"Expect Special Forces ‘Iron Man’ Suits By 2018 " Topic

"Officially, it's called the Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit. Unofficially, it's called the "Iron Man" suit. Regardless, Adm. William McRaven, the man in charge of U.S. Special Operations Command, expects America's special operators to be outfitted with the advanced gear by 2018.

"Several years ago during a hostage rescue operation in Afghanistan, a SOF (special operations forces) warrior was killed going through the door. Afterwards, one of the young officers asked me a question I couldn't answer. He said, ‘after all these years in combat, why don't we have a way to protect our operators going through the door?'" Adm. McRaven told attendees of a National Defense Industrial Association symposium on Tuesday, Stars and Stripesreported."…"
Full article here.
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YouTube link

The future is around the corner! (smile).

Amicalement
Armand

They've been saying this for at least fifteen years now, but I kind of hope it happens soon.

Me too.

Amicalement
Armand

Look forward to it … Would like to see the faces of the terrorists as Spec Ops "Ironmen" come thru the doors and windows …

Officially, it's called the Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit

TALOS? Really????

Trouble is, if the other guys are wearing similar armour, the M4 he's holding will be as effective as a pop-gun. What is the future for firearms?

Long ranged tazers to short out the electronics or electro magnetic pulse weapons.Armour choice versus battlefield lasers will be reflective…in effect mirrors.

Trouble is, if the other guys are wearing similar armour, the M4 he's holding will be as effective as a pop-gun. What is the future for firearms?

Short term? 6.8mm SPC or 6.5mm Grendel, which are both comparable in oomph to the 6.5x55mm Swedish Mauser full-power rifle round but small enough to fit in an AR15 platform (or M249 SAW) by replacing the bolt and barrel (and maybe buffer spring).

That is a bit of an odd change, though, essentially going back to a full-power rifle round (if on the low end of the scale). This might see the retirement of the 7.62mm medium MGs in the tripod role, since the 6.5mm has good long-range performance (6.8mm not so much).

I might even push for a round heavier than the 7.62mm Nato for the sustained-fire MG. One option would be a milspec version of the .338 Federal, which uses 7.62mm Nato brass and a .338 bullet for muzzle energy comparable to a 7mm Magnum. The evil idea I had was using the .300WSM and necking it out to .338. The .300WSM is a short and fat case with the same overall length as the .308 and a bigger diameter than the 8mm Mauser (almost as big as a .416 case!) Short, fat cases tend to have good barrel life and accuracy, with all the powder burning inside the case.

That's an evil idea for sure!.

Amicalement
Armand

They do, Law Enforcement has been using it for years. Its called an armored shield. hahaha

Perhaps Warhammer 40K was closer to the truth than most believed, in solutions to the small arms/personal body armour race. A large calibre firearm and a melee weapon.

They might want to wear helmets though!

SOCOM's Iron Man Suit Sees ‘Astounding' Progress: Adm. McRaven

"Special operations types — like those who found and killed Osama bin Laden –may stand tall and do amazing things sometimes, but they tend to be fairly plain spoken. You rarely hear them say something is "astounding," especially a new weapon. For example, one special operator recently awarded the Silver Star said he would have preferred "a cup of coffee and a thank you" to his medal ceremony.

So when Adm. Michael McRaven, the leader of Special Operations Command (SOCOM) told about 500 people that the so-called Iron Man suit under development by his command is showing "astounding progress," my ears pricked up

The admiral said he decided to push the suit because it was time for Special
Operations troops to be able to go through a door, something they've done since their inception, with a better chance of living. We've reported on the suit before, when it was essentially an idea with a nicely-produced video to promote it. Things have progressed since then…"

Full article here.
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Amicalement
Armand

No … GW SMs [like most of their machinations] are pretty much pure fantasy …

From the pic I saw, looks like they forgot that the face is a vulnerable point, unlike the fully armored guy shown in their ad.

There appeared to be a lot of gaps too, between the armored sections. Much more than in a Star Wars stormtrooper's armor, and through which even an imperial stormtrooper with poor firing accuracy could take advantage of.