R&D Underway
While youse guys were snickering a while back over those 60-pound rifles on a mechanical harness used as props in the 1985 movie “Aliens”, the Army took a hard look at them in 2017 and said “We want those guns ‘n’ stuff!”
Considering that Jenette Golstein got the part of Vasquez because she was doing powerlifting when she auditioned for the movie in London, she could easily handle the weight of the prop gun, but the harness and mechanical assistance of the arms makes it easier to carry a heavier weapon, and that is what the Army looked at. And let’s remember that CPL Hicks had a short-barreled shotgun for what he termed “close encounters”.
This equipment is under development now. Instead of throwing your back out carrying 120 lbs hung all over you (and then you show up at the VA with a bad back), the harness and mechanical assistance will make it easier for the troop/soldier/jarhead to carry the load and do other things such as while s/he’s reading maps, etc., without having to hold the gun or sling it. Gee, you might even be able to carry several canisters of 80mm rounds on you. 🙂
Sci-fi frequently does forecast real future stuff. “The Bionic Man” was a human, a test pilot who had crashed, lost some limbs and was refitted with mechanical parts to see if they worked properly. Biomechanical engineering has come a long way since then. Mechanical limbs are replacing shattered counterparts. Cardiac tissue is being grown on spinach leaves, and used to replace damaged tissue. There are exoskeletons under development and in testing on volunteers now, for people who have been paralyzed in accidents or warfare, and robots under developmental engineering that can act and do things independently, following their programming. And as you probably know, the military has been testing robot vehicles for some time.
I used to see this stuff in comic books, back when they cost $.10. Now it’s becoming real. Warp drive is next. And if you’re looking for a chance to sign up for Shuttle Doorguner school, see this guy:
I hear he’s as mean as a snake.
Category: "Your Tax Dollars At Work", Big Army, Guns, It's science!
Marvin? He’s a pussycat. Just don’t get him, well, you know.
He needs to spend some time talking about his feewings with a qualified counselor.
He does have some anger management issues.
“Now Mr. Martian, if someone has taken your illudium q-36 explosive space modulator, how does that make you feel?”
I was one of the FIRST that MCPOCSMMGSgt Marvin trained on the original Uranium Pu 36 Explosive Space Modulator (mod-you-lay-tore). This was FIRST Generation stuff that became the later model Illudium Q-36.
This was before he took over 40mm Plasma Door Gunnery School.
Mean? There are cobra headed striped rattle moccasioned pit viper snakes that aren’t as mean as Marvin was.
The angry was real.
He lost his Stress Card.
Lets Rock.
I guess no IMT with the “third arm…”
You all know as well as I do what the end result will be.
“Oh, that harness helps you carry your load easier? Great! It means you can carry even more into the field!”
Of course! Heavier ammo, plate armor that makes Kevlar look like burnt toast – stuff like that.
But think of all the muscle mass you’ll build!!!
How do you think the opposition would react to a whole squad of troops in power lifters (see “Aliens” cargo loaders) turned into walking machine guns, with belt feeders 100 yards long? I think that’s coming ’round the bend some day.
It’s cool until someone trips or the hydraulics stop working.
Just don’t land on the vents.
Melts the ice instantly, and…
Nah, go with the suits from “Avatar”.. Aliens was a nice start, but always go with the upgraded tech..
Amazing how the more advanced our warfighters are, they still have to carry the same basic weight.
Funny how that crazy gravity thing works the same regardless of how much weight you load onto a person. The only way to lighten someone’s load is to have them carry lighter weapons and gear.
Maybe AOCs New Green Deal will redesign passageways everywhere to accommodate the use of such ridiculously large and cumbersome weapons and kit in close quarters. 🙂
I’m thinking of the Mobile Infantry suits of RA Heinlein’s “Starship Troopers”.
You can thank sci fi for space launches from Florida (Jules Verne) geosynchronous communications satellites (Arthur C. Clark) cell phones, and a host other ideas. For future projections, read Michio Kaku’s “Physics of the impossible.”
It’s been a while since I was in a 1 niner 8 sp but what is that sp fingering into? Is it a doctored photo?
It’s blatant “cultural appropriation”!
The paint and the black cross show that the vehicle belongs to the sausage sucking master race.
Who lack the lebensraum to play with their guns and have to come up with noise suppressing devices.
Ha!!
“Game over man!”
Not to mention:
Joe will break it in three hours tops….
Waste of time and money.They might as well spend the money on researching perpetual motion. The laws of physics will not be mocked.