrying a light carbine the standard weapon could be a much heavier rifle or squad gun.
Currently the only method of having a "big dog on a chain" at a defensive position is to have a mounted gun position or a light armored vehicle mounted gun. Neither of which are manuverable nor unable to deal with close quarters opponents at odd angles of fire and both make nice big fat targets for RPG's.
This armored exoskeleton would have most of the advantages and fewer of the disadvantages and provide the intimidation and defensive capabilities the Army is looking for. It'll be some time were you'll see long range patrols using this equipment until some large advancements can be made to the max weight and the density of the power source.
Got to love how any military product has to have a PR photo ready first, results later. Research in any other field doesn't need consumer-electronics-level designers quite so early in the project. Something about that gives me the willies.
I was watching a documentary on the race to build the next generation fighter jet, and time and time again, the main argument in favor of the X22 was that the other design looked weird.
Yeah, plan your multi-billion dollar expenses on the sexiness of the machine boys, not on the functionality. I too get "the willies" thinking that people this infantile are sitting with their finger on the metaphorical nuclear button.
You can't take the sky from me...
Regular underwear, long underwear, insulated shirt/pants, maybe another layer on top of that, overwhites, Bunny Boots, glove liners, Arctic Mittens, balaclava, goggles, etc. etc. Then there is skis/snowshoes/poles, Arctic canteens, and lots of gear. Then add to that a main and reserve chute if you're Airborne (like me), knife, weapons, ammo, cleaning kit, protective mask, maybe a radio and batteries, binos, rope, crampons, etc. etc.
I remember an old poster at one army post that had a pic of a guy carrying a fridge on his back, with the caption "Don't be an ass, leave it behind." I wish.
I'd like to see how this performs while climbing uphill over deadfalls in deep snow at -40 below zero.
30 percent of the carbon monoxide in northeastern U.S. comes from Alaska