Powered Combat Suit

jaeger115 · Post by **jaeger115** » 2002-12-30 12:43am

Here's my idea for a powered combat suit for the soldier of the future:

Armor: Should be tough, but not too heavy as it will burden the servos and actuators. Should be resistant to any bullet fired from any rifle (ie head should survive a direct hit from a sniper's bullet). It should be arranged so the plates don't impede movement. I know that's hard to do without sacrificing protection, so I suggest large armor plates on the non-flexing areas of the body supplemented by smaller plates on the joints. Under that armor system is a black body glove similar to that worn by the clonetroopers from AOTC. Above all, it should be airtight to resist NBC attacks.

Power and Locomotion system: Fitting a power system on the suit is tough, because you'd have to find the right balance between portability and power. A hydrogen power cell is a good start. If you disagree, please post an alternative.
For locomotion, there are servos at every joint, except these in the fingers, toes, and neck. The actuators on the thighs, calves, lower torso, and arms all should be strong and reliable enough that the soldier can jump at least 30 ft up or down.

Control system: A system that detects the soldier's voluntary movements and translates them into mechanical movements is too complicated and takes too long to execute. Rather, the system should reply on direct neural links. Extending from the inside of the suit's neck is a cord that attaches to an implant in the back of the soldier's neck, connecting directly with the spinal cord. That way, the soldier and the suit can execute exactly the same movements. Unfortunately that would require invasive surgery to do that, so it should be reserved for elite units.

What do you think? Add suggestions or criticisms. This is a project in progress so all feedback is welcome.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2002-12-30 12:50am

In other words, you want what's logical and what has already been theorized a billion times.

jaeger115 · Post by **jaeger115** » 2002-12-30 12:54am

Well, that neural-link idea is the only one I can think of. And I think I saw in Popular Science that the US Army has developed a bulletproof vest capable of stopping rifle and machine gun rounds for a limited time. And that servo/actuator system could provide the soldier with some aces up his sleeve (*cough*can jump over walls *cough*).

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2002-12-30 01:34am

Simply lining the inside of the suit with sensors would work just fine, and won't require technology that's theoretical at best.

jaeger115 · Post by **jaeger115** » 2002-12-30 06:15am

That would work, but the sensors will need to be superfast. If the soldier makes a sudden move, the suit can't fall behind or he will end up dead.

omegaLancer · Post by **omegaLancer** » 2002-12-30 06:40am

If such suit could be made, in the long run it better to remove the human from the equation and operate the suit remotely.

Image robotic soldiers using telepresent to gid them thru battle.

jaeger115 · Post by **jaeger115** » 2002-12-30 07:07am

If such suit could be made, in the long run it better to remove the human from the equation and operate the suit remotely.

Image robotic soldiers using telepresent to gid them thru battle.

What if the link is broken? What if an erratic artillery round or bomb hits the communications antenneas, severing the connection between robot and operator? That would result in a battlefield-wide metal mess

.

SWPIGWANG · Post by **SWPIGWANG** » 2002-12-30 07:42am

Guns > Armor

The primary reason for power armor should be mobility, as it is far easier to build a big enough gun than a thick enough armor. When a naked guy can easily carry a gun that goes 12mm RHA, a the dirt remains the best defense.

And I don't believe in servos that does not help mobility except for a stablized weapon mount.

jaeger115 · Post by **jaeger115** » 2002-12-30 08:29am

Guns > Armor

The primary reason for power armor should be mobility, as it is far easier to build a big enough gun than a thick enough armor. When a naked guy can easily carry a gun that goes 12mm RHA, a the dirt remains the best defense.

And I don't believe in servos that does not help mobility except for a stablized weapon mount.

Exactly what I was talking about. The weapon should be stabilized by the soldier himself, not the servos.

Falcon · Post by **Falcon** » 2002-12-30 08:43am

What about EMPs blowing out the electronics on this thing? We're developing small scale EMP missles right now, in case you don't think EMP defense will be a problem...

The best method is the KISS system, KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID!

jaeger115 · Post by **jaeger115** » 2002-12-30 09:00am

What about EMPs blowing out the electronics on this thing? We're developing small scale EMP missles right now, in case you don't think EMP defense will be a problem...

The best method is the KISS system, KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID!

Have you ever heard of the Land Warrior program the US Army is working on? It involves PLENTY of electronics. Do you seriously think the Army would put fragile electronics on a soldier without hardening?

We need to harden the electronic systems. One way to go about it is to repeatedly expose the wire to EMP shocks. That'll make the wire more resistant.

