Power armor (from 2007)

I will start to get interested again once they get finally tank weapons for the infantry. 120mm guns and such.
 
Old news. This kind of stuff have been posted numerous times before. I did one of the DARPA project way back when it started.

It's not hard to make some crappy version of PA at home these days if you knew how. You can check out my thread Redneck powered armor.

Even TED talks had a demo from Berkeley or something.

edit to add:

As for weapons like missiles or RPG type of shell weapons mounted on such units, they tried that with the home version in the NG channel show. In terms of practicality, I think unless you can make Land Mates like Appleseed, Assault Armor from Red Eyes or something bigger like the TAs in Garsaraki, I doubt tank guns will be practical. The biggest problem these days is the power source. It's not really an independent unit unless you can roam freely, so unless we do discover something ridiculous like cold fusion, or other type of small and very energy efficient generators and motors, I doubt its practical use.

If you build them bigger to help with the power issue, then there are whole other sets of problems. How would you transport them? Is it cost efficient? In the Square series Front Mission, they've already built an infrastructure to support these machines. They have aircrafts that includes helicopters that can log these things around. How much would that cost to develop?

lol, there is still a long road ahead.
 
guns development seems indeed ages ahead of armory improvements ... a video from metal storm company about new weapons (2009)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXECU3YKMfI

but i guess that today's technology will eventually reach portable energy generators in some decades or centuries, there are already some in the market that are fairly good for the mundane needs ... mostly using solar based system

http://www.mysolarbackup.com/

http://www.sunrnr.com/Home_Page.html

i guess using solar energy is the best way to get there, perhaps even to use kinetic or thermal energy to re-use this energy produced by the own suit movements & systems, some of our tech is capable of doing that, as for example to ride a bike and re-charge a small battery to be used in the bike's lamp. but of course, we would need lots and lots and lots of improvements in that area ...
 
I can only speak from a US-centric point of view, as I was in the army from 2005-2011.

I honestly don't see power armor becoming a serious infantry weapon platform. Barring some totally incredible breakthroughs in materials science and energy production/storage systems, it will continue to be more cost effective and require fewer training man-hours to use mobile artillery and air-to-ground heavy strike weaponry for missions requiring the delivery of serious firepower.

Even assuming that all the technical hurdles were overcome and that practical power armor could be used in field conditions, the training aspect alone would keep the numbers of such units low. Common soldiers already have 15 tasks, 76 subtasks and four battle drills to be fully trained in. That's JUST in basic training, not including whatever they need to know for their military specialty. When I joined in 2005 it was 32 tasks, 207 subtasks and 12 battle drills. The trend is to simplify training as much as possible.

Artillery and helicopter crews have to split up operational tasks and responsibilities because the systems they operate are so complex. The Patriot anti-missile teams are even more compartmentalized and specialized. Basically with weaponized power armor we're talking about the equivalent of a tank or a helicopter in complexity, operated by a single soldier. You can only handle so much of a system that complex with automation, which of course can fail, and then what?

There's a limit to how much data a single mind can cope with, especially under stress. That fact implies that a similarly limited number of individuals will be able to adapt mentally and physically to running something like a powered suit, in the same way that a limited number of people can handle flying an F-16.

In the end, I suspect that we'll see much more emphasis on UGV and UAV technology, which has (in some instances anyway) already proven its worth and has at least the beginnings of a sound tactical and strategic doctrine in place.

I'd put money on seeing iterated variants on the Crusher, the Switchblade, and the Raven in the field, and the power armor strictly in the PR briefings, for the next few decades or so. They require significantly less training for operators, use present technology, don't expose the operator to hostiles, and fit nicely in the corners of the budget.

http://www.rec.ri.cmu.edu/projects/crusher/

http://defense-update.com/products/l/switchblade_31122010.html

http://www.af.mil/information/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=10446
 
Makenshi said:
you're ruining our dreams, man...
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Sorry. What I meant to say was that power armor is already being used covertly by south american drug interdiction squads, and that it'll soon be available on the civilian market in a favela near you for 1 dollar US. It will also be available in a 2 dollar package with a new-in-box 19 year old nymphomaniac and a fifth of sambuca.

Don't know what I was thinking earlier. Apologies all around.
 
If something like power armor were really implemented, it would require special training and probably be utilized by special forces. It's not something that regular infantry would utilize, any more than they get to drive tanks.
 
