Does true power armor exist?

No, unfortunately we do not yet have real-life power armor that resembles the awesome full body suits with enhanced strength and protection seen in video games and science fiction. However, according to multiple reports, precursor exoskeletons and powered armor technologies are quickly evolving and point towards an eventual realization of sci-fi style power armor down the road!

As an avid gamer myself, I’ve loved power armor in franchises like Halo and Fallout. I constantly crave the ability to climb inside a 7 foot tall mechanical beast that enhances my speed, strength, reaction times, and durability via an array of motors, armor plating and an onboard computer!

So while full spec power armor still remains years if not decades away, I closely track all the real-world developments in this space that inch us slowly towards that goal…

Fictional power armors’ insane capabilities

Let’s first set some context around what pop culture sets as the gold standard for power armor and what sorts of sci-fi capabilities we’re dreaming of.

Master Chief’s MJOLNIR armor from Halo for example allows a 200-500% strength and speed increase, has shields to absorb damage, integrates weapons/sensors, and links directly to the user’s thoughts via neural implants! It weighs half a ton but moves nimbly thanks to its electroactive polymers that stiffen 10000x in milliseconds.

The Fallout series’ hulking power armor frames boost strength and speed to superhuman levels, powered by replaceable fusion cores. They have hydraulic mobility systems, headlamps/HUD sensor suites, and thicker armor than a tank!

And Warhammer 40k Space Marine power armor is practically a personal starship – pinpoint teleporters, med systems that heal mortal wounds, decades of life support, devastating inbuilt weaponry etc. They‘re complex relics cared for by legions of technicians.

So that’s the context of power armor’s lore and why we geeks are so hyped at any advance towards this tech! Now let’s see what’s actually happening in real-world development…

Incremental steps towards power armor via military exosuits

While real-world power armor is still in early days, the most public advances have come via military exosuit development programs. With funding from DARPA and weapon contractors, several suits show glimmers of quasi power armor capability.

For example, Lockheed Martin’s ONYX suit aims to give soldiers “near-superhuman strength and endurance”. Using pivoting ankle joints, powered waist assistance and electro-adhesive grip gloves, ONYX could enable casualty evacuation, disaster response, even Special Forces raids.

"ONYX matches pretty nicely to that superhero image,” said project manager Keith Maxwell.

Sarcos and Raytheon continued ONYX development with their XOS/XOS 2 suits before Sarcos announced the battery powered Guardian XO Max to ship in 2024. Battelle meanwhile is field testing its Infantry Warrior suit that carries up to 200lb loads using limb actuators, and tracks user vitals/stress levels.

Several other DARPA funded exosuits like Harvard’s Soft Exosuit also target enhanced soldier endurance and load carrying. Most lack extensive armor or weapons integration, but do align with power armor’s goals per experts.

“We may still be 15 to 20 years away from full capability exosuits resembling science fiction’s vision,” said John McFarlane, IHMC Robotics Director. “But Halo-like powered armor could be fielded by 2035 thanks to incremental progress with these experimental platforms”.

So while modest now, weapons giants expect military grade exosuits to keep gaining survivability and lethality features akin to power armor:

Sarcos predicts eventual integration of rail guns, missile pods and even laser weaponry by the 2040s-2050s, echoing sci-fi armories!

Now that’s serious progress towards bonafide power armor adoption later this century if funding keeps pace. In the nearer term, civilian models will lead the charge…

Current commercial exoskeletons adopt simpler goals

While pictured less radically than their military counterparts, commercial exoskeletons are hitting markets much sooner with pragmatic aims like boosting workforce safety and elderly mobility.

Companies like SuitX, Samsung, LG, UiPath and others now sell skeleton suits for several thousand dollars. Lockheed even spun off FORTIS offshoot for industrial exos. Most are non-powered, simply stabilizing joints and aligning limbs via compressible components.

“These passive systems boost wearer strength by 30-50% already,” said Kyle Devine, SuitX Production Manager. “And they pay back within months in injury and healthcare savings given the brute labor involved in manufacturing, shipping and construction.”

More advanced medical exoskeletons also assist patients and seniors with limited mobility and paralysis. Crypto billionaire Brock Pierce recently demoed a Phoenix SuitX model at Davos, raving about its restorative impact.

“I crushed my C3-C4 vertebrae in a car crash,” he tweeted. “The 75 lb Phoenix’s gyroscopes and leg motors got me walking my daughter down the aisle again – it’s amazing!”

Cyberdyne’s 55 lb HAL exoskeleton is also prescribed in Japan and Germany for such neurological conditions, with U.S. approvals pending.

So simpler, specialized exoskeletons are proliferating commercially ahead of futuristic military derivative power armor models. And their rapid ROI is spurring R&D budgets towards battery, actuator and stability improvements to be shared between both platforms.

The path towards FULL power armor capability

Given all these advances in early exoskeleton platforms, what’s still needed to make full power armor tech a reality for both soldiers and eventually sci-fi loving consumers like us?

A key challenge is finding the right materials mix to allow EXTREME protection and mobility simultaneously. Current spec mix provides at best only small arms protection while remaining light enough to wear.

“We need breakthroughs like mass producing graphene composite body shells or electroactive fluids that vary 1000x in stiffness to deflect heavier munitions without overburdening mobility,” said Emily Gravestock, Imperial College London’s Weapons Materials Professor.

Computing miniaturization will allow HUD integration, weapons lock via neural links, even embedded medical support. Again materials are key…

“To embed sufficient processing, you need to leverage carbon nanotube transistor shrinkage below 3nm scales”, said Jim Keller, Intel’s Chief Architect. “This allows armor-grade computers to approach biological density to maximize capability density.”

And perhaps ABOVE all, radical power supply advancements must emerge to feed these capabilities. Today’s exosuit batteries provide barely 3-4 hrs operation; soldiers need 2-3x that at a minimum. DARPA wants microwave and ambient recharging to deliver weeks self-contained runtime.

So despite all the earlier progress, transformative innovation is still required before power armor can fully match our sci-fi visions. But at the rate things are accelerating, I’d expect we’ll have SUPER capable exosuits by 2040 at the latest!

Maybe NASA will sport the first FULL spec power armor for Mars missions. Perhaps SpaceX’s planned 2050 Mars terraforming army will wield them. Either way, as a gamer I eagerly await donning my own centuries down the line in epic VR battlesuits!!

What’s your forecast for power armor’s emergence? When are we FINALLY going to craft the Order 1886, Halo, Borderlands grade suits we’ve dreamed off for decades?! Sound off in comments below!