U.S. Military To Unveil Iron Man-Style Armor By 2018

Necessity, as the popular proverb says, is the “mother of invention.”

In some instances though, it is tragedy that pushes a person or a group to work on creating innovations that would help prevent similar unfortunate incidents in the future.

This can be said about the U.S. military’s upcoming Iron Man-style suit which they finally plan to unveil by 2018.

As Gen. Joseph Votel of the U.S. Special Operations Command shared:

“This is a program that we started after we lost an operator on a mission. The first guy coming into a particular building was engaged and unfortunately was mortally wounded. And in the wake of that, we asked ourselves, ‘Couldn’t we do better in terms of protecting him, of giving him a better advantage when he’s at the most vulnerable point that we put our operators?'”

An early prototype of the TALOS armor impressed people with its bulletproof capabilities.

Perhaps taking inspiration from the Marvel Comics’ armored Avenger, the Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit (or TALOS) is designed not only to provide ballistic protection for troops but to give them sophisticated advantage over their enemies.

Similar to Tony Stark’s armor, TALOS comes with impressive features with military applications.

This battery-powered exoskeleton comes with futuristic features such as in-helmet tech that boosts communications and visibility. Scientists, weapons experts, and Pentagon personnel are working closely to finalize the TALOS so they can finally put it to use at least by August 2018.

You can watch the video here:

Sure, it’s a bummer that the TALOS armor doesn’t have flight capabilities like it’s fictional counterpart but if it helps fortify the soldiers, then we’re all for this tech. They come with an expensive price tag though since former Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn estimated that the project will cost around US$80 million.

H/T: CNN, TechTimes

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