SPECIAL OPERATIONS/TECHNOLOGY: Special Ops Command’s Pursuit of ‘Iron Man’ Suit

Future Trooper

Revision Military’s Prowler Human Augmentation System, which distributes a soldier’s combat load, is among the technologies USSOCOM is studying for its ballistic protection suit project.
(Photo courtesy Revision Military.

Your 4GWAR editor’s story on U.S. Special Operations Command’s quest to develop a light weight armored suit that will help commandos and other assault  troops run faster, longer and carry heavy loads without excessive fatigue is in the latest issue (November 17) of Aviation Week & Space Technology’s Defense Technology International edition:

It will not enable users to fly like “Iron Man” does in the movies, but planners of a ballistic protective suit for special operations want it to do almost everything else the superhero’s iconic outfit does.

The Tactical Assault Light Operators Suit (TALOS) will provide ballistic protection with lightweight armor, along with sensors to monitor a wearer’s vital signs. Some developers believe it could also supply emergency oxygen and control bleeding if the operator is wounded.

To read more of this story, visit AVIATION WEEK (subscription required). Below is another view of one of the technologies being studied by USSOCOM for the Tactical Assault Light Operators Suit (TALOS).

Last month’s Defense Technology International edition is on line, you can see it here. That issue includes two stories by your 4GWAR editor on the U.S. Army’s efforts to shift to a regionally aligned force and SOCOM’s search for more intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capability using very small drones.

Other topics in the October 13 issue range from Saab’s new M4 recoilless rifle; how Russia’s adventurism in Ukraine is driving another neighbor, Poland, to start buying more defense hardware like helicopters and missiles; air and ground robotics developments by British, U.S. and Israeli companies; and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s work on protecting ground vehicles from attack.

Photo courtesy of Revision Military