BUILT FOR WAR
Iron Man-style ‘exoskeleton’ costing £5million will give US soldiers superhuman strength and endurance
The state-of-the-art military kit is designed to make troops even more resilient in the heat of battle
The US Army is investing millions of dollars in experimental exoskeleton technology to equip a new generation of “super-soldiers.”
The Iron Man-style military kit is designed to make troops stronger and even more resilient in the heat of battle.
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The battery-operated technology - called Onyx - uses a range of sensors and artificial intelligence to aid natural movement.
It's job is to lighten the load for soldiers, who are deployed into war zones bogged down by heavy but essential gear such as body armour, nightvision goggles and radios.
Altogether, that kit can weigh anywhere up to 64kg (10st), when the recommended limit for battle troops is just 23kg (3st 6lb).
"That means when people do show up to the fight, they're fatigued," said Paul Scharre of the Centre for a New American Security.
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The battle skeleton is being built by Lockheed Martin, and was originally designed to help those with serious mobility problems.
"It supports and boosts leg capacity for physically demanding tasks that require lifting or dragging heavy loads, holding tools or equipment, repetitive or continuous kneeling or squatting," said the defence giant.
It also assists with "crawling, walking long distances, walking with load, walking up or down hills, or carrying loads on stairs.
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"When human strength is challenged, ONYX makes the difference, reducing muscle fatigue, increasing endurance, and reducing injury."
"The fundamental challenge we're facing with infantry troops is they're carrying too much weight."
Early tests of a previous version showed that the exoskeleton has increased productivity anywhere from two to a staggering 27 times.
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Military top brass in the US have invested around £5m in the exoskeleton project and each hone is expected to cost tens of thousands of dollars.
Samuel Bendett at the Centre for Naval Analyses said Russia and China were also investing in exoskeleton technologies, "in parallel" to the US advances.
Russia is working on several versions of exoskeletons, including one recently tested in Syria, he said.