Hasta La Gadget!

What is Marvel’s Ironman comic book hero but an average guy with a failing heart wearing a really awesome exoskeleton? It’s not as implausible as, say, a “man who can fly” or a dude who turns into a giant green body builder when he’s angry. So why should be surprised when we hear that a real-world “ironman” exoskeleton may be coming to a shipping yard or military operation near you?

According to a report on the Salt Lake Tribune, Massachusetts-based defense contractor Raytheon-Sarcos has developed a 195-lb, full-body suit, the XOS-2 that can make a 200 pound weight feel like 12 pounds and give the wearer the ability to punch through a roughly 6-inch-thick wood wall.

Despite the millions already spent developing the suit, Ratheon’s body suit looks nowhere near as impressive as the armor worn by Robert Downey Jr. in the Ironman movies; nor can it travel great distances without an external hydraulic power pack. That will all change, eventually, According to Raytheon executives, tethered industrial use could come as early as three years from now. Fully mobile, combat-ready use is at least five years away.

Even so, who doesn’t want to try one of these on today?