Power Armor?
- Thread starter solarz
- Start date
TerraN_EmpirE
Tyrant King
color me impressed. although still years be for field tests
Equation
Lieutenant General
True it is years away, but what I see is a maintenance nightmare. The more high tech and complex the system the more it hinders the infantry and special forces unit with obligated responsibility to keep that expensive system in good working condition that can take away their time to train for combat readiness.
On the other hand, a special force or infantry that is being weighted down by all their gear (its getting more, not less in the future), is equally useless.
And dont say that Chinese infantrymen should carry less. They are already, and this is bad. Cultural Revolution-tier of bad. Born from military delusions of a worse era, where Generals and soldiers alike thought that due to some special 'chinese revolutionary spirit' a soldier only needs his straw sandals and an Type 56 SKS to win against all the imperialists.
It's good to see the PLA is thinking ahead and going with the times.
After issuing actual body-armor with those heavy ballistic plates, and more than three magazines per man, along with personal communication equipment and AT weapons, even the Chinese soldier will share the troubles of thousands of western soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan: The damn weight of load that will ruin their joints for life after a few years of service.
Exoskeletons are the future. There's no way around them.
TerraN_EmpirE
Tyrant King
Probably just for the prototype.Some more. Seems like the shoes are fixed
View attachment 10733View attachment 10734View attachment 10735View attachment 10736
Apparently flexible enough for side-way kicks, even!
View attachment 10729View attachment 10730View attachment 10731
I'm not let down at all by this Airshow!
Might want to watch out where you kick with that thing... Probably would send a person flying.
TerraN_EmpirE
Tyrant King
As we move into the 21st century the battle fields are moving to closer and closer battle ranges across the 3 dimensional space of urban battle. this means that the 19th, 20th century power of a Army Artillery falls back as against a insurgent force or dug in army can use noncombatants as human shields. Meaning striking at them with Rockets mortars and Cannon can quickly turn in to a disaster. the only way to route it out is infantry. Urban conflict always favors a prepared defender. look at Gaza, the Mexican boarder and the Costra Nostra. They have tunneled fortified and gone deep. a prepared foe. Artillery fire would have to try and break through millions of tons of dirt and reinforced concrete. other then a bunker buster the only way to clear out that nest of vipers is to send in your own snake.Old Snake said:
light infantry is no longer a few magazines of ammo, a uniform, a weapon and good luck. night vision, communications body armor and it's only going to get heavier as threats of urban keep coming.
Now As I see it we are going to see two types of Infantry Powered Exoskeleton
The Exosuit and the Exoskeleton.
the exoskeleton is what we see here now. this is a hard mechanical system that fits around the body. a true wearable robot.
( this is a rejected line art from Iron Man 2)
this is a nearly entirely mechanical device. it's scaled larger than a human because it has to fit over a human.
meaning you could even build to "Hulkbuster" Scale although the practicality of such is questionable. outside of short Rampages a Hulkbuster would be mostly a giant target. the key advantage might be external heavy weapons and specialty equipment mounting as well as a wider range of strength enhancement.
disadvantage is it's bigger then a human so close close quarters would be inhibited. it's louder because of pumps and mechanical elements, it's susceptible to conditions because of exposure.
The Exosuit is what we see also merging in the form of Warrior Web from Harvard. this is based around a soft structure. it mimic nature in it's movements and function.
[video=youtube_share;CWwm39Xx2YQ]http://youtu.be/CWwm39Xx2YQ[/video]
( Old snake MGS4)
The Key advantages are it's human sized uses a less complex structure of motors. it might offer the ability to use it amphibiously because the parts are smaller and the structure is intended to lay much closer to the body. additionally it's likely to be cheaper to tailor for the wearer, easier to conceal It can be worn under a uniform being worn over the skin. it might also prove a point of mounting for climbing and parachute harnesses of the future.
the key disadvantage is less ability at power enhancement, zero ability to adapt heavy weapons to literally mount.
Both may have the ability to mate with body armor system and offer limited protection from fragmentation and impact. critically neither is really going to speed the wearer beyond there top physical speed. for that a system that alters the way we move for that some thing like this.
[video=youtube_share;VCnT-qWTE84]http://youtu.be/VCnT-qWTE84[/video]
Last edited:
wtlh
Junior Member
I see the main challenge in the concept of power armour lies in the "power" part. The current battery/power technology is still not adequate.
I believe years back the Russians had a leg attachment/running mechanism similar to the device shown in the last video in the post above, which uses petrol to power the mechanism. They basically had a small cylinder and piston on each of the devices, and the running motion of the operator cycles the piston, which draws in petrol from a small tank mounted as a part of the attachment, that ignites inside the cylinder, giving a powered push, making each step jumping some 3 meters or more. It was claimed the top speed could exceed 60 Km/hour, but I guess it would be extremely dangerous to do so, as it would be difficult to stop.
I have seen this once on TV, and a person demonstrating it, and it appears to work just as described, with the guy running it sounded like a locomotive. It was said at the time that some Russian riot police had adopted/or expressed interest in the thing, and believed it to be beneficial when charging the crowds. I have only seen it once, and that was very long time ago, and I have not heard it since.
I believe years back the Russians had a leg attachment/running mechanism similar to the device shown in the last video in the post above, which uses petrol to power the mechanism. They basically had a small cylinder and piston on each of the devices, and the running motion of the operator cycles the piston, which draws in petrol from a small tank mounted as a part of the attachment, that ignites inside the cylinder, giving a powered push, making each step jumping some 3 meters or more. It was claimed the top speed could exceed 60 Km/hour, but I guess it would be extremely dangerous to do so, as it would be difficult to stop.
I have seen this once on TV, and a person demonstrating it, and it appears to work just as described, with the guy running it sounded like a locomotive. It was said at the time that some Russian riot police had adopted/or expressed interest in the thing, and believed it to be beneficial when charging the crowds. I have only seen it once, and that was very long time ago, and I have not heard it since.