[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9Wbj1-pZcQ]
Soldier protection and mobility. These terms are always in opposition.
The answer to this problem as we see it now is a powered exoskeleton. You may be following SOCOM’s Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit (TALOS) program or DARPA’s Warrior Web. These initiatives seek to bring together ideas and technology from a broad spectrum of private companies, universities, national laboratories and military program offices.
Revision Military is one of the leading partners in this endeavor and has begun to show what looks like the first practical, soldier-wearable system to offer a suite of survivability and lethality features that don’t sacrifice mobility. Revision’s video demonstration shows their vision of integrated protective soldier systems. We can see how Revision addresses some of the requirements of the TALOS project, namely:
- Advanced Armor: Materials to support next generation full-body ballistic protection
- Mobility/Agility: Enhancement platforms such as powered exoskeletons
- Situational Awareness (SA)
- Light/noise discipline
- Command, Control, Communications & Computers (e.g., conformable and wearable antennae and wearable computers)
- Individual soldier combat ready displays including non-visual means of information display
- Power generation and management
- Thermal management of suit occupant
- Embedded Medical monitoring and biomechanical modeling
