Iron Man's fictional armour has fascinated comic book readers and moviegoers for years because of its extraordinary strength, ability for flight and capability to handle various high-tech communication and military devices.
Now, the US military is close to turning the "Iron Man" armour into reality and may soon introduce the advanced gear into the front lines.
No, the state-of-the-art suit being developed by the American military will not have the ability to fly, but it more than compensates for that in other aspects.
For instance, the military suit, called the Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit or TALOS, will be made of liquid armour, which can impressively solidify on command.
Very much like Iron Man's suit, the military's battery-powered protective gear also promises to reduce strain on soldiers' bodies, to provide superior ballistic protection and to equip servicemen with in-helmet technologies to boost communications and visibility.
Gen. Joseph Votel, head of US Special Operations Command, explained that this advanced protective gear particularly aims to shield the vulnerable frontline soldier from harm.
"This is a programme that we started after we lost an operator on a mission. The first guy coming into a particular building was engaged and unfortunately was mortally wounded," said Votel, who took over the TALOS programme from his predecessor Adm. William McRaven.
"And in the wake of that, we asked ourselves, 'Couldn't we do better in terms of protecting him, of giving him a better advantage when he's at the most vulnerable point that we put our operators?'" he added.
Academics, Department of Defense personnel and other members of the defence sector are currently teaming up to fine tune the exoskeleton. The first generation TALOS will likely be ready for launching by 2018.
Pentagon spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Matt Allen, for his part, said the Defense Department does "not know how much TALOS will cost."
