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From: ke4zv!gary@gatech.edu (Gary Coffman)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Power Armor
Message-ID: <1991Jun23.230928.10138@cbnews.cb.att.com>
Date: 23 Jun 91 23:09:28 GMT
References: <1991May24.030024.8386@amd.com> <1991Jun6.063339.5887@amd.com> <1991Jun12.012726.25617@amd.com> <1991Jun14.080221.20535@amd.com> <1991Jun18.074541.15334@amd.com>
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From: ke4zv!gary@gatech.edu (Gary Coffman)

In article <1991Jun18.074541.15334@amd.com> phil@brahms.AMD.COM (Phil Ngai) writes:
>
>Hm, I wonder how much this thing would weigh and how big its feet would
>be. Could it swim? Cross a rice paddy? What if you spent the money
>instead on rifles and cheap drafted soldiers? I'm not sure how this
>thing could really be economic.

A guestimate on weight would be around 150 kilos depending on the
weight of the problematic power supply and it's fuel. Since the
suit would be capable of operating totally buttoned up for NBC
protection, it could simply walk across the bottom of rivers, and
need not be able to swim. I doubt it would float, but it might
be able to swim if necessary. A number 12 shoe should be big
enough to have about the same ground loading as a normal man.

As to it's value versus cannon fodder, US doctrine has lately
been to expend money on high tech rather than accept high
casualty rates. The Chinese might have a different perspective.

>Or even more effective, a squad of soldiers with radios calling in
>air dropped smart weapons. This idea of armor seems of limited value.
>A dozen soldiers with machine guns ought to be able to hose up the
>PA's sensors pretty well. The only value I see to PA is the ability
>to carry more than a human can. Well, airplanes can do that too.

Airplanes aren't very good at house to house fighting in civilian
neighborhoods. And you never seem to be able to find air support
when you need it. The fly boys always seem to want to go off
chasing other airplanes, or somebody with more rank wants *their*
anthill smashed first. The advantage granted by the sensor net
is that you would know about those dozen soldiers before they
knew about you granting you the advantage of surprise or evasion.
In most cases in Vietnam, jungle ambushes were over long before
air power could be brought into play.

Gary