Military Technology - Mechs

[DJ-Jerakai]

I've always been fascinated with real life mech warriors and wondered how long it would take until they exist, hoping that I would live to see them.

Now that I am 23, they're here a lot sooner than I expected.
Check out this
http://www.addict3d.org/news/20044/.html

and this
http://www.dottocomu.com/b/archives/000744.ht ml

Now lets have a discussion about the actual functionality of these machines. How would they fare against an ordinary tank of conventional attack helicopter for example?

Any ideas?
What does everybody think?

[DJ-Jerakai]

"Lets talk about mechs ba-by"
"Lets talk about you and me"
"Lets talk aaaaabout mechs!"

[major-shake]

It was pretty cool but i didn't look like it was firing real bullets now that would have been cool, if it was a real Gatling Gun it would have been awesome.

[SolInvictus]

At 2/15/07 02:09 PM, KemCab wrote: Mechs are large and unweildy. I would have a hard time controlling one, and they're extremely visible targets.

the technology is still in its infancy who knows what routes they will take and how these ideas will evolve.

[Imperator]

I think Master Sarge HALO warriors are the next gen.....

http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/NASApp/cs/Co ntentServer?pagename=hamilton/Layout/Article_
Type1&c=Article&cid=1168470616997&call_pageid =1020420665036&col=1014656511815

[Eoewe]

I've yet to see a futuristic movie that had feasible technology in which I could see America actually one day using.

[zzzzd]

At 2/15/07 02:57 PM, SolInvictus wrote:

At 2/15/07 02:09 PM, KemCab wrote: Mechs are large and unweildy. I would have a hard time controlling one, and they're extremely visible targets.

the technology is still in its infancy who knows what routes they will take and how these ideas will evolve.

Even if there was a goverment funded mech program with extremmely advanced technology I don't think a mech would be pratical on a battlefield.

It would easily be knocked over or the legs would easily be damaged.
You might be able to build a really advanced one but theres no point because we already have extremmely advanced tanks.

[Gunter45]

They would have to have a high profile and they would be extremely vulnerable to any attack to their legs. The problem with that, of course, is that legs are easy as hell to take out, all you need is a mine and they're toast, whereas with a tank, as was seen in that other thread, a mine isn't necessarily a fatal kill. And even if the tank gets its tread knocked off, it's not going to topple over and be completely and utterly defenseless. And that brings up the second vulnerability: toppling over. You wouldn't even need to get a direct hit on a mech to disable it, all you'd need is to get a near miss with enough concussive force to knock it over.

[Extremewookie]

We'll see how this blows over; I would not be surprised to learn that these "mechs" turned out to be impractical. If the technology is improved, however, we could have entire armies of .25 mpg warriors stomping all over Iraq in no time.

[Jaketheclonetrooper]

At 2/15/07 03:50 PM, Imperator wrote: I think Master Sarge HALO warriors are the next gen.....

http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/NASApp/cs/Co ntentServer?pagename=hamilton/Layout/Article_
Type1&c=Article&cid=1168470616997&call_pageid =1020420665036&col=1014656511815

Forget mechs. THIS is what the US army should get.

[SolInvictus]

At 2/15/07 11:49 PM, KemCab wrote: Mechs stand out because of height, so they make ridiculously easy targets, even if they're camoflauged...

the thing is that military technology has always evolved along what is needed and not what anime fans see them as. maybe some form of them will happen, maybe they will never be needed and therefore never exist beyond the realm of science-fiction.

of course there are always the individual soldier super suits making the soldier more powerful and capable, don't know if that would fall into the mech category. (small exoskeleton thing)

[Dr-Worm]

At 2/15/07 12:01 PM, DJ-Jerakai wrote: "Lets talk about mechs ba-by"
"Lets talk about you and me"
"Lets talk aaaaabout mechs!"

I had to resist the urge to laugh out loud at that. Very nice punnage.

Anyshways, I don't really see the functionality of mechs besides the fact that they look really cool. I guess they have more mobility than tanks, most notably that they'd be able to, like, jump...

[Tancrisism]

Along with the mentioned faults, the walking mech shown looked very unbalanced. A well-placed rocket could probably easily knock it over even if it hit the cab, not just the legs.

Other than them being cool, they don't seem very practical. Time will tell though.

[hongkongexpress]

as the folks here say, Giant Mechs are too high profile. All the enemy has to do is send in some Planes with heavily armed missles.

I'd go for the power armour. Infact, the US government should REALLY think about getting some of those for Iraq. and maybe they could win. It says they're only 2000 bucks to produce. (in the article). Like it's also better to having to continue to pay for a soldier's missing legs 30 years after the war.

