Real powered armor

[TwinBahamut]

If you ask me, long before it is actually used by infantry in combat, it could probably be used by workers on the deck of aircraft carriers, helping move and load equipment more efficiently (which I think is the idea, based on that movie). The current unarmored and tethered version might suffice for that with just a little more work.

As for actual battlefield uses, I imagine that it will be most useful for the guys carrying anti-tank weapons, machine guns, and other heavy equipment.

SWAT teams would also benefit a lot this kind of thing, I imagine.

 

[HeavenShallBurn]

If you ask me, long before it is actually used by infantry in combat, it could probably be used by workers on the deck of aircraft carriers, helping move and load equipment more efficiently (which I think is the idea, based on that movie). The current unarmored and tethered version might suffice for that with just a little more work.

As for actual battlefield uses, I imagine that it will be most useful for the guys carrying anti-tank weapons, machine guns, and other heavy equipment.

Agreement. Long before we see a successful adaptation into true powered armor we'll see just the exoskeleton used wherever a load can be lightened and made easier to handle.

SWAT teams would also benefit a lot this kind of thing, I imagine.

That should never happen. Borders on politics so I'll be careful but police should not have access to this, then again I also disapprove of SWAT teams.

 

[Ace]

Just the thing for your near-future game. Check it out: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2007/11/27/yeates.ut.robo.soldier.ksl

I'm a controls engineer, so this stuff is within my professional competency, and I'm frankly amazed that they were able to do this. The second biggest problem with this kind of thing has always been getting motors with a big enough strength to weight ratio. The biggest, which I would guess they haven't solved yet, is powering the thing for long enough to be useful in the field.

Neat gadget but its an expensive RPG magnet.

The lesson of Iraq and Chechnya is AK's are only good to kill civilians and provide suppressive fire IED's and RPG's are where the real action is

Anyway the RPG 7 and its sequels are going to have no problem taking these things out. In fact they make the infantryman into a big walking target

Hell IED's will eat them for breakfast lunch and dinner

Even the crappy cheap versions of these weapons can penetrate up to a foot or more (300MM) of homogeneous rolled armor

To keep up with the penetration even with expensive armor you'd need (very roughly) armor that weighs 3500 lbs or so calculated at 150mm (6") laminate on a man sized unit yes thats more than two tons with horrendous ground pressure, Imagine the weight of a car on two legs This doesn't include the loader, power supply, fuel, pilot, ammunition or weapons BTW

More likely they will be used for domestic suppression operations (riot control and drug interdiction) or loading stuff (which is pretty awesone) -- thats assuming of course they every sell any

 

[Ace]

Add to that "can the suit withstand explosions from IEDs" and you're there. Heck, swap out .50 cal fire and chem/bio weapons, even (although I'd be surprised if you couldn't achieve the latter quite easily with this kind of construction). Anything that allows trained soldiers to be effectively immune to attacks from insurgents, guerillas, or criminals vastly improves the odds in favor of the "trained soldier" side in 90% of the armed conflicts out there.

Vehicles can't survive IFV's much less fragile power suits with almost no air space between the squishy pilot and the explosion

 

[ruleslawyer]

Yeah, that was sorta my point. As you note, IEDs and RPGs are where it's at.

So mobility is the only solution?

 

[Rackhir]

A .50 Cal round will defeat the armor on most light vehicles (Up to Armored Personnel carriers like the M-2 Bradley or BMP series) and was in fact originally developed as an anti-tank (WWI era tanks mind you) round. So you aren't going to be carrying armor that will provide immunity to a round like that in anything even an exo-skeleton will carry. However, if you can even stop stuff like grenade or artillery fragments in addition to small arms you have eliminated 90% of what kills infantry and made the problem of stopping infantry much more difficult. Since you now need vehicle or tripod mounted weapons to be able to stop infantry. Given the kind of terrain that infantry is most effective in (built up areas, jungle, dense forests, etc...) this would present a major problem.

However, I'm not expecting them to crack the power problem any time soon. Though you might see something along these lines in use for specific assault missions within 10 years, where you have a very limited operation duration. Like taking out terrorists holding hostages in a building they have ready access to (like the British Embassy situation in London in the '80s).

 

[Intrope]

Yeah, that was sorta my point. As you note, IEDs and RPGs are where it's at.

So mobility is the only solution?

I believe the Israelis already have a point-defense system for military vehicles to stop RPGs with. Also, a unit of power armor troops moving in a dispersed formation would make IEDs much less effective (because you'd have fewer troopers in the blast).

My bet is that this gets used first in Logistics & Construction rather than combat; being able to load supplies faster and build more quickly (Nailgun hand for the win!) would be very nice (and would also make refueling less of an issue).

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

IEDs and RPGs aren't going to be the death knell for power armor, for several reasons.

First, the armor will reduce the kill radius of the IED significantly; they'd have to be closer to the blast than, say, an unarmored infantryman.

Second, RPGs are hideously inaccurate, and are only as good as their operators.

Third, the mobile infantryman will also have a much easier time using cover and concealment to protect themselves, in comparison to light vehicles. They'll still be able to duck, low-crawl, and otherwise run around like an infantryman.

Brad

 

[S'mon]

I can't see this being much use against insurgent hit & run tactics, IEDs, RPG-7s, or even steel rope tripwires. It might be useful for assaulting a position, but not as much as robots, which are already in use.

 

[Cabled]

My predict...first place you'll actually see'em used is on aircraft carriers, rearming planes and moving them around. All this combat speculation is great, but this will be a forklift before it's a tank.