The U.S. Army Research Laboratory has been testing a lightweight exoskeleton suit that aims to cut soldiers’ risk of injuries as well as improve their battlefield performance, Defense News reported Monday.Kevin Lilley writes the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency partnered with Harvard University’s Wyss Institute to develop the soft exosuit under DARPA’s Warrior Web initiative.
Prototype tests are conducted at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland.
“I can see 10 years or 15 years from now this not only being a soldier device but helping soldiers who are injured once they get back,” said Mike LaFiandra, head of ARL’s dismounted warrior branch, according to Defense News.
Maj. Christopher Orlowski, a program manager at DARPA, projects the final armor prototype could be ready for demonstration in a realistic scenario by late 2016.
The project’s goal is to build technology that warfighters can wear under their combat uniform, as well as can monitor biometrics without using external computing power and aid people with limited mobility.
