Supersoldier Technology

What sort of technology do you predict will be used by the military in the next 10 - 20 years? They're governments already using nano technology to weave "intelligent fabric" that allows strength and performance augmentation. There are organizations like DARPA already accomplishing this.

 

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I've seen a gun that can shoot around corners. The last 6 inches or so of the gun is equiped with a camera and bends to about 90 degrees (variable though... 0 degrees to 90 depending on the need). On the shooter's side he has a computer that shows him what is around that corner.

 

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And I take it that everyone has seen the prototype invisibility material that uses mirrors to bend light around an object, rendering it invisible. It currently has some flaws but it's hoped that the mirrors will eventually become video screens that will show a constantly-changing image of whatever the camouflaged person/vehicle/equipment happens to be passing.

 

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This? http://www.realtechnews.com/posts/1860

I have thought about using small mirrors or even fiber optics to do it since I was a preteen... I never actually knew it could be done with amazing precision

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I think the future lies in exoskeletons. It's almost a regression back to the days of suits of armour, except this time the suits have motors and other devices.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1112411.stm

 

it's mentioned in the article about needing a power supply, what about this:
http://www.sciforums.com/showthread.php?t=50962&highlight=hemoglobin

 

A genetically enhanced human with regeneration capabilities when wounded and optimized vision,endurance..etc.
Secret "Super Soldier" projects my the U.S military were rumoured to be underway since the early 80s
Its unclear what new hardware or software might show up in the future battlefield.

 

It has been claimed (in some circles) that the US has fielded "enhanced soldiers" in combat trials since the late '90s - but the enhancements turn out to be

Mostly better load-carrying webbing, and lighter body armour - sort of a let-down....
(Quote from: http://quanterion.com/RIAC/Library/Library.asp?ArgVal=158036)

 

www.metalstorm.com

this could theoretically fire millions of rounds per minute, depending on the size of the battery.

 

That's more of an artillery piece, not a supersoldier technology. I suppose it could replace conventional mortar squads though

 

it's rolling artillery. supersoldiers got to roll in something.

 

?? So could any gun if you have enough of them in the battery...
Metalstorm's problem is reloading times after the first burst.

 

I had a dream recently where by i was completing some of the relevant Officer Training courses in the army, and we had to undergo a Bio Mechanical upgrade... Sort of like what happens to ya in Quake 4 (did i mention i finished the game about a day before i had this dream

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)

Took a large dosage of medication, had neural implants... well implanted... and most our human body parts were replaced by android parts. Quite interesting and a fun dream. Remember being worried in it how my girlfriend would react to my change but yeah...

Woke up all pissed off because it was just a figment of my imagination

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Well, that's how the Combine Overwatch are trained in Half-Life 2. Most of their non-essential (that is, easily replaced by combine technology) bodily organs are removed, and they are augmented.

 

Lasers are here right now.
Where's Stokes when you need him?

Think of the mirage effect observable above hot asphalt on a sunny day. This is exactly what happens when the laser superheats the air. One cool thing is that if they allow it to get really hot, the beam path becomes visible as the air turns into a white hot plasma. Normally you can't see the beams of these things because they're down in the mid-IR spectrum, but when dust or smoke gets in their path, the beam heats the particles to incandescence and it becomes visible. It looks amazing, especially at night. If you're curious I visited the HELSTF in 1996 for a demonstration of the SeaLite beam director - a searchlight-looking thing that the Navy's been looking at as a shipboard point-defense system against missiles and aircraft. Like the Phalanx CIWS, only using a laser instead of an automatic cannon with a high cyclic ROF.

http://sciforums.com/showthread.php?t=42384

The Nautilus isn't designed to engage ICBMs; only short-ranged missiles and artillery projectiles. Israel has a hard-on for it because they've been scrambling for something like this since they went at it with Lebanon, because the Lebanese fired a bunch of Kyatushas at them, among other things. The US likes the idea because a few of them (mounted on humvees, as they will be eventually) will all but entirely negate North Korea's artillery preponderance at the DMZ.

http://sciforums.com/showthread.php?t=35868

 

Continuing the theme of current technology. How about a man portable weapon that can punch a hole almost right through an M1 tank.

I don't know what it is and neither do the US army.

http://www.cheniere.org/misc/M1A1Tank11.pdf

If you don't like pdf I'll quote you a little.

Description of Incident: While on patrol the tank was hit by “something”. There is a hole in the #4 Right-hand skirt. Because of the classified nature of the insides of the skirt, the hole is covered by paper in this photo:

It then tore the NBC hose behind the Gunner’s Seat and bent the basket shield:

And into the hull again:

Enjoy
Dee Cee

 

Sounds like either a laser or a railgun

 

They have a good idea now though:
http://www.strategypage.com/gallery/default.asp?target=solved.htm
http://www.strategypage.com/gallery/default.asp?target=rpg7vl.htm
a PG-7VR (enhanced RPG-7 warhead) or the equally up-to-date warhead from an RPG-22.
Quote from the first link;

Somebody got lucky with a shot...

 

I take my previous comment back, in that case. I didn't know RPGs made such small holes.

 

RPG warheads use hollow charges to penetrate, which gives a cone of penetrating "material" (very nearly a plasma) that is the warhead diameter at the base and up to around (depending on liner material and manufacturing quality) 6-12 diameters long.
So if the RPG hits the skirt armour (which is a good distance from the hull) the cone would be down to a small diameter by the time it reached the hull itself, but still with considerable power.