A retired Navy SEAL discussed the United States military’s aim to construct a real-life Iron Man suit for soldiers with podcaster Joe Rogan.
Kristin Beck, 55, spoke about the project nicknamed ‘Carnivore’ on Wednesday’s broadcast of The Joe Rogan Experience.
“Iron Man” is an informal term for this outfit, which was previously known as the Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit (TALOS), according to Task and Purpose. The program was unexpectedly halted in the year 2019.
First openly transgender Navy SEAL and Bronze Star recipient Beck hinted that manufacturing of the costume was still ongoing.
‘We’ve been working on it for a long time,’ Beck told Rogan. ‘I was on the beginning of project. It was called ‘Carnivore’ first and a few other names. But in the beginning it was only a small handful of us working on it.’
The suit is constructed of titanium, carbon, and fiber, according to Beck. Rogan was curious as to whether the garment was an exoskeleton.
‘Yeah. It’s much stronger. You can carry a thousand pounds, you can do a lot,’ Beck said. ‘If you think about that kind of a suit, an exoskeleton, how are you gonna move that exoskeleton, those people?
So if you had a squad, let’s just say you had 12 dudes in those exoskeletons, what airplane are gonna use? What humvees? What vehicles? How are you gonna get these guys around? What boats? It changes everything.’
She stated that the outfit would be capable of fending off a variety of attacks.
‘I have to be cautious with some of the things I say,’ she admitted. With a smile, she said, ‘They’re always working on it.’
The military’s attempt to create a superhero-like exoskeleton dates back to 1961, when the Pentagon requested proposals for a’servo soldier,’ which they equated to a ‘human tank equipped with power steering and power brakes.’
The publication of Starship Troopers in 1959 sparked the notion, while Iron Man was still two years away.
Similar ideas have expanded throughout the military in the decades since, thanks to technological developments.
The TALOS suit was first released in 2013, long after Iron Man had become a film office success, spawning sequels and an entire Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The ultimate result was supposed to look like a cross between Iron Man and something from the Halo video games, with unrestricted movement, a heads-up display, and weapons integration capable of’surgical lethality.’
The suit itself was likely retired when the military announced its discontinuation in 2019, but components of it are expected to be used in future military advances.
