Marvel is everywhere, including on the world’s real battlefields if Washington has its way. The U.S. government’s latest dream come true, the TALOS (Tactical Assault Light Operator) suit, are straight off out of the comics: bulletproof, weaponized, monitor vitals, and capable of giving its wearer superhuman strength and perception. Sound familiar?
It should, because its being made the Marvel Way. To make its Ironman suit of the future, the military’s turned to the private sector for help. Among names like Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, and Raytheon reportedly getting involved, special effects maker Legacy Effects–the brainchild behind the Iron Man suit for Marvel’s feature film–will be aiding the Pentagon with its research into the project. The company will help design and 3D print prototypes, according to the Wall Street Journal, and helping on behalf of Ekso Bionics, an exoskeleton creator, and admits that what it’s doing here is a change of pace.
“When you’re doing something for a movie it is all make-believe,” said Legacy founder Lindsay MacGowan, talking with the Journal. “Whereas, for the military, that’s really not going to be the case.”
Crafting an exoskeleton that can dish out what the military has in mind is the tricky part, and it’s that challenge that’s pushing companies to look towards some unusual fields. One group is even studying sumo wrestlers to see just how they throw their own weight around with such agility despite their size. Researchers are also studying insects’ exoskeletons for their unusual strength given their small body mass.
The Journal also reports that suit designers expect TALOS to weigh a whopping 400 pounds. The Pentagon further believes that 365 pounds of that might need to be batteries just to power all the onboard support systems the military wants it to have. There’s no Energizer bunny to juice any suit that size as of now–that is, without Stark Industries at the helm.
So far, $10 million has been reportedly spent on the initiative so far, with no cap to its budget in sight. The military is currently looking to deploy the suit as soon as 2018. That’s a whole lot sooner than President Jonathan Iron’s 2054 Elysium-ish suits.
Source: TheVerge