Several months ago, in mid-June of 2013, I read one of the most obscure articles on the Internet. It appears to be that the US Army Research, Development, and Engineering Command (RDECOM), the Army’s think-tank of futuristic weapon’s development, has been talking about new armament. This far exceeds the new Helmet, or the Female formfitting Body Armor. This is fondly called ‘The Iron Man Suit.’ This suit will carry just about all the capabilities of the comic book version, but it will not fly . When I read about the developmental testing on the exoskeleton version, I thought it was time to discuss it with my veteran’s cribbage card club. We have an informal gathering of one army NCO, one retired Marine Gunnery Sergeant, one retired Navy Commander, and one retired Air Force Major, about once a month.

I presented the subject in this way: “Hey Guys, when you were a kid, did you ever read the ‘Iron Man Comics’ or watch the ‘Iron Man Movies?’ Well guess what the Army is doing now? They have announced the production of the Iron Man Suit, and just finished field testing on the exoskeleton.”

The Air Force Major snapped of boredom, making his comment, it’ll never get off the ground!”

“Yes Major,” I said, “It’ll never fly. However, it does have some awesome features.”

This army seems to be renamed every time another manufacturer becomes a part of the project. It started with the official name of T= Tactical, A=Assault, L=Light, O=Operator, S=Suit or TALOS. The suit is armed with a very impressive list of bullets, grenades and small guided missiles. There is a special overlay panels within the suit of liquid armor which becomes solid, within nanoseconds if the sensors receive the signal of electrical flex within the environment.

The first sub structural, out-of-door tests have occurred in the mountains outside of Denver. The sub structural portion of the TALOS is named the HUCL. The HULC, is constructed of Titanium. It will fit soldiers from 5’4” tall, to soldiers 6’ 2” tall. The weight of the unit is 53 pounds, however, a soldier can easily carry it because the load is so well balanced.

What is truly remarkable about the sub structural frame is that it will allow the soldier to walk, run, crawl, and climb normally, without retarding one’s pace. In fact, the frame allows a soldier to be loaded with an additional 100 to 125 pounds at 6000 feet above sea level. The testing shows that a soldier can climb another 2500’ with that same load without additional breathing assistance or strain to the soldier’s respiratory system.. This suit is truly amazing.

As the army continues testing on other areas, you will receive reports on this tank on two feet.