Talos

At the beginning of the project, the achievement of the following goals ^{[3] [4]} was declared as the main areas of work:

• The optimal distribution of the weight of the soldier and his equipment on the supporting components of the system,
• Full ballistic protection of the entire surface of the body with the most modern means,
• Low power consumption
• Light noise stealth use,
• Integrated systems of thermoregulation and biomedical monitoring of the human condition, as well as built-in components for first aid in case of injury,
• Continuous environmental monitoring system,
• The total weight of not more than 180 kg while providing energy consumption of 12 kW for 12 hours.

Of particular interest to the expert community is the alleged strengthening of the fighter’s protection with “ liquid armor ”, which will not affect his mobility . This technology is based on the use of unusual non-Newtonian properties of liquid suspensions of nanoparticles, which can effectively absorb impact energy instantly hardening and distributing the bullet impact over a significant area of ​​a conventional Kevlar body armor ^{[3] [5]} .

The SOCOM command in the person of Admiral McRaven expressed the hope to see a fully completed set of equipment no later than August 2018. In the first four years of development, it is planned to spend about 80 million US dollars ^[1] .

The first concept of the costume was presented in May 2013, while it was hoped to get working prototypes over the next three years ^[2] .

In May 2015, a message appeared that the American company Revision Military had shown a full-size prototype of a “suit for kinetic operations” ( Kinetic Operations Suit ), placed on a mannequin ^[1] . According to the assurances of the company’s representatives, the suit’s armor protects approximately 60% of the human operator’s body surface from rifle ammunition , while conventional modern body armor has a value of about 18%. The combat component of the costume includes a supporting exoskeleton , which redistributes the weight of the helmet with a night vision device , armor and equipment, transferring them to motorized power drives. Particular attention is paid to protecting against cervical spine and lower back load. In addition, the suit is equipped with a cooling system located behind the shoulders and allowing to maintain a constant temperature inside with the help of water, which is pumped through a system of tubes with a total length of about three meters ^[1] .

The project website lists 55 industrial, 20 government and 12 academic institutions. Project participants include MIT ^[6] Harvard University , University of California , University of Delaware , University of Michigan , Boeing , Lockheed Martin , Raytheon , Adidas , NPR , Nike , Red Bull Air Force , , etc. ^{[ 7] [8] [9]}

After announcing the terms and available funds for R&D , unnamed defense industry experts reacted to the plans of the organizers of the TALOS project with undisguised skepticism ^[4] referring to the actual financial failure of the previous Land Warrior program, which spent $ 500 million on three main contracts from 1996 to 2006 dollars. In addition, it is reported that the technological level necessary to achieve the goals of the TALOS program cannot be achieved before 2026. Among the main critical problems, in the first place, is the lack of sufficiently compact, reliable and lightweight power sources.

Serious doubts are also caused by the secrecy of using a costume with exoskeleton , since it is rather difficult to choose an energy source that would not create a high level of noise background. Due to the fact that commercially available samples do not meet these requirements, General Atomics representatives presented their plans for providing the TALOS system with a hybrid hydroelectric power unit with an internal combustion engine , which would reach speeds of 10,000 rpm, fitting in the palm of your hand ^[1] .

Scott Neil, Special Forces Master Sergeant , one of the retired servicemen of the American special forces, noted that no expensive technological sophistication in TALOS systems could replace the sane control of soldiers and competent intelligence on the battlefield ^[6] .

• SPS (equipment)

• The article "The United States began developing a costume to give the military the ability of superheroes" on the site ammokor.ru
• US Army will receive "Iron Man Costume"
• Chuck Oldham. Futuristic TALOS Delivering Immediate Benefits . Information site www.defensemedianetwork.com (21 May 2015). Date of treatment July 25, 2016.