Remember that scene in the first Iron Man movie where Tony Stark admits that he is Iron Man? Well President Barack Obama had a similar moment when he recently announced the the US Army will be building an Iron Man-like suit of their own.
In his speech (check it out in the video above), President Obama was quoted as saying, “Basically, I’m here to announce that we’re building Iron Man […] Not really. Maybe. It’s classified,” which was then accompanied by laughs. Some might think he’s joking but in reality, he’s not.
While it did seem like a joke and something you wouldn’t exactly want to announce to the world (why give your enemies a heads up on your military efforts, right?), it has been reported in the past that the US military is indeed exploring such suits for military purposes. The suit has been referred to as TALOS, which stands for Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit, and while it won’t come with the same fancy features like Iron Man’s own suits, it will pack some pretty impressive features anyway.
In fact just last week, DefenseTech reported that Admiral William McRaven, chief of the US Special Operations Command, confirmed that three prototype TALOS suits were being assembled and are expected to be ready by June for testing purposes.
This is a huge undertaking with as many as 56 corporations, 16 government agencies, 13 universities, and 10 national laboratories in a bid to make this suit a reality. According to McRaven, “the suit, if done correctly, will yield a revolutionary improvement in survivability and capability for special operators […] a huge comparative advantage over our enemies and give our warriors the protection they need.”
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