Could Battle Armor/Power Armor be a viable weapon on the modern

Is the only real issue with power armor right now just powering it for any length of time without a tether?

>>33988488
The real issue is life isn't Call of Duty.

>>33988488
I believe so. I have no real knowledge on current dives into the field of BA research, but besides actually getting it to power up, but minimizing the power supply to such a small degree that it can be placed inside the thing.

>>33988438
Eventually it would. Not right now though.

>>33988438
The cost for something like this isn't cumulative, but exponential. A squad of soldiers can be trained, equipped, deployed, and supplied for far less money than a squad of these, and there's not really a battlefield role that requires powered armor as of this point in time.

>>33988438

I can see power armor being used as an additional supporting arm in standard rifle platoons, or a replacement for the machine gun teams used in weapons squads today. Instead of having 2-3 GPMG teams per platoon, you give each squad a GPMG equipped power armor unit that can serve as a mobile support by fire position, or that can establish supporting fires offset from the assault axis, and then could quickly close on the objective when needed.

>>33988651
With the heavy armor, I could imagine the user being quite protected from incoming fire. With maybe the exception of very large explosive shells or armor piercing rounds, they'd almost be indestructable.

>>33988488
>the only real issue with power armor right now just powering it

No, but that is a huge issue.

We can barely get 3 days out of a lithium radio battery, and that's not even using that much power. A power armor suit would be a huge energy sink as you'd need power for mobility, climate control, coms, weapon systems and targeting, and visibility systems.

>>33988712
Elementals a shit, give me a SAMAS any day.

>>33988712
Begone Freebirth.
>>33988702
Clearly then, a new type of battery would have to be created, or find a way to harness the power of the sun to power the suit.

>>33988684
Pretty much.

Blast overpressure would be an issue from large charges, but grenade and RPG fragmentation wouldn't do shit, and outside of a direct hit from an AT RPG round, I think you'd survive an RPG HE hit, though a direct shot would knock you on your ass, and your bell would be rung from the overpressure.

Small arms AP rounds could be defeated, but I don't think you're going to stop the heavy MG 12.7MM AP rounds with anything practical.

>>33988730
>Clearly then, a new type of battery would have to be created

Maybe Elon Musk will come up with something good in the future with his Tesla car shit.

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>>33988764
Maybe a wall of concrete about three feet thick.
If the suit has gloves, I'm hoping that the user will be able to use regular weapons in the event they need too. But if given claws, they would need something mounted on the suit itself to fend off any attackers.

I know it's ridiculous, but take a look at Battletech's Elemental suit. It has both a claw and a mount that can accept many different weapons, as well as a single-shot missile launcher.
>>33988783
Only he can prevent forest fires.

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Thing with power armor is, it's not better Infantry, it's a shittier IFV.

Size and weight of a truck, but with Infantry-tier mobility. Costs as much as several APC/IFV's while packing less firepower. Too large and heavy to enter residential buildings. Maybe it could waddle sideways down a narrow alley, but what would be the point? So it ends up standing outside with the other IFV's while the Infantry does what it's always done.

>>33988702
>We can barely get 3 days out of a lithium radio battery, and that's not even using that much power.

That's probably because A: It's a piece of shit, B: It's a piece of shit that E1 Schmuckatelli charged at the wrong voltage and so will never hold a proper charge again, C: It was made before the fall of the Soviet Union, or D: All of the above.

>>33988858
First, you obviously don't know what the fuck you're talking about.

Second, lithium bats are the best you can get as they provide more power, longer, in a smaller package than pretty much any other battery, including the rechargeable bats like nic-cad.

Finally, they aren't rechargeable.

Nice try though, cool guy.

>>33988972
>>33988972

Interesting. The only reference I can find for non-rechargeable lithium radio batteries is a Vietnam era survival radio.

All modern mil radios are running off rechargeable li-ion packs.

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>>33988438
Well the main problem with power armour is who can actually wear it?

Sure you can punch through a concrete wall but your arms going to shatter from the speed and force the suit requires to ramp up to in order to do that.

Why does everyone forget this?

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>>33989252
>a bunch of legs use rechargeable shit to do their presence patrols, so that means nobody uses lithium batteries

That's because conventional forces don't have the budget for lithium bats, nor do they have the commo guys capable of making the power conversion cables needed to run them with their rechargeable issued shit. They use the shitty nic-cad bats and the chargers they're issued....which don't last as long as the lithium bats.

Real units buy and use pic related, because they've got more power, last longer than the rechargeable shit, and they do missions that keep them away from any FOB/COB for more than a few hours a day, unlike the conventional force.

>>33989335
No one forgot it, it's that no one not retared thinks that power armor will do that.

It's gonna be a lower body + spine exoskeleton, with extra head & torso, maybe thigh armor. That's it.

Problems i see with it would be agility, being such a big target that infantry could easily carry some small anti armor weapon to kill you, and like others have mentioned the power system.

The big issue is the power supply. I don't know if lithium batteries have enough energy for their size and weight. A better alternative might be fuel cells combined with super-capacitors. Also, if a battery is drained in the field, how do you recharge it? A fuel cell might take something like methyl alcohol, so a buddy could refuel the dead suit and get the soldier back in business. Also, you could drink the fuel and get shitfaced til you go blind

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MY HOME PLANET

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fuck NOOOOOOOOO it's been maybe a week or two last time this fucking thread was created fuck

The world will eventually have seals in power armor and alphabet hostage rescue teams, but everyone else is going to have a 600 dollar utility bot with a handful of munition options to clear rooms and peak around corners/walk point if there isn't a drone with a birds eye view. It's not that the tech isn't viable, it's just not doing anything a dozen cheaper options can't do

>>33989476
we just bought the cables and put colored tape on them that matched the batteries, the vehicle charging mounts wouldn't work with anything but the original batteries but the accessory power could plug into anything. we had lights and USB cables you could run off of drained batteries given to us by the USO, Its only a logistics problem if your chain of command has other priorities and don't leave the fob.

>>33990852
>only a logistics problem if your chain of command has other priorities

So you mean like 70% of the conventional force.

Regardless, glad to hear you had some dudes willing to use some common sense.