What's the latest in military BDUs?

I've heard of the nano-suit, but what other BDUs are out there that the military has used/will use/is developing?

Links are fine. Doesn't matter how long. Thanks in advance.

EDIT: This is very important to me, please respond.

[edit on 12-10-2004 by Ray AP3]

Well, the Marine Corps issued a new utility uniform several years ago that is different than those used by the other services.

www.marines.com...

www.google.com...

www.google.com...

www.google.com...

A suit using nano-tech is quite a way off. But heres a link to what soldiers will be wearing around 2025.

www.natick.army.mil...

The latest and greatest for the standard soldier varies from branch to branch but they all appear to be going in the not to distant future to the
MARPAT digital pattern for all of the various colos and styles of Unifoms I believe the Marines use these already.

Good timing on this post, I was just flipping through an old Discover magazine(2002 or early 2003 issue) and one article was on how DARPA had spnsored 2 companies with grants to build an exoskeleton for future troops. The interview of the head designers of the two firms explained that the exoskeleton could be fine tuned or programed for specific tasks. Say like Bill needs to run 3 times as fast as the fastest human and John needs to lift 3 times as much, their individual units can be programed to be "job-specific". The only major problem at this point is the power source. Since it has to be mobile, it has to be light and store incredible amounts of juice to run the suit. DARPA has set full suit trials to begin in 2005, but like I said, this article is at least a year old. But I do know they gave these two firms large amounts of money to build these.

Oh, and it is not just for fighting. The basic reason for building these is loading bombs. One firm displayed a robotic arm that can lift 4000lbs and is controlled by the muscle movements of one soldier. The soldier basically slides his arm into a sleeve that controls the giant arm and the arm and claw can be controlled by his movements. The claw has sensors to give the soldier feedback in grip, sway, and pressure. The designer that invented it is also responsible for inventing an artificial limb that is controlled by the amputee's muscle movements.

Everyone looks at the glamor of exoskeletons or super-soldiers...but most of this technology is being invented to reduce the human workforce in the military. When one person can unload a cargo plane or truck instead of 10, it is more cost effective(any auto workers cringe at that statement?)

^What are the exoskeletons made of (if you know)?

Originally posted by Ray AP3
^What are the exoskeletons made of (if you know)?

Well most likely there will be two different types. Ones like Sport Kensington talked about ala "Aliens" cargo loader exoskeleton, these will be robotic made of metal ,plastic,carbon fiber pretty much anything a robot will be built out of. These types will be the stronger of the two.




rn01.rednova.com...

I dont think Soldiers will use these mechanical types. They will make use of a type of synthetic muscles. A material that will work much like a human Muscle does when electricty is run through it. We have stuff like this but its not that strong yet but I think it will be the way to go in the future for a combat soldier. These types will be near silent and allow a greater degree of movement then mechanical types.

Shadow:

I think equipment like this will end up categorizing troops, as in light infantry, armored infantry, heavy infantry, etc.

What good is a tank compared to an infantryman who, with aid of an exosuit, can pack at least a few Hellfire missiles with him wherever he goes, be it forest, swamp, mountain, or urban terrain. Helicopters are great for being mobile weapons platforms. If you have a platoon of troops that can carry more firepower than a helicopter, and stay on-station indefinitely, it'd be bad ass.

Instead of a phalanx of tanks assaulting other armor, you could have heavy infantry come from any direction be it mountain or road and have the accuracy and firepower of the same amount of tanks.

There's great possibilities in these things. As far as the viability of personal armor for troops goes, I think the Russian Robo-Robber escapade in LA almost 10 years ago proved that concept pretty well.

Originally posted by taibunsuu
Shadow:

I think equipment like this will end up categorizing troops, as in light infantry, armored infantry, heavy infantry, etc.

What good is a tank compared to an infantryman who, with aid of an exosuit, can pack at least a few Hellfire missiles with him wherever he goes, be it forest, swamp, mountain, or urban terrain. Helicopters are great for being mobile weapons platforms. If you have a platoon of troops that can carry more firepower than a helicopter, and stay on-station indefinitely, it'd be bad ass.

Instead of a phalanx of tanks assaulting other armor, you could have heavy infantry come from any direction be it mountain or road and have the accuracy and firepower of the same amount of tanks.

There's great possibilities in these things. As far as the viability of personal armor for troops goes, I think the Russian Robo-Robber escapade in LA almost 10 years ago proved that concept pretty well.

Turning soldiers into basically walking tanks is a interesting concept. If they could be armoured to stop RPGS armed with hellfire missiles and large cal. guns they would be a force to be reckoned with.

I do think mechanical types will be the juggernauts of the exoskeleton world. There wont be very many limits on how strong you can make these things. Which could make them carry great amounts of weapon and armour that no human could ever hope to carry. Even weapons like miniguns and the ammo for them could be carried.

Im really interested in this synthetic muscles stuff though. I think it will be great for missions were stealth is important. Making a human much faster with the ablity to carry some nice armour levels with no noise. I dont think these guys will be throwing any cars around though. Perhaps these will be the armored infantry and heavy infantrywill be mechanical types.