elwoodblues

Check this out:
<a href="http://www.discover.com/feb_02/feattech.html" target="_blank">http://www.discover.com/feb_02/feattech.html</a>

They've been after this for years. Looks like it might become viable in the very near future. Energy storage seems to be a big limiting factor right now. Get that solved, and a few advances in material science for lighter-weight armor...

GunnerJ

HAHAHA! Sweet! This means my mecha SF writings aren't totally absurd!

It'll only be a matter of time brfore you see <a href="http://www.gundamproject.com/mecha/gundamwing_leo.html" target="_blank">one of these</a> on the battlefield!

GunnerJ

Um... doesn't anyone else have anything to say about this massively cool advancement?

Bill Snedden

Um...I'm not sure about the beam sabers and beam rifles, but even without the fantasy weapons, the advancement is indeed "massively cool."

The article also discussed, albeit briefly, non-military applications in construction, industry, and healthcare that are greatly appealing.

Thumbs up!

Bill

Ism Schism.

Very cool, I wonder if they can actually pull it off in their given time-frame. It seems to me that these things would be expensive as all hell, for a really long time. A shiny new Ferrari or a suit that would give you superhuman strength? Decisions, decisions...

GunnerJ

Hey, just as long as we get to keep the Zero System. And Heat Rods. Good Athe, I want to see one of <a href="http://www.gundamproject.com/mecha/gundamwing_epyon.html" target="_blank">these</a>.

I hope these new advances don't entail <a href="http://www.gundamproject.com/chara/gundamwing_dorothy.html" target="_blank">creepy looking chicks with four eyebrows.</a>

If we actually got an infantry powered armor system up and running, what types of ramifications would this have for warfare? It doesn't seem like there'd be much enemy armies could do... it would take a lot of capital to produce these, so we'd be one of the only nations to have it. Seems like this would make opur army almost completely immune to small arms and conventional warfare.

Vorkosigan

C'mon, Rimstalker. Remember the Stealth Bomber? Shot down one over Kosovo. What one human can make, another can unmake. Powered armor will have more achilles heels than a millipede. Someone will figure out a way to neutralize it.

Michael

GunnerJ

Is this a common occurance?

That was pretty much my point- what could neutralize it? How much money and technological ability would it take to do so on a consistant basis? How long would it take for them to catch up? How many armies in the world stand a chance against the American infantry as it is today? And how many of these would we actually be interested in fighting?

I don't doubt that there are answers here, I was just lookign for input as to what they could be. Since the American army is already pretty much the dominant infantry force in the world, it seems that having power-armored troops would only increase this power. (Of course, if this premise is based on a mythology of American invulnerability, then perhaps my argument needs quite a bit of tweaking... I may be seriously overestimating the ability of the American military.)

lpetrich

Here's an easy one: antitank weaponry.

What can make a hole in tank armor can make a hole in a powered-armor suit.

Also, a big enough explosion can cause a nasty kick.

The power-supply question is an interesting one. Batteries have the problem of very-low usable-energy density compared to fuels that are burned. So one would have to use either a miniature combustion engine or a fuel cell.

GunnerJ

A tank would be a much larger target and somewhat unmanuverable. A man in a powered suit would be a somewhat harder target to hit, due to increased manuverability and it being a smaller target.

I should clear something up, though: I'm not talking about individual suits here, that is, I'm not trying to imply that each powered infantryman would be indestructable. I'm talking about the overall effect of an army composed of power-armor troops. Sure, I don't doubt that rocket launchers could take out some of them, but a whole army, well trained, and strategically used would be the most formidible military force on the Earth.