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Thread: US Army Exoskeleton

  1. #1
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    Default Exploring Tactical Support of Mega Exo-Skeletons in Urban Ops

    This thread proposes discussion of opportunities created by a first generation “mega exo-skeleton”: how such an exo-skeleton will create new individual and networked swarm capabilities based on combinations of mounted and dismounted, operated and robotic units. Essentially, we want to examine how current technology can be employed to provide firepower, protection and weight carrying capacity that will work with soldiers in narrow alleys, courtyards and even facilities.

    A series of Tactical Decision Games is proposed as a basis on which to gain insights on a range of new tactics such a system can provide in urban warfare.

    First, some information about JAKE, and its definition of a new category of “exo-skeleton”: the JAKE in “alley fighter” configuration is an “exo-skeleton” in a somewhat different sense, figuratively a “Segway on steroids” that one operates at the rear of the vehicle protected by a ‘clamshell’ opening ballistic shield. You will note he has a pintle-mounted, heavy weapon (M249, M240, M134 or M2). The space below the weapons can take either another warfighter/operator within a ballistic protected cockpit and shields, or load of up to 2,000 pounds. A side view picture shows the JAKE in balanced position relative to its load and patrol operation. With more load in the lower bay, the axle automatically adjusts to center the total vehicle’s weight for 95% load on the prime wheels. Likewise, the units adjusts for a warfighter mounting the JAKE, as it does for varied conditions of operation. At higher speeds, the wheelbase lengthens for greater stability. This compact unit allows quick rotation of the loaded vehicle due to rotation being about its center of mass. Though it may be compared to the Segway in ways, the JAKE is always stable, and adjusts to provide maximum stability when firing heavier weapons.

    Note the operator is at a level where he can talk with people on the street – not as closely as a person riding a Segway but almost on eye level. By its balancing system, the JAKE maintains full traction of its rear wheels and a “solid stance on its feet”. It is capable of speeds of up to 45 mph. The unit is operational manned and unmanned. In close quarters, this 3,000 lb has agile rotational maneuver, carrying a 2,000 lb payload. It is 5 ft wide, 8 ft long and 6 ½ ft tall, able to rapidly spin around within a 10 foot space (in ‘alley fighter’ configuration). Prime tires are HMMWV size and hybrid electric drive allows operation with diesel engine off, providing a 3 mile “stealth mode”. There are fold down steps on each side so additional warfighters can ride, free to quickly dismount. Next design has a heavier protective step. These hardware capabilities are deployable in 12-18 months.

    JAKEs may be operated remotely, or much like cavalrymen, someone has to watch the vehicles if the operators dismount to attend to something else (though units may carry denial-of-approach systems) This may be by a remote operator who is linked interactive with the JAKE operator or by electronically linking JAKEs so that control of his JAKE is turned over to another Marine who remains mounted. The unmanned JAKEs then follow the manned JAKE.

    For the initial TDGs, we will stick to existing weapons systems (M249, M240, M134, M2) but JAKE’s cargo capacity and electrical system allow it to support various advanced weapon systems, lethal and non-lethal, area denial systems, sensors and robots.

    As the inadvertent “inventor” of JAKE, I clearly state that I have an unavoidable “commercial interest”. However, since Jake is the only unit today that offers this combination of mobility and protection in such a compact agile package, I think it is important to explore the possibilities it offers. Please consider that discussion of the JAKE here also presents risks to “commercial interest”, risks to our costs of development of others now copying and competing. Due to this, not all features of the Jake can be disclosed. For illustration and framing solutions, I am disclosing general information.

    In short: I believe that the opportunities to be opened make this worth vetting by Small Wars Council members, stimulating new thinking and exploring national security implications through their eyes.

    Further information on JAKE is at Operation American Agility website with video in upper homepage text showing units operating, video on Catalyst page of varied people, soldiers and Marines speaking on tactics and capabilities. Answers are also on page “Common Questions”.
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    Last edited by Jedburgh; 02-27-2008 at 01:21 PM.
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    Council Member marct's Avatar
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    Hi Russ,

    I can see some possibilities, but it might be more useful if you could toss us a single scenario or question. If it is a longish scenario, it would probably be better for you to give us a short precis and a link to the longer version.

    Marc
    Last edited by marct; 02-27-2008 at 02:49 PM. Reason: added comment
    Sic Bisquitus Disintegrat...
    Marc W.D. Tyrrell, Ph.D.
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    Council Member Tom Odom's Avatar
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    Russ,

    I would make a more basic recommendation: use English an average reader would understand. When I see "Exploring Tactical Support of Mega Exo-Skeletons in Urban Ops" I can only wonder what you are talking about.

