Real-life Iron Man: US army to test battle armour suits

New Delhi: Soon the Iron Man will come out of comics and films. A real-life Iron Man will be coming to a neighbourhood near you. The US army has been researching an advanced battle armour suit for years and a prototype is now expected to be ready for testing this summer. If plans go as scheduled Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit or TALOS could become operational in 2018. The armor suit was commissioned last October. The US military is considering the addition of a wide array of features such as on-board computers, health monitors, a wound stasis program to stop the bleeding by spraying some kind of medical product on injuries, and MIT-developed liquid armor that can harden in a matter of milliseconds. Some 56 corporations, 16 of them governmental, 13 universities, and 10 national labs are currently working to develop the armor. Navy Admiral William McRaven said they are preparing a Monster Garage event to encourage mechanics and craftsmen to develop parts for the suit. The command may even seek permission from the Pentagon to offer a cash prize in order to attract interested experts. The applied technology project can provide the US with a “huge comparative advantage over our enemies and give our warriors the protection they need,” McRaven said. Another futuristic body suit project undertaken by the US military is the exoskeleton HULC project (Human Universal Load Carrier) which is being developed by the military company Lockheed Martin. Soldiers can carry up to 200 pounds of weight wearing HULC because it transfers the load to the ground through powered titanium legs without loss of mobility. The idea for the suit reportedly arose when a young special operations soldier was shot and killed after entering a building.