Heavy Infantry & Powered Armour

[Nadebait]

No not those silly space marines, but with walking robots and newer hardware and sensors and the offer of one man abc protection hmmm. Aways been facinated with the nitto mak concepts and terrain problems that still plauge tracked and wheeled apcs. A few thousand of them with airbourne capabilities just might come in handy don't you think? The us is more than well on their way with stabilization and armor for building such a unit. Be negative if you must but it still seems like a great tactical advantage to me, along with making terrorist situations end a lot quicker.

http://www.dcr.net/~stickmak/JOHT/joht15poweredarmor.htm

 

[Scoobie Newbie]

For a good read try Starship Troopers.

 

[NATO Boy]

one man abc protection hmmm

...time to hit up the CTS E-Mail and send them some ideas... ;D

 

[Da_man]

Master chief anyone? 

 

[plattypuss]

Yes the Master Chief does rule although I preferred Halo 1 to Halo 2.

The powered armour concept is being developed by the US. Right now they are experimenting with a substance that remains a liquid until charged with an electric charge at which time it becomes rigid.  The US is putting this in a suit and experimenting with the application.  It can be used to augment strength in certain physical applications and motions.  I'm sure that this will in turn increase the endurance of the average soldier.
In terms of the new sensors, its all good until the technolgy fails, break downs or gets invaded by a virus.  Notice that hackers are now trying to pass viruses onto cell phones now.  If they can hack Paris Hilton's cell phone imagine what could happen on a military net.

 

[patrick666]

Can anyone say MECH WARRIOR?

People think of suits of armor in general as being cumbersome. They needn't be. I recently saw a video in which an Armorer at the British Royal Armory Museum gave a demonstration of just how nimble someone in armor could be. Wearing mixed plate and chain, typical of a foot soldier's rig from a certain period and complete with weapons, this man repeatedly turned cartwheels. With the strength augmentation and sophisticated control systems of a suit of powered armor, a soldier wearing one might be more nimble than an equivalent soldier in normal field gear.


For some reason, I highly doubt that. I guess they'll need super shovels when the space artillery hits.

Armament: Naturally, powered armor needs weapons. Lasers are an obvious choice, and with power supplied by the suit there are several off-the-shelf industrial and research lasers which could be adapted without much trouble. The problem is that there are too many things - accidental and deliberate - which can reduce the effectiveness of a laser. And what happens if - while you're hosing a bunker or tank - the enemy's laser-sensing countermissile tracks the beam back to the source? Coherent light weapons may have some use on the battlefield of the future, but projectiles using kinetic energy and/or chemical explosives seem like better choices for a long time to come.


A laser sensing counter missle? Who are we fighting? Starship Enterprise?

It is a very imaginative article, to say the least.

Plattypuss, can you elaborate more on this new liquid armour the US is developing?


Cheers

 

[Gill557]

I've heard the liquid armour is part of the Soldier 2020 Program.  I saw it on a A&E special a few months ago.  The armour is both armour and camoflage, its suposedly a chameleon skin that changes to conform to its environment, and its supposed to be bullet-proof.

I don't know if this is still going on due to the cost of the war in Iraq, it may have been cut.  Anyone heard of this?

 

[patrick666]

I found this article - an interesting read...

FUTURE WARRIOR : http://www.military.com/soldiertech/0,14632,Soldiertech_Warrior,,00.html

Two uniform systems are under development. The Future Force Warrior system will be available for fielding to soldiers in 2010. The Vision 2020 Future Warrior system, which will follow on the concept of the 2010 Future Force Warrior system, is scheduled to be ready 10 years later.

The two new uniform systems are being developed under the Future Combat System Program. "This Army initiative will develop and demonstrate revolutionary capabilities for the future soldiers in battle," said Jean-Louis "Dutch" DeGay, a Soldier Systems Center representative.

The new systems include a weapon, head-to-toe individual protection, onboard computer network, soldier-worn power sources, and enhanced human performance.

