Do we have the technology to make a super-soldier suit real? According to engineers with MIT and RDECOM (US Army Research, Development and Engineering Command), and a host of other researchers, we do. Enter the TALOS: Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit.
The goals outlined on the the Federal Business Opportunities page for TALOS are defensive in nature, including:
- Improved armor/full-body ballistic protection.
- Enhanced endurance and agility (ex. powered exoskeleton)
- Augment soldier situational awareness (ex. sensors & combat-ready displays)
- Embedded body monitoring and medical function, including temperature regulation, weight distribution, oxygen management, and wound stasis.
Sounds like a tall order to fill, but some prototypes have already emerged that fulfill a number of these parameters. One of the solutions for ballistic protection is a full-body exoskeleton made with phase-shifting materials, transforming from liquid to solid in milliseconds. Another TALOS technology includes a load-bearing exoskeleton that augments the soldier’s joints, reducing impact to the soldier’s body, conferring the wearer superhuman improvements to their endurance. Another development involves utilizing wound-sealing foam to treat injured TALOS wearers. …Sounds more like MJOLNIR tech, than Iron Man, to me (especially with the lack of offensive weaponry and sweet arc reactor power), but that’s just probably just my video game geekery showing.
Images courtesy of interestingengineering.com (left) and contributor subtank, via halo.wikia.com (right).
Unfortunately for the TALOS prototypes, the researchers working on the project don’t have a power source like Stark’s handy arc reactor. So, one of the design challenges is building a suit that has the electricity-sucking features, like command access, bio-medical monitoring, situational awareness monitoring, etc., and enough battery power to run them without making the suit too bulky or heavy. After all, one of the key goals for TALOS is to improve the soldier’s agility—kinda tricky if the wearer has to tote a car battery to keep the suit’s features running.
Even with that hurdle to overcome, the US Army is confident with the progress made thus far that the TALOS prototypes will be ready for testing as early as June 2014, and field operational by 2018.
I’ll admit, I think the concepts are awesome, but I’m going to hold out until the jump jet model releases. How about you?
H/T to Denise Chow and Marc Lallanilla of livescience.com
The still featuring the Mark VI Iron Man suit is from the Jon Favreau film Iron Man 2 (2010).
I have kind of a varied opinion on these. I am amazed at the technological implications exoskeletons like these could provide (Not only for military but commercial applications also). However, I’m also of the opinion that over technologizing (What’s a better way of saying that?) is not necessarily a good thing. Terrorism and guerrilla warfare looks to be the way of the future for our enemies. Every country has watched our “playbook” for the last 12 years now and realizes that hit & run, IEDs, indirect confrontations is the way to beat us down & to neutralize our technological advantage. We can have the most awesomely bad ass iron man suits possible out there but if their is limited enemy to be found or ROE’s don’t allow the advantages of these suits to be used then they become a waste of money in my eyes.
Not to mention no one wants this to turn into another project like the F-35…
I wonder if there would be a way to incorporate solar panels into the exoskeleton that are powerful enough to run the features, but not compromise the ballistic protection. That would solve the problem of the weight of a battery pack, but if the suit was to be used in Stealth Missions or at night then it would need to be fitted with a power storage unit of some sort. Very neat concept, I like the way the Bat suit in the Batman Begins film trilogy is designed, it would be more useful than a very heavy exoskeleton. I figure if you have mostly full ballistic and ordinance protection, there would be no need to be super agile. Look at Robocop, slow but gets the Job done. Stark’s suit, Batman’s, Robocop’s, and Judge Dredd’s suits fascinate me though. Thanks for posting this.
Z0mb3hHunt3r I’ll be tracking the prototype progress with marked enthusiasm… what’s also exciting to me is the “trickle-down” of the tech from military to civilian/personal defense ;]
…Stallone did a Judge Dredd? Huh. Not sure I’d want to see that. Never was a big Stallone fan. /shrug
FateofDestinee Z0mb3hHunt3r It was a film I was fond up when I was growing up. It can be found on Youtube, Titled “Judge Dredd 1995”. It has some humor to it, but it is nothing like 2000 A.D or the Comics as he doesn’t have his helmet on much. He also gets an annoying Sidekick, Rob Schneider. It is interesting to note that the Lawgiver II in the film is a Beretta 93 Raffica, just like Robocop’s sidearm. In Dredd 2012 it is a Mocked-up Glock pistol. It would be awesome to see this technology, it seems that the only advancements that have been going on are Microchips, Cellular Phones, Computers and Televisions. Back in the 1990s I always thought that we would have flying cars, Laser Weaponry or Rail-guns, and Robocop style armor, and anti-aging chemicals or Human augmentation. (I guess that was just wishful thinking brought on by film). It seems the only cartridge progression we are seeing is the mixing of Intermediate Rifle Cartridges with Pistol Cartridges, and High Pressure Pistol Cartridges, like the .40 S&W, .357 SIG and .45 GAP. I guess that is why I’ve gotten into gunsmithing, I want this type of technology to progress as fast as Computer technology has. If I only had the resources, I could probably build a suit using Ballistic Nylon, Soft armor, Steel plate armor/Ceramic plates tipped in Teflon or polymer (or a combination of both), Reinforce the weak points/joints with level III soft armor material, coated in extra Ballistic Nylon, and try to replicate the look of the Right side of the picture you posted in the article. From playing the Metal Gear Solid video games, I’ve always wanted to create a “Sneaking Suit”. If I ever hit the lottery my dreams might come to light. 🙂 You should hear/see some of the firearm ideas I have been sketching/planning out.
I think it’s awesome too!!! Would be a dream come true if out from movies, comics, games to real life :]
They have been working on this idea through DARPA for a long time. Of course if Boston Dynamics are successful in their soldier replacement there may be little need. The catch is that both developing techs are not practical outside of limited circumstance until a more suitable power source is worked out, and that could take a while.
EricKmiecik Ya never know… plenty of mil tech has evolved civilian counterparts. This could be one of them (one can dream, right?).
drmorris9 I’ve seen a number of the DARPA prototypes… exciting stuff! I’ll definitely have an eye out to see how this project progresses.
Where is the horse and the rider?