    Best

    Tom

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    Council Member marct's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tom Odom View Post
    I would make a more basic recommendation: use English an average reader would understand. When I see "Exploring Tactical Support of Mega Exo-Skeletons in Urban Ops" I can only wonder what you are talking about.
    Tom, you mean this isn't about Robotech or MechWarrior !!!
    Sic Bisquitus Disintegrat...
    Marc W.D. Tyrrell, Ph.D.
    Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies,
    Senior Research Fellow,
    The Canadian Centre for Intelligence and Security Studies, NPSIA
    Carleton University
    http://marctyrrell.com/

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    Council Member wm's Avatar
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    Why do I have visions of Ripley/Sigourney Weaver in that cargo-handling "exo skeleton" wrasslin' with the Alien?

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    Council Member Tom Odom's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by wm View Post
    Why do I have visions of Ripley/Sigourney Weaver in that cargo-handling "exo skeleton" wrasslin' with the Alien?
    Man you and I must have done a Vulcan mind-meld because that is exactly what I thought of..

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    We have had them in Alabama for years. Use em to pick cotton, then go huntin, then go chase the left over hippies at the golf course.

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    Council Member marct's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by slapout9 View Post
    We have had them in Alabama for years. Use em to pick cotton, then go huntin, then go chase the left over hippies at the golf course.
    LOL - Some of us never show up at golf courses . And, if we did, we would definitely be wearing the appropriate "clothing"

    Sic Bisquitus Disintegrat...
    Marc W.D. Tyrrell, Ph.D.
    Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies,
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    The Canadian Centre for Intelligence and Security Studies, NPSIA
    Carleton University
    http://marctyrrell.com/

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    Council Member wm's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tom Odom View Post
    Man you and I must have done a Vulcan mind-meld because that is exactly what I thought of..
    Tom,
    Didn't you know that we channel via the Colonial Viper pilot brass? It could also have something to do with spending time in the Atchefalaya Basin or Peason Ridge. Or are we both channeling across the 8th Dimension for the Black Lectroids? I seem to remember seeing a picture of you looking very Rasta/John Parker-ish.

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    Council Member Tom Odom's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by wm View Post
    Tom,
    Didn't you know that we channel via the Colonial Viper pilot brass? It could also have something to do with spending time in the Atchefalaya Basin or Peason Ridge. Or are we both channeling across the 8th Dimension for the Black Lectroids? I seem to remember seeing a picture of you looking very Rasta/John Parker-ish.
    It would be our combined admiration for Ellen Barkin/Penny Priddy's legs circa 1984

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    Quote Originally Posted by marct View Post
    Tom, you mean this isn't about Robotech or MechWarrior !!!
    I started thinking Warhammer 40k myself....Tau battle armor all around....
    "On the plains and mountains of the American West, the United States Army had once learned everything there was to learn about hit-and-run tactics and guerrilla warfare."
    T.R. Fehrenbach This Kind of War

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    i pwnd ur ooda loop selil's Avatar
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    I understood what he said...... I just want to know what kind of power system, armor, weight, weight to horsepower ratio, and if there will be an Alky burning blower version in matte black available.....

    Seriously, looks like a modern day version of the mule.
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    Default move those hippies along

    Quote Originally Posted by slapout9 View Post
    We have had them in Alabama for years. Use em to pick cotton, then go huntin, then go chase the left over hippies at the golf course.
    Okay, now we are getting somewhere. Combine this with the image Marc posted and our warriors are ready to go kick butt today, not in 2020.

    I have found that one of the biggest mental blocks to powering up our soldiers is Science Fiction images of the future. We are so hung up on thinking an exo-skeleton must have legs...yet we all get onto or into something that has wheels anytime we really want to get somewhere and do it with some speed and attitude...

    ...legs on all of our tech lab's robots today take all the unit's power to just walk around...this is due to physics of motion...rolling is as simple as it gets. This is why all the robots deployed in theater today are on wheels or tracks...simplicity and reality. Are legged robots and "vehicles" cool? Yes, for sure! Is there a future? Yeah, for sure! (and when we get nano-engines or cold fusion nano-reactors...combined with haptic and robotic active suspending and reactive joint/"muscle" systems...the game will change)

    Wheels work...today Our war is today...

    The Jake in its next version will be a bit like Marc's image (particularly when you consider the weapon systems in our defense tech labs), but with enough healthy farm shop commonsense to allow us to kick more butt today.

    Time to throw some cotton farmers and woodsmen into the mix.
    "If you think you can, or if you think you can't, you are right." Henry Ford

    "Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox." Proverbs 14:4

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    Council Member slapout9's Avatar
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    Hi Russ, i don't have time but if you go to You Tube there is a guy in Japan that has one of these that actually works!! It shoots tennis balls, looks more like marc's version then yours but it is out there.

