Powered Combat Armor on the Horizon?

[sgtgunn]

There seems to to be more and more news on serious military research projects involving exoskeletons and personal armor technology.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJ4J69EEpu4"]YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.[/ame]
http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2004/03/03_exo.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HAL_5
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_powered_exoskeleton


Is this the kind of development we can expect to see in the next 10 years? Obviously any kind of armored exoskeleton for military use would have significant costs - if something like this were ever fielded would I doubt it would be standard equipment to all infantryman (unless you had a small, rich country). What might be the tactical ramifications of a force of infantryman equipped with an armored exoskeleton that:

-provided personal protection against all or most small arms, fragments, and blast
-gave its wearer some level of increased strength and mobility
-protected against most CRBN or enviornmental hazards
-allowed the weared to carry a wide range of weapons from normal infantry small arms, to heavier weapons traditional employed in a crew-served role.
-had an advanced intergrated sensor and C4 cabilities

Seems to me such a system would be ideal for fighting insurgency or asymmetrical type conflicts, especially with the enhancement of soldier survivability which is such a major issue among western armies. I don't think the potential psychological effect of such a system should underestimated either. I would think that if I were a Taliaban-sort whose understanding of technology might limited to the AK-47, the wheel, and fire, running into an armored super soldier, who shrugs off 7.62mm like water, and is to small and quick to be hit with anything bigger (like an RPG), who can run up the side of a mountain, and carries a .50 cal like it was an M4, would undermine my will to fight.

I know I would have liked something like that in Iraq!



Adrian

 

[Will]

The powered exoskeleton might not be too far off. The problem is the power supply. Batteries won't hold enough charge. Fuel cells might work, if there is a fuel that is compact, light & still safe. No way you want to carry a petrol burning engine on your back into combat.

 

[Grim901]

It is an interesting prospect, however the technical challenges mean that it won't be a reality for battlefield use within 10 years, I am positive about that.

The main problem is the large power requirement of such as suit, notice in the video the sizeable power cable. It would require quite a step forward in energy technology for a mobile, battle ready cocept to be feasible.

However, if that were solved I can see the massive potential of the concept. Although the cost, as you said, would be huge. More likely it would be limited to specialist roles, such as engineering uses and if possible, special forces use.

I doubt that enough numbers would be fielded for regular use in counter insurgency operations, except perhaps as the tip of a spear in large/important ops. I can't see multi-million dollar machines in the hands of GI's patrolling villages against guys with AK47's anytime soon, that would be like sending a B2 on every bombing run over Afghanistan just in case their is the odd surface to air missile lying around.

 

[eckherl]

Have to agree with the power supply concern at the current time, but I think it would make a excellant logistical support tool for rear echelon units.

 

[sakina]

I am deeply sceptical for this type of technology. I would say that it is more like 20 years from being seriously fielded.

I believe that the first factor is cost. I believe that C4I technology will have higher priority as it will give bigger bang for the buck. You could probably have 20 soldiers upgraded to a full Future Soldier status for the cost of one with an exoskeleton.

My next worry is that with such a highly complex system, there is too much to go wrong with it. One weak spot, one manufacturing flaw, one bullet to the wrong location and it could leave the soldier immobilised and hence his life in danger. This leads to the thought that it may be more useful ‘in the rear with the gear’ as an aid to move heavy equipment, but then I just think that it would be much cheaper to employ things such as unmanned ground vehicles, robotic fork-lift trucks, etc.

I cannot see any of these systems being light or small any time soon. This would lead to problems with transportation in terms of the additional payload required to transport out via transport aircraft either leaving less for people and supplies or increasing the quantity of trips required. It also will probably mean that soldiers such as these probably can’t use regular armoured vehicles and therefore may not be able to get to where they need to be quickly enough.

As these systems are quite bulky, I see they may also have limitations by not being able to fit into buildings, unable to climb over walls, may not fit into tight spaces and may not be very stealthy.

Then there is also the question of support and maintenance. Just like aircraft, these systems may need more people to maintain them than the amount of people using them.

I see that this technology although may be inevitable in the future, will need many more generations of improvement before it will make a large difference on the battlefield. Until then, I see that it is much more likely to be utilised either in a space or civilian application. For example a cut down system giving the disabled more mobility.

 

[Doan]

Well, I think it wont take long(10-15years), until PowerArmors will be used in military service.

The HAL-5 is almost market-ready and can be operated for 2,5h without recharging. And compared to the SARCOS one pretty smal.
Thought I bet SARCOS could easily downsize the Suit, but hadnt considered in the design yet.

Now think of a modified APC with special seats(integrated battery-charger...etc.) for a 6 man troop. Wouldnt that be perfect for houseraids in hostile areas like Iraq?


sorry for my bad english, hope I could get my point across.
its 4 am and I need sleep...:sleepy3

What's "HAL" (Hybrid Assistive Limb®)? - CYBERDYNE

 

[Grim901]

Well, I think it wont take long(10-15years), until PowerArmors will be used in military service.

The HAL-5 is almost market-ready and can be operated for 2,5h without recharging. And compared to the SARCOS one pretty smal.
Thought I bet SARCOS could easily downsize the Suit, but hadnt considered in the design yet.

Now think of a modified APC with special seats(integrated battery-charger...etc.) for a 6 man troop. Wouldnt that be perfect for houseraids in hostile areas like Iraq?


sorry for my bad english, hope I could get my point across.
its 4 am and I need sleep...:sleepy3

What's "HAL" (Hybrid Assistive Limb®)? - CYBERDYNE

You got the point across fine. But when you consider how long military operations normally are, even mechanised infantry spend more than 2.5 hours outside their vehicles and the recharge time would be long and annoying too. That and you'd be deploying a very expensive machine to do a job that standard infantry do well enough now. You lose a lot of the advantages a militarised power suit could do by putting them in a confined space like that too.

 

[Doan]

Yeah, in the end, everything falls back to the power source.
But there is already some research, that could lead to a solution, like for example, shown in the linked video:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpJQNMBNtOo"]YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.[/ame]
(I'm refering to the part inbetwen the 2:15 - 2:51 min.)

Also interresting:
Technological singularity
Moor's Law

Hope I didn't go to much OT.