Necro99 · Post by **Necro99** » 2002-12-30 12:07pm

I spend alot of time in class theorising and making power armor plans. So far, the best plan i know is the neural link. A little plug in the neck -ala- matrix.

But the DARPA is studing a exoskeleton for soldiers.
http://www.darpa.mil/DSO/thrust/md/Exos ... index.html

Captain Cyran · Post by **Captain Cyran** » 2002-12-30 12:14pm

My personal favorite battle suits come from two places, both books. One is Heinlein's powered suits from Starship Troopers, I loved the entire chapter they spent explaining all the awesome details of their powered suits. And the second is the powered armor from the Dahakverse, of course EVERYTHING from Dahakverse kicks ass so that is understandable.

jaeger115 · Post by **jaeger115** » 2002-12-30 12:25pm

I personally like that powered armor the Master Chief from Halo wears.

Balrog · Post by **Balrog** » 2002-12-30 12:30pm

Sucks to the Land Warrior program, Future Soldier 2025's is the way to go

jaeger115 · Post by **jaeger115** » 2002-12-30 12:38pm

That looks like Power Rangers!

Hey wait a minute...
Haven't seen you before...

POKE

Just had to do that

The Nomad · Post by **The Nomad** » 2002-12-30 01:39pm

Culture combat suits kick ass, too.

Captain Cyran · Post by **Captain Cyran** » 2002-12-30 02:29pm

jaeger115 wrote: That looks like Power Rangers!

Hey wait a minute...
Haven't seen you before...

POKE

Just had to do that

*Looks at Jeager's post count and thinks for a second* "Yeah I guess you can get away with that."

As for Balrog.....

HADOKEN!!

God Emperor · Post by **God Emperor** » 2002-12-30 05:48pm

I like the suits Dale Brown came up with in Tin Man.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2002-12-30 05:56pm

None of that stuff is feasible. It depends on what question we're asking: "which cool and totally infeasible suit design do we like?" or "what could we actually build in the foreseeable future?"

A feasible power-armour suit will not be worth it. If it's light enough for the man to operate through muscle-power if its systems fail or are damaged, you can't possibly armour it enough to take heavy weapons, or even a Barrett sniper rifle. If you make it huge, you lose the flexibility of a man-sized soldier and in the event of damage, the soldier is stuck inside a useless suit. And if he climbs out, he'd better hope none of the weapons were integrated into the suit, since he won't be able to take them with him.

A vehicle is a better idea than a big armour suit, and a passive NBC armour with various powered tactical systems such as comms, night-sight, etc. is better than a small armour suit. Just try to design something with all of those servomotors, fuel cells, converters, etc. without giving the enemy a big fat target to shoot at. Think about how large a servomotor has to be in order to A) give you greater strength than you already possess and B) fit AROUND you so that you can fit into the suit comfortably, yet without making the overall suit too big.

His Divine Shadow · Post by **His Divine Shadow** » 2002-12-30 06:09pm

Well servomotors ought not be required, I am thinking artificial muscle strands instead.

jaeger115 · Post by **jaeger115** » 2002-12-30 06:18pm

None of that stuff is feasible. It depends on what question we're asking: "which cool and totally infeasible suit design do we like?" or "what could we actually build in the foreseeable future?"

Then why is the US Army working on an exoskeleton to enhance its existing soldiers in strength, speed, load capacity, etc?

Ender · Post by **Ender** » 2002-12-30 06:18pm

Balrog wrote:Sucks to the Land Warrior program, Future Soldier 2025's is the way to go

Future Soldier is part of Land Warrior. Land Warrior is the overall project and insludes the new weapons, tanks, APCs and future soldier.

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2002-12-30 06:35pm

jaeger115 wrote:
None of that stuff is feasible. It depends on what question we're asking: "which cool and totally infeasible suit design do we like?" or "what could we actually build in the foreseeable future?"
Then why is the US Army working on an exoskeleton to enhance its existing soldiers in strength, speed, load capacity, etc?

You'd have to ask them. That doesn't make such power armor feasable at least in the forseeable future.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2002-12-30 07:14pm

jaeger115 wrote:
None of that stuff is feasible. It depends on what question we're asking: "which cool and totally infeasible suit design do we like?" or "what could we actually build in the foreseeable future?"
Then why is the US Army working on an exoskeleton to enhance its existing soldiers in strength, speed, load capacity, etc?

Its not power armor as we normally think of it, mostly because it has no armor. It's basically a powered backpack.

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Powered Combat Suit

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