Special Ops Uniform Will Transform Commandos Into an Iron Man Army

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is working on the Warrior Web Project, which has many of the attributes of the Army’s Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit concept. Image: DARPA

Army researchers are developing an advanced military uniform that would turn a special ops commando into Iron Man.

The Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit, or TALOS, will deliver “superhuman strength with greater ballistic protection” by providing a powered exoskeleton to haul heavier equipment, liquid armor capable of stopping bullets, built-in computers and night vision, as well as the ability to monitor vital signs and apply wound-sealing foam. Put together, the capabilities would make the already elite Special Operation Forces nearly invincible in the field, says the Army.

“[The] requirement is a comprehensive family of systems in a combat armor suit where we bring together an exoskeleton with innovative armor, displays for power monitoring, health monitoring, and integrating a weapon into that — a whole bunch of stuff that RDECOM is playing heavily in,” said Lt. Col. Karl Borjes, a U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM) science adviser, in a statement.

Among that “bunch of stuff,” MIT engineers are working on a liquid body armor made of magnetorheological fluids that “transform from liquid to solid in milliseconds when a magnetic field or electrical current is applied,” according to the Army.

TALOS, which shares the name of the mythological Greek automaton made of bronze that Zeus assigned to protect his lover Europa, is expected to make a first-generation appearance some time next year.

“I’m very committed to this,” said U.S. Special Operations Command chief Adm. William McRaven to a group of industry representatives at a TALOS presentation in July.  “I’d like that last operator that we lost to be the last operator we lose in this fight or the fight of the future, and I think we can get there.”

Because of the high number of highly integrated technical challenges with advanced specifications, the Army is expecting to draw on a broad range of collaborators from backgrounds that may have never worked together.

“USSOCOM is interested in receiving white papers from a wide variety of sources, not just traditional military industry but also from academia, entrepreneurs, and laboratories capable of providing the design, construction, and testing of TALOS related technologies,” said Jim Geurts, USOCOM acquisition executive, in a statement. “The intent is to accelerate the delivery of innovative TALOS capabilities to the SOF operator.”

(h/t: Defense Tech, Foreign Policy)