"The Future Force Warrior will be a responsive and formidable member of an invincible battle space team," DeGay explained, describing the system scheduled to be fielded by 2010."

 

[plattypuss]

Try looking on google for more liquid armour stuff. I'm still looking for specific references to Strength enhancening applications.

Army scientists, engineers develop liquid body armor
By Tonya Johnson

Kevlar fabric with shear thickening fluid, after impact by a fragment simulating projectile.
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ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. (Army News Service, April 21, 2004) -- Liquid armor for Kevlar vests is one of the newest technologies being developed at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory to save Soldiers' lives.

This type of body armor is light and flexible, which allows soldiers to be more mobile and won't hinder an individual from running or aiming his or her weapon.

The key component of liquid armor is a shear thickening fluid. STF is composed of hard particles suspended in a liquid. The liquid, polyethylene glycol, is non-toxic, and can withstand a wide range of temperatures. Hard, nano-particles of silica are the other components of STF. This combination of flowable and hard components results in a material with unusual properties.

â Å“During normal handling, the STF is very deformable and flows like a liquid. However, once a bullet or frag hits the vest, it transitions to a rigid material, which prevents the projectile from penetrating the Soldier's body,â ? said Dr. Eric Wetzel, a mechanical engineer from the Weapons and Materials Research Directorate who heads the project team.

To make liquid armor, STF is soaked into all layers of the Kevlar vest. The Kevlar fabric holds the STF in place, and also helps to stop the bullet. The saturated fabric can be soaked, draped, and sewn just like any other fabric.

Wetzel and his team have been working on this technology with Dr. Norman J. Wagner and his students from the University of Delaware for three years.

â Å“The goal of the technology is to create a new material that is low cost and lightweight which offers equivalent or superior ballistic properties as compared to current Kevlar fabric, but has more flexibility and less thickness,â ? said Wetzel. â Å“This technology has a lot of potential.â ?

Liquid armor is still undergoing laboratory tests, but Wetzel is enthusiastic about other applications that the technology might be applied to.

â Å“The sky's the limit,â ? said Wetzel. â Å“We would first like to put this material in a soldier's sleeves and pants, areas that aren't protected by ballistic vests but need to remain flexible. We could also use this material for bomb blankets, to cover suspicious packages or unexploded ordnance. Liquid armor could even be applied to jump boots, so that they would stiffen during impact to support Soldiers' ankles.â ?

In addition to saving Soldiers' lives, Wetzel said liquid armor in Kevlar vests could help those who work in law enforcement.

â Å“Prison guards and police officers could also benefit from this technology,â ? said Wetzel. â Å“Liquid armor is much more stab resistant than conventional body armor. This capability is especially important for prison guards, who are most often attacked with handmade sharp weapons.â ?

For their work on liquid armor, Wetzel and his team were awarded the 2002 Paul A. Siple Award, the Army's highest award for scientific achievement, at the Army Science Conference.

(Editor's note: Tonya Johnson is a member of the Army Research Laboratory Public Affairs Office.)

 

[patrick666]

I am wondering how it works post-contact.. if it returns to a liquid state, or has to be replaced by a new vest?

Silica, which is a component of this liquid armour, is extremely stiff as a solid state. I wonder if the area that was hit only becomes a solid state or if a good majority of the vest solidifies - that could restrict a soldier's movement.

"The transition happens very quickly, a millisecond or quicker."

Eric Wetzel, a mechanical engineer who heads the project team for the Army lab, said a "shear thickening fluid" is a key component of the liquid armour. Hard particles are suspended in the liquid, polyethylene glycol. At low strain rates, the particles flow with the fluid, enabling clothing to stay flexible. But when heavily strained, the particles become rigid.

"If it's impacted suddenly by a projectile or a knife, say, it rigidifies and somehow restricts the ability of the fabric to move," Wetzel said.