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    Slapout9,

    Yes, I have seen the bot you are referring to and the work in this area is absolutely amazing.

    I am just seeking something that works with our guys today...2,000 lb payload, and basic agility that we do not have in urban alleys today...that can lead the way within the military and pull technologies together that really starts this path.

    The problem of DARPA with the JAKE was it was deemed "too doable". "We can see how it works" (it wasn't "DARPA hard"...referring to their interest in working on only the tough stuff)

    But, I think "it works" would be good for our warfighters.
    "If you think you can, or if you think you can't, you are right." Henry Ford

    "Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox." Proverbs 14:4

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    Council Member marct's Avatar
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    Hi Russ,

    Quote Originally Posted by Russ Strong View Post
    Yes, I have seen the bot you are referring to and the work in this area is absolutely amazing.
    It is pretty cool - I've seen shots of it as well. Having said that, as Selil pointed out (indirectly ), you can knock it out with a sling.

    Quote Originally Posted by Russ Strong View Post
    I am just seeking something that works with our guys today...2,000 lb payload, and basic agility that we do not have in urban alleys today...that can lead the way within the military and pull technologies together that really starts this path.
    Well, having gamed a lot of mechwarrior and battletech, I would have to wonder about ways to knock it out. That would get me thinking about things like how well the armour can stand up to an RPG or a buried shaped charge. In some urban areas, especially with winding streets and/or closed walls, it strikes me that if you could knock out 1-2 you could block the entire alley. Right now, I'm playing with an analog of how to knock down heavy men-at-arms (not cavalry) and, once they are down, they are toast.

    Marc
    Sic Bisquitus Disintegrat...
    Marc W.D. Tyrrell, Ph.D.
    Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies,
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    The Canadian Centre for Intelligence and Security Studies, NPSIA
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    http://marctyrrell.com/

  17. #17
    i pwnd ur ooda loop selil's Avatar
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    You don't want me looking at how to knock it out.... really...I'd start with a 10Kw microwave burst that should make it funky (take the emitter from a standard microwave oven and juice it up... total cost about $10... steal the oven)... To high tech? Try caltrops... Bad science fiction is fun, but good science fact is hillarious. I like the concept, but I still want to fit a V8 in it, and can I borrow it for Daytona next year... I bet the chicks dig it.
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    Council Member slapout9's Avatar
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    Russ, this is to easy You boys are talking about my zero turning radius lawn mower. My wife want let me put twin 50 cals on it (yet but other than that the mobility you are looking for is there. Add a more powerfull motor and a little kevlar some CB attennas and you have a cheap platform that you could build next week, but as you say the military will never go for it, until one of our enemies builds one...then they will want xbillion dollars to close the attack lawnmower Gap Like the report said it was mostly a failure of our immagination.

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    Council Member CR6's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by selil View Post
    You don't want me looking at how to knock it out.... really...I'd start with a 10Kw microwave burst that should make it funky
    That's exactly why we should want demented geeks like you looking how to knock stuff out Sam.

    BTW Russ, welcome. It's always nice when another genius signs in and reminds me how dumb I am.
    "Law cannot limit what physics makes possible." Humanitarian Apsects of Airpower (papers of Frederick L. Anderson, Hoover Institution, Stanford University)

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    Council Member marct's Avatar
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    Hi Selil,

    Quote Originally Posted by selil View Post
    You don't want me looking at how to knock it out.... really...I'd start with a 10Kw microwave burst that should make it funky (take the emitter from a standard microwave oven and juice it up... total cost about $10... steal the oven)... To high tech? Try caltrops... Bad science fiction is fun, but good science fact is hillarious. I like the concept, but I still want to fit a V8 in it, and can I borrow it for Daytona next year... I bet the chicks dig it.
    Yeah. I remember reading something years ago about an economic feasibility cost of any "weapon system" (loosely construed). Take the cost of producing/deploying it and take the average cost to make it inoperable then take those costs as micro-percentages of the deploying sides resources. A system that "costs" more for a side to deploy than for the other side to knock out isn't worth deploying. That's why I always think first about how to knock something out . 'sides that, it lets my evil brain cook up new ways t make things go BOOM .

    Caltrops are a neat idea - why not paint on some contact explosives for an added bonus? But for real fun, just think about the possibilities of real time hacking .

    Marc
    Last edited by marct; 02-27-2008 at 06:12 PM.
    Sic Bisquitus Disintegrat...
    Marc W.D. Tyrrell, Ph.D.
    Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies,
    Senior Research Fellow,
    The Canadian Centre for Intelligence and Security Studies, NPSIA
    Carleton University
    http://marctyrrell.com/

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