Dow Corning helps Army develop high-tech battle suit

AP ^ | 8/25/2003

[presidio9]

Call it Superman meets the Terminator meets Predator meets Universal Soldier. A futuristic battle suit being designed by Dow Corning, the U.S. Army and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology would, among other advantages, give soldiers the ability to leap tall walls with a single bound, blend in to various backgrounds with the push of a button and repel bullets.

[Aric2000]

THAT was fascinating book, very philisophical as well as science fiction.

[Saturnalia]

Too busy hiding in the bunker.
Damn deathclaws :D

[MikeD]

That's all I have to say about it...

MD

[WOSG]

The big question: WHAT WILL POWER IT???

---

Methanol-power fuel cells would have the highest power to weight ratio.

[The Black Knight]

Deathclaws? Come on, a Vindicator or Avenger would do the job, but I always liked the Power Armor with the Turbo Plasma Rifle. When the army gets stuff like that, i may reconsider that as a walk of life. Maybe I'll get into the Brotherhood after the Bomb.

:D

[Liberal Classic]

Definately one of my all time favorites. A lot of people didn't like the Jack Crow chapters, but I don't think it would be the same book without them. It's interesting to compare Armor and Starship Troopers. Despite the obvious similarities in setting they are polar opposites on many different levels. I may have to write a book report to myself. :)

[Maigrey]

I was trying to find an image of the "Big Metal Unit" from Baldur's Gate II, but I can't locate it yet.

[Aric2000]

LOL, indeed, Armour was fascinating, and it would be missing something without the Jim Crow chapters in it.

I will have to read it again, I just reread Starship troopers for the thousandth time it seems last week.

I will have to search my bookshelf for Armour, I know it's there, because I saw it the other day.

I like Starship Troopers better, but I am a HUGE Heinlein fan, have 95% of his books, missing a few of the older less in print ones, but I will find them...

[Saturnalia]

Bah, give me a spinfusor any day of the week.
Tribes=ROCK

[TexasRepublic]

Show me a bulletproof suit, and I'll pop that balloon. Better living through superior ballistics.

[archy]

The big question: WHAT WILL POWER IT???

[archy]

Saw them playing with one on Ermey's Mail Call. They were showing off how the laser range finder lets the trooper put a 20mm explosive round through a window and put holes in the guys hiding inside. Works the same way 'around' corners and walls. Bad ass.

The civilian ordnance technician killed when the OICW round detonated as soon as it exited the muzzle of the weapon he was test demonstrating would undoubtedly agree with you that they can be *bad-ass*, indeed. But you will need a Ouija board to contact him.

[archy]

Not quite starship troopers yet. The suit is too light on the armor because it lacks 'waldoes' to enhance human limb power, but it will internalize all the electronics from hand-held and weapon mounted equipment by weaving them into the uniform itself and help aclimatize soldiers to a wider range of environmental conditions.

We're working on the *waldoes* and exoskeletal features, too. These are in the baby steps stage right now, but we're getting there.

[archy]

Cause someone is going to have to put muddy boots on the ground with their pink bod.

Classwork assignment, Warbots series Author HG Stine.

Carry on

For extra credit: Aviation thriller writer Dale Brown's stray into advanced ground combat Tin Man:

[Gunslingr3]

The civilian ordnance technician killed when the OICW round detonated as soon as it exited the muzzle of the weapon he was test demonstrating would undoubtedly agree with you that they can be *bad-ass*, indeed. But you will need a Ouija board to contact him.

Bummer. I guess that's the first time something like that has ever happened? Imagine hundreds of years of developing firearms, and now an accident. Back to chucking spears...

[archy]

Remember what happened to the soldiers in Starship Troopers when the suit ran out of power? They became frozen in place like a statue.

Which is what will happen within an hour or two unless we use nuclear. But enviro wackos will not allow it.

You are invited to note that research into the field of man-portable power augmentation is underway at the Tennessee Oak Ridge Laboratories facilities. They have some small past interest in nuclear power research, as well as other promising technologies.

[.cnI redruM]

Oh, you mean the video games?

BWAAHHAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh, Yeah!

[archy]

So--why even use men at all??? Let's just create an army of robots! (Kinda Star Wars like.)

Swell idea.

[archy]

Bummer. I guess that's the first time something like that has ever happened? Imagine hundreds of years of developing firearms, and now an accident. Back to chucking spears...

Naw. The point is that when something like that happens, as it particularly often will if the preparatrory phases of such development are inadequate or slipshod, the resulting problems should be siezed upon and resolved, both preventing similar future incidents and ensuring that the lives of those lost in causing progress to occur were not in vain.

Instead, the OICW program's material was rewritten to indicate that no incidents of the sort involving military personnel had occured. And civilian tech engineerss are easily enough replaced anyway, I guess; the damn things breed like rabbits.

-archy-/-

[Gunslingr3]

Without knowing anything about the accident, it sounds like the round blew at 1m instead of whatever if was set at (hopefully it can't be set at something that short). You remember a trooper in Afghanistan had to replace batteries in his GPS, when it reinitialized it had the present (local) coordinates. He transmitted those by mistake and got a bomb dropped on himself and his comrades. These kinds of accidents suck, but we learn from them, correct them if possible, and press on.