The transition happens very quickly, a millisecond or quicker. - http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1083327637191_65/?hub=SciTech

 

[JBP]

I think powered armour or liquid armour are fantastic ideas. I'm slightly afraid of a few immediate thoughts though:

A.) Liquid armour, what if it malfunctions and CRUSHES the soldier wearing it? Or snaps off one of his limbs, or cuts him badly? I suppose this stuff would have to be malfunction proof by working directly off the laws of physics...

B.) All this computer controlled equipment..... Like someone mentioned earlier, what about viruses? Hackers? I think if the future soldier in 10-20 years will be that high tech, a new military combat service support group across the world will come into play. "Trade name soldier?", "Information System Interference Operator Sir!".... Eg> Hacker. A trade created by the army to attack the systems and sub-systems of all this high tech stuff.

Think of wireless routers and internet, I was at Tim Hortons the other day and my friend has a laptop with wireless (IR) capability, he connected to the internet from someone's wireless internet connection across the street from Tim Hortons. He explained he couldn't get into that networks computers, but he has complete access to thier internet connection and thus, thier service provider and network!

I suppose all of this would be thought of, like jamming technology to counter enemy "hackers" signals and etc. Like how there are ECM aircraft that jam enemy radars and sensors etc.

Also, what about EMP devices? Imagine your wearing this armour (which is electrically controlled still) and an EMP IED goes off? You'd be f*cked really... Is there anyway to shield from EMP blasts? Not that I've ever heard of!!!

Joe
Just trying to make sense of it all

 

[patrick666]

Some good points, Joe. In these days of networked systems, wireless technology, and liquid armour that it is conceivable for their to be people trained to interfere with these systems on the opposing army. The armour would most likely be linked to a mother network, entrance to that would be control of their soldiers. Maybe not physically, or psychologically, but what if the monitoring systems were attacked and they would have no idea where their soldiers are or how they are doing. Old methods would surely be dissolved and when the sh*t hits the fan, would most likely be in dire need.

I think it is a fantastic, sometimes seemingly far-fetched, idea. Some people watch too many space movies. However, I don't think anything will be the raw power of a regular mobilized force. With better ideas, comes worse solutions. An EMP would definitely paralyze a soldier using liquid armour technology and I'd imagine they would be working on protection from such events, if not, they should be!

Cheers

 

[Lost_Warrior]

http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/trurl_pagecontent?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sakakibara-kikai.co.jp%2Fproducts%2Fother%2FLW.htm&lp=ja_en


Now thats armour!!

 

[JBP]

Now thats armour!!

Actually I'll have to admit I'm impressed, but that system certainly isn't plausible.

1.) TOO SLOW! Max speed 1.2Km/hr, WAY to slow
2.) It's kinda flimsey... Looks like you could almost push it over...
3.) Probably can't arm with with too much more than what you could put on a hummer. And that's pointless, because we have hummers and APC's! You know, TOW launcher+.50 Cals....

I know, probably just some dude's backyard fantasy.....

In all reality, I am pretty sure the USA or Canada has the expertise and scientifics to be able to build something like a "mech warrior" from the books/games, but it would be incredibly expensive, and really not needed at this moment. A modern day MBT could take out a mechwarrior type machine. Remember your principals of markmanship? Aim for - Centre of mass! BOOM! 1 or two good ole Sabot rounds would knock that thing on it's ass!

Joe

PS> What the USA is currently working on with the man-armour would be very interesting, but I see another problem...

Say it works, you have nigh-invincible, well trained and well armed soldiers invading your country to "liberate" it's people... What measures would you go to too destroy these invaders if you cannot win with conventional methods? Guns don't work well, neither do RPG's or missles or IED's because thier armour shrugs off explosion shockwaves and shrapnel quite well. Only direct hits count.. Ahhhh! You use chemical+biological and NUCLEAR weapons to get at them!!!!

:-\

I don't like what measures the enemy would go to in having to defeat the "new-age soldier"...

 

[Polish Possy]

Gee....this would be great ....but like what was said if they could hack paris hiltons phone it could happen to the military .....this kinda reminds me of terminators 1 thu 3 ....freaky stuff.