"Late 21st Century Military Body Armor?" Topic

Is this what you imagine soldiers will wear in 40-60 years?

picture
cryeassociates.com/11.htm#

As you can see in the inset on the second link, the armor is thin and worn under the temperature regulating suit.

He has sleek, close fitting "armor" made for speed and dexterity, and suitable for multiple types of terrain and temperatures. No bulky shoulder pad "plates" on him.

In view of today's trends (as a starting point), do you think that this is a realistic look?

CC

Very interesting link. Thanks.

Just some of the conceptss I keep seeing in shows like FutureWeapons:

link
link

I just didn't know if that is just the futurists talking or if that was the direction things are actually headed when it comes to body armor for the next half century.

CC

I was disappointed in the Dragon Skin, since I figured it would be an all-over armor system, like a full suit of armor.

Granted, the performance is extremely impressive, but they just need to make it lighter, so you can have a full suit to wear, or at least in key places, like the Star Wars Stormtroopers use.

Don't laugh, the guys that did that bank heist in L.A. awhile back had vests, and were wearing armor in a lot of other places too. The only thing that really stopped them was all the weight, which restricted their movement severely, but no doubt, that is being worked on too.

CC like this?
link

I think military body of the future will probably be geared toward being light, flexable, and stream-lined like Cacique's SF picture.

Top Gun Ace,

Something like this armored guy?

picture

There is a MUCH better angle in the photo gallery, but you have to scroll quite a bit:

aeonflux.com

CC

Mrwigglesworth,

I think I had seen those before.

Are they 28mm-30mm?
When will they become available? Any definite word?

CC

The bottom 4 packs by HLBS 36mm
hlbs.co.uk/type.php?id=19

Check this suit out:

picture

CC

MrWigglesworth,

What size are those figures?

CC

Top Gun Ace,

I think I found what you are looking for:

picture

CC

1/48 or 36mm

Yikes, there be giants! Thanks though.

CC

What I love about these various concepts is that apparently, in the future, soldiers won't need peripheral vision, or the ability to look over their shoulders…

And am I the only person who looks at the skin-tight suits and thinks 'That's got to be itchy…'?

Now, the armor at that NSC link looks decent, but I'd want more femoral protection. Fighting in a motorcycle helmet, though…

"What I love about these various concepts is that apparently, in the future, soldiers won't need peripheral vision, or the ability to look over their shoulders…"

Ah, that is what the helmets are for! They are not ordinary helmets. They are very similar to the ones pilots are already testing (with digital displays and rear view capabilities).

Plus, with weapons like Corner Shot . . .
link

CC

Yep, looks pretty good, but would prefer those nice shiny finishes like the armor of olde, for the intimidation factor, sans the need to polish it endlessly.

LOL ! One of the pics Calcique posted is from the "Lost in Space" movie from a few years ago.

Patrick,

That's right. I was actually looking for the "instant" armor worn by the character Don West (played by Matt Leblanc). Cheesy movie, most definitely.

CC

Errr…what sort of dessert does that guy in your very first posted link get to eat? ;-)

What kind of fascinating new desserts will they have in the future? Oooh, maybe they'll bring back that one that has the three different layers of berry stuff…or that really great one that had the whipped stuff and a hard chocolate layer like a candy bar in a cup. :-P

I just noticed a resemblance here:

picture
link

CC

Lighter, better protection, not necessarily full helmet, unless in an airless/NBC environment would be my guess. US Army patrolling techniques require removal of the helmet every so often for a "stop-look-listen-smell" break. Make the helmet hard to take off and it's a non starter. I still think they got it tight with the USCM armor in "Aliens."

Some of the personal armor systems being issued currently have largish shoulder pads.

Yeah – the pads and the side panels are to cover the natural vulnerabilities of the current armor; bullets can still enter the torso through the shoulder, or under the arm.

At current tech, they're pushing the protection/mobility tradeoff pretty hard, if not to the breaking point. It'll be interesting to see how that pushes armor development in the next 10 years.

And I agree, the Aliens USCM got it pretty close. Move the calf plates up to the thighs (much more vulnerable things in there than the calf), add knee and elbow pads and make the shoulder plates a bit bigger, and they'd be excellent. Probably want to articulate the carapace plates more, though. People bend a lot between their hips and shoulders.

In all honesty, I expect the armor of the future to look an awful lot like the old Samurai great armor. Maximum protection, minimum weight. Probably take a couple pages from the pads that an American Football running back wears, for chest protection.

So, for the late 21st century, . . . sleek or bulky?

The question has again been asked:

TMP link

CC

Back in 2004 and 2005, this is what some were projecting for the near future:

link
link

CC

How about these other concepts?

TMP link
TMP link
TMP link

CC

So, I can only look a lit bit ahead. I wore the armor all last year and spent a lot of time crawling in and out of helos, Humvees, and hauling my weapons around Baghdad. As an engineer in my day job, I spent a lot of time thinking about its redesign.

