Power Armor?

nemo

Junior Member
If Exoskeleton breaks down than what...drop all that gear? It takes only ONE of those exoskeleton to break down to hinder an entire squad and platoon operation plans as they can't leave that man behind.

Heck even during the Iraq and Afghanistan campaign the US couldn't even provide body armor to all of it's combat and combat support units. And this will be more expensive even in mass production. I can see it usefulness as for mechanize infantry but not always for the light infantry with recon and quick strike missions.

Since when do you plan an operation without considering attrition? Even without exoskeleton, people do get injured or killed in unplanned situations. When that happens, people compensate and improvise.

And it's not so difficult to bring along a extra set or two of exoskeletons as spares.
 

no_name

Colonel
I'm thinking maybe robots made to look like people wearing power armour can be remote controlled to go into hot zones in urban combat before soldiers to attract and expose enemy fire positions. They can be trained via neural network learning to imitate human-like movement to make them look authentic. A flanking/surprise maneuver can then be planned or to be handled by the robot if possible. Their movement can be speed up to make them harder to hit.
 

wtlh

Junior Member
My 2 cents:

First all, exoskeletons in their current form is basically a weight bearing aid. It allows a human to carry more weight than otherwise allowed. HOWEVER, there are severe issues in using these by combat patrol troops.

Troops are trained to drop their "luggage" when encountering enemy. They need to run, jump, climb, crawl and fall down to find cover and to manoeuvre into firing positions. The exoskeletons of todays form only function correctly within very limited mode of movement, e.g. standing up, walking or running slowly. They hinder rapid movements required during a combat situation. Try ask a solider wearing an exoskeleton complete an obstacle training course.

Therefore, the maximum combat load should still be limited to what a soldier can carry comfortably on his own, without hindering any modes of motion. The exoskeletons are really only useful in carrying heavier loads in non-combat situations. However, unlike backpacks, which can be dropped within a 1 sec, the current exoskeleton designs take a lot longer to put on and take off. This is undesirable for combat patrols, since they may encounter an enemy unexpectedly.

For mechanised infantries, the vehicles carry most non-essential loads for them. And the vehicles provide cover, fire support, and strategic mobility. They are still much more versatile than exoskeletons. IEDs are poor-man's weapons against guided missiles, tanks, helicopters etc. They are basically homemade mines. There are a lot more deadly and more advanced anti-vehicular and anti-personal mines available to more advanced militaries. So IEDs are a poor reason for considering the advantages of exoskeletons over vehicles.

So at least in the near future, I see exoskeletons to be useful meanly to logistic sections for carrying heavy loads to areas unsuitable or unreachable by vehicles (including helicopters). E.g. when air-superiority has not been established, and transport helicopters run high risks, and the region is mountainous, forrest, or dense urban, where it would be difficult for military vehicles to manoeuvre; or in situations where heavy equipments needs to be moved into some strategic positions without taking the obvious routes like roads.

But, wearing them in combat I think will still be years away. The exoskeletons can only offset their severe disadvantages in restricting human motion by dramatically increased firepower and armour protection. But you will be looking at armour protection at least on par to that of an APC in vital areas, and that may very much mean the requirement of power assist----thus leading to the issue of power cells.
 
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Insignius

Junior Member
Well, those lightweight HULC-styled exoskeletons do not restrict movement all that much. There are test of going prone and crawling with them, and it appears that there is no problem.

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Might also want to have a powered upper-extremity exoskeleton in case you need to climb walls and fences, though. Pulling yourself up while wearing that thing might be a bit hard to do, even to the most fittest soldiers.
 

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TerraN_EmpirE

Tyrant King
Wlth your entire statement is Bogus!
Harvard's warrior web, Lockheed Martin's Hulc have both been tested on treadmills running across a verity of desert, rocky and urban terrain sets. Many can be stowed or dropped easily.
[video=youtube_share;EdK2y3lphmE]http://youtu.be/EdK2y3lphmE[/video]

The limiter today is power. the Battery technologies as they stand today.
 

no_name

Colonel
No Name if you could do that why not just go all the way and Terminator?

Because I don't believe the terminator's autonomous ability is achievable for quite some while. All I'm suggesting is a controlled robot with movements made to look like it's a real person so the opponent won't think it is too obvious a bait. Also I don't think you can have something as durable as a terminator for some while yet.
 

TerraN_EmpirE

Tyrant King
still my point is if you can build remote controlled humanoid robots, then why use them as decoys at all? even if there not as rugged as a T800 model 101 "Arnold" Terminator if they can lift a combat weapon and maneuver like a human in urban battle. why even send human soldiers. I would rather hear on the news about a hundred EM208 enforcement droids being blown to bits then a single human infantry man. hell send them by the hundreds. Droids don't bleed, they don't leave grieving families, AQ captures it and executes it in Online videos we laugh and send in a dozen more. no need for medics, body armor heck you can build APC's IFV's and tanks of paper thin armor let the baddies shoot them up all they want not one drop of blood. even if it's just remote controlled.
 

Equation

Lieutenant General
Since when do you plan an operation without considering attrition? Even without exoskeleton, people do get injured or killed in unplanned situations. When that happens, people compensate and improvise.

And it's not so difficult to bring along a extra set or two of exoskeletons as spares.

Yes but I'm talking about movement to the ORP (Objective Rally Point) prior to the RP (release point) to get to the objective during the mission. My argument is the exoskeleton could likely hinder the mission by taking away the surprise element along with stealth before any shot is taken.
 

TerraN_EmpirE

Tyrant King
Yes but I'm talking about movement to the ORP (Objective Rally Point) prior to the RP (release point) to get to the objective during the mission. My argument is the exoskeleton could likely hinder the mission by taking away the surprise element along with stealth before any shot is taken.

You mean the sound of the motor and hydraulics. well were still in early generations as we move ahead hard suits will probably always have a noise factor but it's likely to get quieter and in the case of Hulc they could be slung.
a soft suit is likely to be very quiet, no louder then a pair of corduroys after all it's just fabrics and a small motor system.
 
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