Gear, on the horizon?

Given the advancements at berkely in terms of the BLEEX project, the advancements in body armor, and the integration of networks, computer optics, and GPS systems, What are the possibilities of some type of amored exo-suit being issued to the U.S. military in the next 20 years?
How far away are we from shows like exo-squad, mobile suit gundam and the like actually being possible?
This is my hypothesis, As the technology becomes more advanced eventually musscle assist sytems will be implemented to allow humans to carry more armor and weaponry for longer with less effort. Eventually night-vision, and lowlight sytems will be integrated with laser range finding and targeting, and muscle assist sytems to allow for full body suits of armor. These sytems will have integrated heavy weapons capabillities which will allow small squads to deliver the same punch as much larger forces with lower detectabillity and higher survivabillity. Eventually we will see fully machine enclosed humans patrolling the urban warfare battlegrounds like Iraq, who are able to survive as well as a tank move as fast as a man and hit as hard as artillery. The use of semi-autonomous MUCAVs(micro unmanned combat air vehicles) will allow a single soldier to be aware of his entire surroundings in ways not possible today, and to hit targets harder and from farther away than ever before, meaning that casualities among our forces will diminish while casualities amongst the enemy will increase. But thats just my take on it I could be wrong.

Links to Ideas
bleex.me.berkeley.edu...
sanlab.kz.tsukuba.ac.jp...
usmilitary.about.com...
www.natick.army.mil...
web.mit.edu...


[edit on 21-6-2004 by mwm1331]

From all what you've said the most important factors are speed and situational awareness,everything else is added features.

But the hole bunch must be reliable and it shouldn't malfunction in rough situations,which is unconcievable in present and near future technology(too fragile, or bulky).
And hey if new strategies aren't implemented for urban fights, casualties will remain high coz unmanned vehicules hardly detect people inside buildings. And enemy combat cells will remain effective: higher firepower mean nothing if you can't detect your enemy.

It's not about braging but see this topic:
www.abovetopsecret.com...

But thats my whole point, The technology I linked to was created in the public domain using existing technology, given the geometric rate of expansion of technology over the course of the last century robustness is the next wave. Early tecnology was needed to support life, 1900-1920 the next wave was focused on cheap tech for the war effort, following the post ww2 years, the focus of technology was convienence, which was so successful that t led to the next wave which we are in which is mobility, Robustness is a natural outgrowth of mobility as such is an issue with 95-99% of the electronics manufacturers. As the entire tech industry is searching for a way to make consumer products more robust advancements will be made consumer corporations which will be incorporated by the military. Nokia making a cell phone that can be dropped on concrete from 5 feet is the natural forerunner to electronic "perception enhancement" technologies that can "take a licking and keep on ticking"
Is the technology in its infancy? Yes ,but keep in mind that the science fiction of the 50-60s is here now. The massive breakthroughs in Nanotechnology, Neural interfaces, Materials science, Biochemistry, Biophysics, Prosthetics, and ergonomics will make the childhood cartoons I grew up with seem naive and backwards and so low tech. Imgine if transformers had been created in the nanotec age?
Are you telling me the U.S. millitary is not already planning for integrated, Man mobile weapon platforms? Right now in Iraq we are loosing men. Do you think the generals and the planners like it? Consider this scenario, At 7 foot tall and 350 lbs the FFW mobile armor system is designrd to withstand 50 caliber fire from within 100 meters, Uses muscle assitance tecnology which amplifies the strength of the soldir based on brainwave patterns consitant with battle stress, The mechanical assistance increases at a mulitiple based on stress level, The visor is a liquid plasma screen which overlay alternative optics such as low-light, night-vision, etc over the scene. The rifle has a laser targeting system which is displayed on the visor overlayed on your vision. Squad communictions are recorded and transmitted by bone induction microphone based on code words I.E. say the name of a squad member and it takes it as an instruction to open a channel. All visual data can be sent via laser to A MUCAVwhich can then from its vantage point contact satelite networks and which from a postion of 500 metres can use cameras to pinpoint any poistion of what maybe 5-6 square miles? Each soldier carries 1 MUCAV
and they could be connected into a network able to monitor the surrounding terrain in diverse spectrums, from diverse positions. If they were on the shelf today you think they wouldn't be useful?

The hole bunch seems useful, but all i'm saying that must be low profile ,minimise the target's surface, and fast coz it's prone for rpg fire , and the more advanced the target is, it draws more fire especially from RPGs.

This may turn up to be a hude drawback, but technology is advancing and sure such systems will become operational. Plus each new system enters service with a new strategy attributed to it so maybe they'll counter the RPG threat by devising a plan that spots the threat of RPGs before happening (although it's hard even with surveillance). Hell planes were considered useless ( reminds me of pearl harbor and an american general discharged for daring to say that the battleship era was over in the 1930's)

I think what might be next are more advanced weapons like the MX-29 and better armor for the soldiers like carbon steel and maybe even an exoskeleton to assists them in carrying running also improve their range and stamina.

So it seems we all agree that some form of mechanised armored suit will be available to infantry at some point in the near future, but when? How far off do you all think this tech is?
And who gets it first?

i think the US will get it first tbecause they are the ones who are researching it and are making progress developing one i think maybe around 2012 or so.

I would think these exoskeletons will be used first in "supply department" so that their problems can be addressed before taking them to front line.