I find this latest Army news baffling as the US has NOT been able to develop simple advanced future warrior gear for over 3 decades and cannot even field a decent ACR from Colt, Bushmaster, nor Remington! The German Heer fielded the first supersoldiers in the Balkans in 1999 with their IDZ program and now have progressed to Phase II which is known as Gladious. Their idea is a fully-integrated electronic-warfare aerospace soldier that can communicate with ALL German land, air, and sea weapons. The US Army having seen the "Iron Man" movies from Marvel want their own version called TALOS (Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit) for SOCOM forces! The suit would be bulletproof (OK, made of titanium/vandium/+ whatever) but would add massive weight. Then they want bionics too for it to be mobile- riiiiiiight!!! In addition, it has to have state-of-the-art displays linked to Milsats and drones constantly updating. And then there are new weapon systems (perhaps some dazzlers, a new gun system, caseless maybe?) plus internal powerplant AND an internal O2 supply!!! This is ridiculous to sacrifice mobility for a pillbox suit! The Germans want to move faster and integrate using computers with modular armor, advanced sight systems, simple advanced versions of the G-36 with linkage, and backing with ACRs (Autonomous Combat Robots) in many forms. Now THAT makes sense on a fluidic battlefield. The TALOS Suit is a slow-moving, dependent system vunerable to a range of conventional weapons like mines, flame, .50 cals that could wreck the internal electronic display by sheer KE. I think a simple RPG hit would also take this thing out or compromise its internals. It also makes the soldier dependent on drones overhead to scout and relay info. German soldiers will do the opposite and order any German weapon system manned or unmanned to attack on their command and if the first platform fails then the secondary will be called into action, then the third, and so on. Real-time battlefield assessment will be passed along to the Bundeswehr though advanced visuals with holomorphic displays. The US Army is seeking help from academia, industry, and British BAe. Good luck on that.

*HOD= Head-On Display