Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - U.S. in new armor. Follow-up to John Falcons thread about new uniforms

MooseMan3000 · 06-25-2004, 05:22 PM

I read something in Popular Science (I think) about the uniform on the right when it was in even earlier stages of development, maybe three or four years ago. This is what I remember (keep in mind, much of this was speculation and early, early testing, and much of it has likely been changed or thrown out entirely):

The helmet is a highly developed piece of technology, including a HUD (heads up display... similar to those in video games or, say, helicopters) which can be used to view many different things. They were working on technology to include cameras and displays to effectively give the soldier a 180 degree view. They were working on adding a "radar," like those in many video games, to show you the positions of all friendlies equipped with the same uniform, and there was talk of using sound to show possible other enemies (or friendlies). There were also going to be built in communication devices.

The suit itself was a futuristic suit, including lots of neat gizmos. The main part was the myriad sensors inside, to monitor all bodily signals and give feedback to outside crews. They had also talked about the possibility of having the suit automatically deploy morphine for certain wounds, or to function as a tourniquet if need be. The suit would also relay all the data to teams of medics, who could be dispatched to the wounded soldiers, or to doctors, who could provide instructions to soldiers on what to do, in the event no medics could come.

The soldier's weapon was to be incorporated into the suit, attached to the wrist (that might be what's on the guy in the picture, but doesn't look like it. This may have been abandoned.) At the time, it was supposed to be able to fire two calibers of ammunition. One, a small caliber was to be the main weapon, fireable in automatic or burst configurations. The other was to be a larger caliber, with the option to load it with explosive shells.

The armor was just new types of polymer and ceramic, designed to be lighter yet remain as effective as the kevlar/ceramic vests used today.

There was something about the shoes... I think they provided dynamic support for jumping and running and things, though I can't recall exactly.

Oh, and they were going to have a CamelBak built in. Heh.

Also, I can't recall if this was part of the same project or a different one, but http://www.popsci.com/popsci/science...657003,00.html
It talks about chameleon type camouflage, stuff that would make the front of the uniform mimic what was behind it (and the other way around), making the soldier "invisible" to a casual glance.

~~~
So, if ANY of this actually sees final production, I'll be very impressed, and I'll think the uniform is worthy of being called the uniform of the future. The helmet sounded like the most ambitious project to me, but it all sounded very interesting and difficult to do.

I googled, and I couldn't find the article I read it in archived anywhere, nor could I find any other simliar articles. If anyone has any updates on these projects, I would be greatly interested to see where they've gone.

06-25-2004, 05:22 PM	#26 (permalink)
MooseMan3000 wouldn't mind being a ninja. Location: Maine, the Other White State.	I read something in Popular Science (I think) about the uniform on the right when it was in even earlier stages of development, maybe three or four years ago. This is what I remember (keep in mind, much of this was speculation and early, early testing, and much of it has likely been changed or thrown out entirely): The helmet is a highly developed piece of technology, including a HUD (heads up display... similar to those in video games or, say, helicopters) which can be used to view many different things. They were working on technology to include cameras and displays to effectively give the soldier a 180 degree view. They were working on adding a "radar," like those in many video games, to show you the positions of all friendlies equipped with the same uniform, and there was talk of using sound to show possible other enemies (or friendlies). There were also going to be built in communication devices. The suit itself was a futuristic suit, including lots of neat gizmos. The main part was the myriad sensors inside, to monitor all bodily signals and give feedback to outside crews. They had also talked about the possibility of having the suit automatically deploy morphine for certain wounds, or to function as a tourniquet if need be. The suit would also relay all the data to teams of medics, who could be dispatched to the wounded soldiers, or to doctors, who could provide instructions to soldiers on what to do, in the event no medics could come. The soldier's weapon was to be incorporated into the suit, attached to the wrist (that might be what's on the guy in the picture, but doesn't look like it. This may have been abandoned.) At the time, it was supposed to be able to fire two calibers of ammunition. One, a small caliber was to be the main weapon, fireable in automatic or burst configurations. The other was to be a larger caliber, with the option to load it with explosive shells. The armor was just new types of polymer and ceramic, designed to be lighter yet remain as effective as the kevlar/ceramic vests used today. There was something about the shoes... I think they provided dynamic support for jumping and running and things, though I can't recall exactly. Oh, and they were going to have a CamelBak built in. Heh. Also, I can't recall if this was part of the same project or a different one, but http://www.popsci.com/popsci/science...657003,00.html It talks about chameleon type camouflage, stuff that would make the front of the uniform mimic what was behind it (and the other way around), making the soldier "invisible" to a casual glance. ~~~ So, if ANY of this actually sees final production, I'll be very impressed, and I'll think the uniform is worthy of being called the uniform of the future. The helmet sounded like the most ambitious project to me, but it all sounded very interesting and difficult to do. I googled, and I couldn't find the article I read it in archived anywhere, nor could I find any other simliar articles. If anyone has any updates on these projects, I would be greatly interested to see where they've gone.