Since 2013, the United States Army has been designing a full body armor suit with multiple uses. It was nicknamed the “Iron Man Suit” because of its look and abilities. This could also be because in Iron Man 2, the United States used Tony Stark’s Iron Man suit.

 In 2014, an American commando died kicking in a door during a raid in Afghanistan, and the United States Special Operations commander vowed to prevent further incidents such as this one. Thus came the idea of a full body armor suit that could protect the first special operator coming through a door. The most current suit is called “Mark 5” because it has gone through five iterations since its original design. The tactical assault light operator suit, or TALOS, is designed to protect against small arms and bomb blasts. The exoskeleton is made of titanium, which has a high strength to weight ratio perfect for the active soldier. The suit is then covered with a layer of armor from head to toe that adds a significant amount of weight. However, the problem with this suit it that any new modification made can affect the weight and throw off the entire prototype. Sophomore Brissa Noble said, “I don’t think there is an advantage to this suit because it is supposed to help soldiers, but they would be wearing a heavy full armor suit. I think it would prevent the soldiers from doing things rather than helping them.”

 Lockheed Martin, a global security and aerospace company located in Maryland, is just one of the collaborators involved in shaping TALOS’s requirements. Lockheed and Martin focuses on research, design, development, and manufacture of advanced technology systems, products, and services. The company is developing several technologies under the Fortis exoskeleton program, and the goal is for the suit to have multiple versions for a soldier’s current needs. This would include TALOS light, TALOS heavy, and other suits made for a variety of different missions. The main focus of the “Iron Man Suit” is to give a soldier more power to complete tasks with ease and protect them in case of danger.