CNAS’ Scharre, Lockheed’s Maxwell on Onyx Exoskeleton and Super Soldiers

Paul Scharre, director of the technology and national security program at the Center for a New American Security, and Keith Maxwell, the project manager of Lockheed Martin’s Onyx Exoskeleton, discuss the company’s new powered lower-body suit that helps improve soldier endurance and performance as well as other efforts to enhance the capabilities of future troops with Defense & Aerospace Editor Vago Muradian. The interview followed the launch of the last report in CNAS’ Super Soldier series aimed at highlighting opportunities to bolster the endurance, capabilities and protection for future ground forces. Our coverage is in partnership with CNAS.

[@markoconnell804]

When movement requires gravity pulls then it should use it for charging and storing that energy. Then use that stored energy when pushing against gravity.
How will this impact the need to learn to move under the heavy load during training? In my service it took 2+ years of intense training to get to the physical capability I had? Would not this system make the scale of core ability longer to achieve? With that I see a need to combo train. Train with and then without the assist.

[@thezyreick4289]

1 the technology to harness and store that energy would more than quadruple the weight and bulk of the exo suit, making the exo skeleton more cumbersome and less agile than not wearing it and rendering it useless.
2 perpetual machines don't exist because of thermodynamics.
3 training wouldn't really be affected, training very likely wouldn't be carried out wearing these, that would just be unnecessary wear and tear on the devices. They would likely only even be used during missions or something specific unless in the industrial field, at which point those people don't train thier bodies anyway so it don't matter

[@lorenzoo90]

i've seen dis on your assembly line of airplane would you see dis on maintenance/prep of plains out of your assembly line ?

[@lorirode-off]

Maxwell