The Real Life Iron Man Suit
Since his first appearance in Marvel's Tales of Suspense #39 in 1959 (Marvel.com) , Iron Man, A.K.A. Tony Stark, has been an inspiration for military research. With a full metal suit that can withstand bullet impacts, extreme temperatures, and the general chaos that is conflict, in addition to being able to fly, the Iron Man suits are the ideal protection for today's men and women.
The Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit, or TALOS for short, is the United States answer to the fictional Iron Man. Although still in the early prototype stage, many aspects for the futuristic armor have been set down by officials within Special Operations Command (SOCOM), who are spearheading the program. Involving many corporations, divisions, and private partnerships, the TALOS program seeks to implement a variety of different technologies and systems into one suit. At its base, the suit will have an exoskeleton that will supplement the user's strength, speed, and endurance, offsetting the weight of the other systems. The operator will have complete situational awareness with innovative Heads-up displays that remove the issue of latency in current sensors (DoD). Additionally, officials at SOCOM say that the suit will feature internal heating and cooling systems in order to regulate the operator's body temperature (DOD2 DOD1). Officials also hope that the suit will be able to administer basic First-Aid, such as emergency oxygen or stopping bleeding (DOD2). |
Diagrams and potential designs for TALOS
Two aspects separate TALOS from Iron Man's infamous suit. First, TALOS "isn't expected to fly" (DOD2). In this sense, the program is more akin to the Mjolnir Armor from the popular game franchise Halo. More importantly, the TALOS suit requires an untethered power source that can sustain all the systems in the suit for an extended period of time. Charles Chase, a physicist from Skunk Works- a subdivision of Lockheed Martin- says "it will take a physics breakthrough to power a superhero suit," a breakthrough that can be made possible by tapping into the "96 percent of [the universe] made up of what we call dark energy and matter" (LM1). In short, it is possible, but the greatest minds will need to shatter boundaries in order to make it happen.
SOCOM is expected to field a completed prototype by 2018. |