Richwizard said:
If something like power armor were really implemented, it would require special training and probably be utilized by special forces. It's not something that regular infantry would utilize, any more than they get to drive tanks.
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That's a valid point, in that it would be a necessarily select group of end users, but there's not a lot of need for that sort of thing in spec ops. Unless you ask spec ops, of course, and they'll tell you they need more and better of everything.

I'm hard pressed to imagine what you would do with the stuff in a small unit covert scenario that you couldn't do better, cheaper, and safer with existing tech. Admittedly I'm no military genius, but special forces focuses more on training local fighters and skulking about on long range missions with the absolute minimum of equipment to accomplish the job. Stand up large scale engagements are not what they're doing. The mobility and range restrictions that any near-term power armor imply are basically incompatible with their current profile.

I'm not saying it's never going to happen, but the countries that will have the budget to pursue this any time soon are just focused on different tactical doctrines. Unmanned systems are comparatively cheap in both real dollars and in political capital. No one gets voted out of office or demoted when a bunch of robots get blown up.
 
I'm just speculating, but new special units would probably be created for power armor troopers; just like when plane and tanks were invented. If these suits could be made tough enough, a platoon of troopers might be just as effective as a tank and be a lot more mobile. Of course, it would probably take a whole platoon of these guys to equal a tank.

It would be a matter of trading vulnerabilities. Tanks are very tough with a great amount of firepower. But, their heaviness makes them slow moving targets, relatively easy to hit with the right ordinance. There are also places they can't go, like inside buildings or caves. PA troopers would, obviously, not be as heavily armored as a tank. But, they would be able to move as quickly as any footsoldier and be able to go places that a tank never could.
 
As far as precision mobility goes, PA would be cheaper to transport en masse, certainly. They'd also better far at going into buildings.

Of course an M1A1 Abrams can go upwards of 30mph cross country, be air dropped in pairs out of a C-5 Galaxy, drive straight through most buildings, and put a 120mm round on target at 3,500 meters.

On the other hand, they burn between 30 and 60 gallons of fuel an hour. :lol:

They're admittedly not instruments ideally suited for missions requiring great finesse, however. :wink:
 
i dont see PA being the direction we really move in for the future. what i see are the mechwarrior style.

especially once they get the micro-nuclear reactor tech developed to the point of viability.

and for mechwarrior style "personal vehicles" i would see a lot of possibilities. and valuable.
 
paladin_lord said:
guns development seems indeed ages ahead of armory improvements ... a video from metal storm company about new weapons (2009)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXECU3YKMfI

but i guess that today's technology will eventually reach portable energy generators in some decades or centuries, there are already some in the market that are fairly good for the mundane needs ... mostly using solar based system
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That's just pointless. I don't imagine why anyone would need these anyways. Fight the terrorists? Don't be kidding me.

If any war would be waged right now, it would be fought from space. Satellite scan, nuke launched, goodbye everyone, I'm dead too.

Although I certainly hope this power armor does get released. Imagine the amount of stuff you could do with this. From simply saving a life you could essentially survive an earthquake or something.
 
Sub-Human said:
paladin_lord said:
guns development seems indeed ages ahead of armory improvements ... a video from metal storm company about new weapons (2009)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXECU3YKMfI

but i guess that today's technology will eventually reach portable energy generators in some decades or centuries, there are already some in the market that are fairly good for the mundane needs ... mostly using solar based system
Click to expand...

That's just pointless. I don't imagine why anyone would need these anyways. Fight the terrorists? Don't be kidding me.

If any war would be waged right now, it would be fought from space. Satellite scan, nuke launched, goodbye everyone, I'm dead too.

Although I certainly hope this power armor does get released. Imagine the amount of stuff you could do with this. From simply saving a life you could essentially survive an earthquake or something.
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I agree with you man. Power Armor is only plausible in Fallout because of their alternate timeline. Most military's are moving toward unmanned vehicles, space based missile platforms, and experimental laser tech- if they have the resources to do so.
 
I can see it coming for manual work, to replace the forklift in some places.
 
Hassknecht said:
I can see it coming for manual work, to replace the forklift in some places.
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Definitely. They've got one for lifting patients in hospitals, a decidedly non-optimal location for forklifts. :wink: That said, the forklift is a pretty efficient tool. I'd be surprised to see exoskeletons actually replacing them at tasks they currently do well.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yz618qJlIBA[/youtube]
 
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