Hollywood Builds Iron Man Suit Prototype for Pentagon

[cali]

Military leaders have not shied away from referring to the new suit the Pentagon wants to build for special operators as the “Iron Man” suit. So much so that they’ve turned to the special effects company in Hollywood that worked on the Iron Man franchise to build a prototype.

Legacy Effects, which has worked on Iron Man, RoboCop, and Captain America, have been asked by the Pentagon to build a prototype of the suit that is officially called the Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

In fact, the special effects experts are using the same 3-D printers to build the prototype that they used to build the suit that Robert Downey Jr.’s character wears in the movies.

Navy Adm. William McRaven, the head of U.S. Special Operations Command, said he wanted to see a prototype delivered this summer even saying he expected one finished last month. June has drifted into July, but SOCOM officials are keeping the pressure on for a fast delivery as expectations remain high for the suit.

“That suit, if done correctly, will yield a revolutionary improvement in survivability and capability for special operators,” McRaven said during the 25th annual Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict conference in February in Washington, D.C.

Pentagon and SOCOM leaders want the suit to provide breakthrough technologies such as bullet proof suits, powered exoskeletons and even the ability to see through walls. Essentially, the leaders of the program want scientists and engineers to try and turn the movies into real life.

Read more: http://kitup.military.com/2014/07/hollywood-builds-iron-man-suit.html#ixzz37QzpS0ns
Kit Up!

[intaglio]

1. I think the DoD needs to do some reading

Specifically "Bill, The Galactic Hero" by Harry Harrison

From Chapter 3

“We're in luck today,” one of the older prisoners said, “they're sending in the heavy infantry again. I didn't know they had any left.” “You mean they'll capture more territory?” Bill asked.

“Naw, all they'll get is dead. But while they're getting butchered some of the pressure will be off of us, and we can maybe work without losing too many men.” Without orders they all stopped to watch as the heavy infantry fell like rain into the swamps ahead-and vanished just as easily as raindrops. Every once in awhile there would be a boom and flash as a teensie A-bomb went off, which probably atomized a few Venians, but there were billions more of the enemy just waiting to rush in. Small arms. crackled in the distance, and grenades boomed.

Then over the trees they saw a bobbing, bouncing figure approach. It was a heavy infantryman in his armored suit and gasproof helmet, A-bombs and grenades strapped to him, a regular walking armory. Or rather hopping armory, since he would have had trouble walking on a paved street with the weight of junk hung about him, so he therefore moved by jumping, using two reaction rockets, one bolted to each hip. His hops were getting lower and lower as he came near. He landed fifty yards away and slowly sank to his waist in the swamp, his rockets hissing as they touched the water