Whether it's armor to increase the resistance of the body up to modern exoskeletons, or camouflage outfits to exacerbate the stealth and stealth of soldiers, the military has worn protective outfits and appendages for several millennia. .
Today, we are seeing the beginnings of a new generation of systems intended both to protect and to increase the power and resistance of the fighter, and sometimes to erase it, from the adversary's detection systems, whether in the form of exoskeletons, connected “body armor”, or adaptive camouflage outfits.
In this field, science fiction has, for many years, led the way, both in literature, comics and in cinema and television series, with, sometimes, particularly inspiring approaches for the engineers in charge. of this type of program. In this article, we will present five of the most interesting combat outfits from the SciFi universe, to study their specificities and the relevance of the proposed concept.
In this section:
Aliens: The Return: the Space Marines' exoskeleton and M56 Smart Gun heavy machine gun
In 1986, James Cameron made one of his first blockbusters with Aliens – The Return, narrating the adventure of Ellen Ripley accompanied by a squad of Space Marines on a planet in process of terraforming, LV-426, to face there "xenomorphs", the creatures which had struck down the crew of the Nostromo in the first opus of the series.
There are certain aspects that would form Cameron's trademark during his long and successful film career, in particular the precision with which he designed the military equipment of the future, including Drake and Vasquez's M56 Smart Gun combat system. , two of the most charismatic space marines in the film.
The Smart Gun consists of a heavy machine gun (18 kg) intended for dynamic fire support for infantry squads, as well as a simplified exoskeleton allowing the weight of the weapon and ammunition to be distributed, and absorb the recoil of fire, without hindering the mobility of the combat team, and without requiring fire support.
In addition, a peephole sighting system completes the range, giving the Space Marines great firepower over time, and during the movement of the action.
The proposed principle is reminiscent of certain experiments around the M134 Gatling machine gun attached to combat armor, without the latter offering the same fluidity in firing as in movement. James Cameron pushed the level of detail to the point of imagining the specific movements linked to the use of the M56, in a dynamic inspired by martial arts such as Jujitsu or Aikido, giving the movements of the marines a feline appearance.
On the other hand, if this technology and this tactic seem effective against xenomorphs (and again…), we understand that the shooter finds himself particularly vulnerable to enemy fire, especially since the support arm system does not seem adapted. to taking cover, which is essential in the advance of the infantry.
Still, the physical and logical connection between the weapon, the helmet sighting system, and the combat armor was remarkably visionary in 1986, when we are only now beginning to implement this type of technology.
Dune: The Fremen Distillation
Published in 1965, Dune, by Frank Herbert, is one of the pillars of classic science fiction, along with Asimov's Foundations and Robots cycle, and In Pursuit of the Slans by van Vogt.
If the plot is intended to be linked to a universe close to Space Opera, very popular at the end of the 60s, Herbert decided to break with many science fiction codes of that time, by eliminating the concept of robotics. and artificial intelligence following a war between men and machines, the Buthlerian Jihad. Likewise, the use of laser weapons is made impossible by the enigmatic “Holtzman Effect” which would result in the destruction of the shooter and the target if a laser struck a shield.
Above all, Herbert positioned the plot of Dune on the desert planet Arrakis, also called Dune, which is simultaneously home to the universe's most indispensable commodity, Spice (an allegory of oil), and an indigenous people who will constitute the pivot of history, the Fremen. To survive on Dune, the Fremen developed survival and combat gear called "Distille", specifically designed for the planet's extreme and arid climate.
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