CIPHER - the next combat brain bucket?

[GunnyGene]

Under development, but tests so far show there's some serious problems with this design:

Tests by Navy researchers on a new Army and Marine helmet design, complete with a visor and a jaw protector, showed blast waves could bounce off the added components and produce unexpected pressure, according to a recent research paper.
The Conformal Integrated Protective Headgear System, or CIPHER, prototype came under attack from all sides during the test, conducted by the Naval Research Laboratory, and in all configurations: Helmet only, helmet and visor, helmet and jaw protection, and the full-face coverage of visor and jaw protector.
The findings showed that adding face protection didn’t necessarily mean lessening blast-wave impact. For example, according to the report:
http://www.militarytimes.com/article/20140824/NEWS04/308240012/Research-raises-concerns-new-Army-helmet-design

 

[mohavesam]

How about inventing better robots to kill instead of better ways to put Americans in harm's way?
Then we would only need to invent better ways to kill rogue robots...

 

[GunnyGene]

How about inventing better robots to kill instead of better ways to put Americans in harm's way?
Then we would only need to invent better ways to kill rogue robots...

That's already in development, and in a small way already exists. There's some serious ethical issues with warbots tho. Tons of commentary about it on the web.

The major practical engineering problem is power supply, and there may be ways around limitations of batteries or other fuels.

"There is widespread concern that allowing lethal autonomous robots to kill people may denigrate the value of life itself," the report says. "Tireless war machines, ready for deployment at the push of a button, pose the danger of permanent (if low-level) armed conflict."

http://www.theverge.com/2014/1/28/5339246/war-machines-ethics-of-robots-on-the-battlefield

 

[Pal Val]

Fine and dandy, but I imagine myself back in a hot, humid place wearing that helmet. The old steel pot was bad enough!