Army Gears Up to Outfit Soldiers in 'Iron Man' Suit

(Sept. 28) -- Defense companies are hoping someday to outfit soldiers with external skeletons that would bestow the wearer with superhuman capabilities.

That day may still be years away, but Raytheon, one of the companies working on this technology for the Army, is riding the coattails of "Iron Man," which helped popularize the notion of such high-tech armored suits, to show off the prototype it's already created. The company Monday released a video featuring actor Clark Gregg, who plays Agent Phil Coulson in the movie version of "Iron Man," talking about the latest updates to the suit.
While such technology may not have quite the capabilities provided by the "Iron Man" suit of comic book fame, it does have similar goals of bestowing the wearer with superhuman strength. A video of the second-generation exoskeleton robotics suit shows a test engineer karate-chopping wood, performing push-ups and lifting weights.

In reality, the main purpose of the suit is to enable soldiers to carry large amounts of weight on the battlefield.

Raytheon officials say the suit could have two versions: a combat one that goes just from the legs down and would be used primarily to support a backpack, and a full-body logistics version, which would enable a soldier to carry even more supplies.

A rival suit is being developed by Lockheed Martin Corp.