By the way, I loved having the latest IBA with inserts, the Mitch helmet, my M-4 and all the other stuff Uncle Sam provided. Just looking ahead, I see a lot of room to take it to the next level with better ergonomics and the same level of protection.

Here is my take, future armor will by necessity need to provide:

- more comprehensive coverage of thighs, arms, hands, and neck area.

-better environmental cooling (heat stress markedly down-grades combat efficiency after a couple of hours)

- lighter – make that much lighter – easily a third of my kit was the IBA and helmet – soldiers cannot carry more now than we could 50 years ago – this means current armor restricts the amount of ammo, water, and other essentials I can carry

- current armor does not interface well with our weapon systems – we need to discard the conventional stock and replace the end of the weapon with a ball that fits into a socket on the left and right sides of the shoulder – the current system does not provide the stability for shooting necessary in combat for ranged fire . This applies to M-16/M-4, M-240, M-249, and M-9. The weapons also need to be ambidextrous with more shots per magazine.

- current armor is almost as flexible as the tin-man – this has to change – this makes firing from prone or kneeling an issue. It also makes it hard to fire off-hand presenting your armored self towards the enemy.

- the bulk of the current armor prevents agile movement in enclosed spaces and vehicles – at 6' 190 lbs I barely feet in the back of a Humvee or Blackhawk – tight as sardines

- helmet and IBA interfere when you tilt you head back. The helmet needs to incorporate built in comms, ballistic eye-protection, corrective lens (DOD is doing voluntary free laser eye surgery on US Soldiers to minimize the need), and quick switching optical filters that provide the soldier to see equally well in full desert light and then dock into a building with out the need to pull off his goggles. Ideally, this would also incorporate low-light amplification and IR technology. The helmet also needs to provide protection from impact noise and tactical amplification (like PELTORs do). A HUD for project maps, SITREPS, overlays, and targetting info would be great. It also needs to be cool in the summer and warm in the winter with NBC capabilities. Currently, we have all of these things as multiple non-integrated cumbersome systems.

- NBC protection that is easy to don and operate in without degradation of weapon system performance. For those without the experience, you switch the rear sight to wide aperture when you don your gas mask and have to rotate your weapon about 45 degrees to actually aim it at a target. Last July we spent a delightful day in our gear in Baghdad. Much fun.

- Cheap, reconfigurable Camouflage. Current Army system is ACU, Woodland, or Desert – take your pick. Intermingling these makes it MUCH easier for a sniper to figure out your center of mass. This could be easy changed using reversible coverings, removable spary on cammo paint, etc.

- Overall combat uniform needs better built in padding for the elbows and knees. Better integration of boots with pant legs and gloves with sleeves. Better load bearing capability, better ventilation, and more ergonomic placement of pockets, patches, and Velcro to fully integrate with the combat kit.

It also must look cool!

Lost Pict

What that just described is what the Mil-Complex is already working on and expected to be using in the next 20 years… Not 100 years from now…

The US Army Research Laboratory has developed liquid body armor:

link

I originally read about it in a James Rollins thriller book.

AND what happens when the battle starts and you are lounging around the barracks in your T-shirt and drawers?

the ball instead of buttstock does sound like a serious handicap then?

how fast can a soldier put on this wonder armor of tomorrow?

does it use batteries for its various systems? how long battery life, how many different battery types are required?

just some quick thoughts off the top of my head . . .

DAWGIE

side note:

CP makes multicam, and god that stuff is awesome

100 years from now… a soldier will not have to put on his/her/its armor…

The armor will know WELL in advance of any threat and will put itself on the "wearer", where it will probably be hiding disguised as a tee-shirt and jeans.

Nanotech people.

Dynamic, reactive, intelligent, distributed designs…

Hi Dawgie,

When you get suprised you fight with what you've have at hand. For this reason me and my battle buddies slept with our pistol belt hanging from our rack and our rifle, helmet, "go-to-he!!" bag, boots, and IBA within arms reach. In an emergency there is usually just enough time to grab the first 3 of these while you fight in your barefeet and skivvies….

Back to the armor, a big problem is the natural pocket between your shoulder and uppper chest disappear when you are wearing armor – this is especially accentuated by the shoulder pauldrons. As such the current butt stock doesn't provide a solid foundation. Modifiying the armor with a pocket for the butt stock solves this problem. Firing the weapon without the armor could be a problem, so you could incorporate a folding wire butt plate (similar to that on some MGs) for un-armored use.

Carrying extra batteries is a current problem. tactical flashlight batteries last one hour, PELTOR batteries last about 4 hours, a rifle sight battery depends upon the system,… As I mentioned, most soldiers already are carrying the gear that provides all of these functions – as such they have to carry a bunch of spare batteries for all of these (flashlight, sight, radio, tactical muffs, cameras, etc.). An integrated system would be able to utilize a system level power pack – this would not eliminate the need for batteries, but allow for consolidate to one battery type. It would also allow for monitoring so you don't get suprised.

The current kit takes about 5 minutes to don from skin out.

Lost Pict