Halo's Master Chief is Shitting Bricks
 

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One step closer to to Starship Troopers.

Sky net.

This system, and/or components of it have been in the works since 1993. It took a major leap forward in 2005 with the Land Warrior system (now NETT Warrior). Lt Col Rowan is correct; it's all about power generation and weight. Having carried the Land Warrior system in training and deployed with it to combat, the system added 17lbs of extra weight and the batteries only lasted 6-8 hours under heavy use (supposed to be 12 hours). At one pound per battery, that sucks balls.

I'd say this system is probably...15-20 years from being actualized in low rate initial production considering budget cutbacks and the current operational environment. I'm ambivalent about the program due to some (from my perspective) ulterior motives driving it. Probably the same way some fighter pilots feel about unmanned aircraft/drones.

The old guy in the video is worried about how much it weighs. He doesn't seem to understand what an exo-skeleton actually is. These exo-skeletons are designed to actually lighten the load for soldiers. The soldier will weight more, but will only have to use a small amount of force to actually do heavy lifting because the suit will be doing most of the lifting for them.

There's a video of one of these exo-skeletons lifting several hundreds of pounds of weight repetitively. The person wearing the suit said he could have done it hundreds of times but got tired of performing the rep. The weight didn't wear him out, it just became boring. Weight won't be an issue. The wearer of the suit probably won't feel any weight at all. thats the entire point of the suit. They're talking about using these suits to load bombs worth several hundred pounds onto fighters/bombers.

Ya the old guy is missing the point. It will be no more tiring than operating a forklift since the suit does the work for you.

let's have a war. so you can go die.

And you state this based on all your experience as part of a limited user test fielding new systems?

The "old guy" DOES have a lot of experience, and knows what he's talking about. These systems go through dozens of iterations that need to be tested, and that far-out exoskeleton ain't ready for prime time, dude. Weight is ALWAYS an issue, as is power generation.

What worked in a lab or controlled environment in that YouTube video you're basing your statement on isn't ready to be crammed into a CH47 and flown up to 6000 feet on a mountain top in AFG. You see, that fecking awesome exoskeleton weighs a lot, and a platoon of those weigh even more. The air is really thin, and the weight of every piece of kit is taken into consideration- or the helicopter crashes.

So I'm wearing my kickass super suit/exoskeleton; how will I fit in my Stryker, or MRAP now? Oh, shit...I don't fit anymore with all this stuff on. Or, maybe only three of us fit out of nine in my squad, which means more vehicles to carry the rest of my men, which means more fuel to move, etc.

How is this thing going to be powered? How will I recharge my suit on a week or two week patrol away from an operating base? How noisy is this thing? Is it going to be cooled somehow? It gets hot in the desert and jungle...

If your answer is "they've thought of all that, and I'm sure they're working on it"...well, I'm here to tell you- NO, 'they' haven't. What happens is they throw this stuff at units, and tell them to use, break, carry it in combat. I've been that guy, and it sucks.

Bottom line, NOTHING comes off the shelf ready to go- this HALO suit will cause a lot of pain before it even comes close to that video.

All you do is piss in people's Fruit Loops around here and I hope you asphyxiate on a giant DICK! o:-)

WTF do we need soldiers doing this anyway. We need robo-soldier ie a drone.

This is all to get around genetic engineering too.

The Begining of the End

Whoa! I don't think anyone here is honestly saying that these "suits" are ready yet. But these are the beginnings. The development of them, like all tech, is exponential AND excelerating. That is something I don't think that old guy understands. As nano-tech and bio-technologies continue to develope and advance, its only a matter of time until both merge in creating what will be "super soldiers".

You're whiffing on my post, and I'm filling in the blanks on what the "old guy" (retired Lieutenant Colonel) was saying...and whom wasn't just drug in off the street.

What you are wishing away, and you dont understand are just a few of the things I brought up. This isn't some piece of software, or a better vacuum cleaner. This piece of equipment has to be compatible and ergonomic with existing equipment as well as the Soldier.

And if I had a dime everytime I heard that some weapon system was going to make us "super Soldiers", or was the next Revolution in Military Affairs...

Yeah, the shit is coming but far slower and less fantastic that you think.