US Army moves forward on TALOS, a real-life Iron Man suit
The US Army has commissioned a Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit (TALOS), which would provide the wearer with superhuman abilities like night vision, enhanced strength, and protection from gunfire, The Verge writes in an October 9 article.
According to the press release, the suit may use liquid armor, currently under development at MIT, which has the ability to transform from a “liquid to solid in milliseconds when a magnetic field or electrical current is applied.”
The goal is full-body ballistic protection, theoretically allowing the wearer to literally walk through a stream of bullets.
A panel that rests against the skin would be able to detect and respond to the body’s core temperature, skin temperature, heart rate, and hydration levels.
The suit would also provide basic life support such as heat, air, and oxygen.
“[The] requirement is a comprehensive family of systems in a combat armor suit where we bring together an exoskeleton with innovative armor, displays for power monitoring, health monitoring, and integrating a weapon into that — a whole bunch of stuff that RDECOM is playing heavily in,” said. Lt. Col. Karl Borjes, an RDECOM science advisor assigned to SOCOM.
U.S. Special Operations Command, which requested the suits, hopes to complete a prototype next year, but it will be at least two years after the prototype before a version is built with more improvements.
Check out the full statement from the US Army here