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In lugnet.off-topic.geek, John T. Jensen wrote:
Half of that. 1000 pounds. Think “compact car”, or 1/10th of a Hummer, if you
prefer. Consider the various systems that would have to be strapped onto the
pilot. You start out with a frame designed to fit around a human body. You’d
need armaments beyond what a normal human could carry, or you’d be much better
off just handing out kevlar body armor and M-16’s. You’d need servo
articulation so it would be possible for a human to move in this thing. You’d
probably want some sort of stabilization system so your soldiers don’t go out
and perform their impression of what it’s like to be an upside-down turtle for
the enemy. You’d need a battery to power all of this (and batteries are pretty
heavy), and you’d want some sort of armor to protect everything. All of that
weight adds up, especially the battery.
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I’m not even considdering using enough armor to withstand an artillery or
missle barrage.
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There’s not much you could do to protect yourself against heavy artillery, but
it’d be nice if it could withstand an RPG, at least. If they ever set foot on
the battleground, these things would have “TARGET” painted on them in
flourescent pink, blinking, glow-in-the-dark letters with a loudspeaker
announcing it for good measure, and as we’ve seen through recent history,
guerilla fighters have a fondness for popping out of the woodwork with an RPG
launcher ready to go.
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I’m in no way saying that this is at all possible now, or even within a few
years.
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If we really wanted to make one, we’ve probably got the technology available to
cobble something together. Of course, if we really wanted to, we could still be
sending people to the moon. However, my “fantasizing” comment was strictly in
terms of strapping jetpacks onto power armor, not to the idea of making power
armor in the first place.
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And, if we’re assuming that tanks will eventually move to hover versions,
and it’s fairly certain that we’d need to improove on the fan and skirt
design, why can’t this tecnology be applied to smaller, personal means?
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Without having any working theories on any upcoming generations of hover-tech,
we’re fishing in the dark here, but I’d say that there are two big concerns that
we’ve been unable to adequately meet so far in terms of converting them to
personal use. The first is power capacity, both in terms of total usage and raw
thrust. Yes, someone built a working jetpack, but it was pretty clunky and
cumbersome, and carried enough fuel to last all of about 90 seconds, IIRC (and
that was for lifting a lightly-clothed human). The second is geometry required
for lift capability. Conventional hovercraft work, but their hover-tech is
wholy unsuited for conversion to power armor, and the same holds true for
“ground effect” airplanes. Rotors would probably be the most functional means
of upwards thrust, but I’m not sure they have any business being attached to
something that’s theoretically intended for use inside of buildings.
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The whole problem we’re hitting, is so much is dependent upon theory,
scientific and millitary, neither of which is set in stone. One hundered
years ago, we were still using tactics that had been used in the
revolutionary war. After WWI, the rules needed to change, so tactics were
altered.
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Tactics and technology are not mutually dependant. They can both change
considerably without affecting each other very much.
BTW, one drawback that noone seems to have thought of so far is that power
armor, if it’s designed to be roughly human-sized (which seems to be one of the
favored criteria as it would allow them to enter buildings), the pilot’s legs
will have to be tucked into the PA legs. That means the pilot will either have
to be running as a means of directing the movement of the PA, or his legs will
have to be yanked along with the PA legs. Either way, it’s going to be a rough
ride, so PA would essentially be a short-range unit, much like foot soldiers.
The added problem here is that foot soldiers can hop into other vehicles to get
a break from hoofing it on their own. PA would put a serious pinch on the
weight capacity of ground vehicles, and it would be bulky enough that you
wouldn’t be able to just hop in the front seat of a Humvee.
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