Like just for the extra protection against bombs would be reason enough to get the bear suit.

I do like Mechs though, but, what if you were a pilot and had to bail out? and have a giant mech chase you, and then step on you. that wouldn't be cool would it?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gk7LVPGDNPE&mo de=related&search=

Like look what happens to the man at the end! owwwwwwwwwww! What would suck is the cockpit glass is shattered. I look up and see like all these lights comming from an enemy mech from diffrent parts in his body. Then. my dick is vaporized...... with the rest of my body.

where as A little robo ninja I can like run around and have bullets bounce off me.

[Ravariel]

At 2/17/07 03:25 AM, hongkongexpress wrote: as the folks here say, Giant Mechs are too high profile. All the enemy has to do is send in some Planes with heavily armed missles.

Bah, some yayhoo with an RPG would be hard-pressed to miss such an easy target. The only way these would ever be more efficient than a Tank is if they were super-maneuverable (we're talking Virtual-ON fast here)... which won't happen anytime soon.

[hongkongexpress]

besides the Ewocks had some fun with those Walkers. By throwing out those trip logs, And the Walker makes a "Woooo woooooo wooooo sound" then falls over.

I had a weird dream in Jr high. I lived in Deadmonton at the time, and Mech War just came out. (or that really old one where you play this dude named G.Braver), anyways. I was leading a group of "Resistance" I think people, and there was some sort of apocolypse and I had this RPG in my hand and there was this Giant mech lurking around West Edmonton Mall, with the glass dome over the water park shattered. There was an epic sunset. (hey I was a kid, kids go for this sort of thing). But man that thing had to be huge because I was on this hill a few yards from my house.

[hongkongexpress]

At 2/17/07 03:33 AM, Ravariel wrote:

At 2/17/07 03:25 AM, hongkongexpress wrote: as the folks here say, Giant Mechs are too high profile. All the enemy has to do is send in some Planes with heavily armed missles.

Bah, some yayhoo with an RPG would be hard-pressed to miss such an easy target. The only way these would ever be more efficient than a Tank is if they were super-maneuverable (we're talking Virtual-ON fast here)... which won't happen anytime soon.

>> Or forget the dude with the RPG, some crazy kid with a bomb jacket runs up to it and hug's it legs like kids to to Santa. And then they blow the robot up. I can imagine it now, the unagile robot has all these suicide bombers on it like ants.

[hongkongexpress]

Wow the inventor of the Trojan battle Armour is Canadian. That's cool. I hope the Steven Harper would accept them they're only 2000 bucks! That would help us win in Afghanistan and in Iraq, and hopefully North Korea.

What is this Fallout, with the battle armor? And I just had to join the Signal Operators. sheesh! The infantry gets all the fun stuff.

[hongkongexpress]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Al_SlO5DAkw&mo de=related&search=

here is a puny human fighting off two giant mechs. the mechs are having a hard time shooting at her.

[Jizzlebang]

Arn't they really, really stupid machines since they are bi-pedal?

Didn't you see what Luke did to those Walkers on Starwars?

[Tomsan]

in battle field 2142 the mech is the best vehicle. But I guess in real life, the whole two legs thing could lead to problems

[MindControlFun]

Tanks are still better; try flipping a tank onto its back.

[superstick]

vtol rocks

[2wiceBorn]

At 2/18/07 12:43 PM, superstick wrote: vtol rocks

Not one post you make contributes fuck all to this forum. I just searched through your post histroy and I didn't see anything coherent and longer than two lines long. Anyway, VTOL stands for Vertical Take Off and Landing so posting in a topic about mechs acheives fuck all.

On topic: I don't think any military will ever use something alike the walkers in Star Wars because they are too impractical to be used on a battlefield or in any sort of armed conflict.

[SolInvictus]

At 2/16/07 12:09 AM, chocolate-penguin wrote: Exactly. This is why things like stories of future wars never have tanks and such. They're not "cool" enough, thus the mech. Also, the mech is usually created in man's image. Being able to walk upright, or some sort of giant robot.

In terms of "cool", tanks are gay fat metal things. But they are strategically important.

but thats why im saying real, usable mechs, may barely resemble the science fiction ones depending on how and what they would be used for. tanks may also be falling out of favour because of their size and the difficulties with long range deployement (overseas and such). obviously they won't be replaced with mechs any time soon, or replaced at all for some time, but its difficult to say how ground combat will change in the future.

[SolInvictus]

At 2/17/07 04:11 AM, hongkongexpress wrote: Wow the inventor of the Trojan battle Armour is Canadian. That's cool. I hope the Steven Harper would accept them they're only 2000 bucks! That would help us win in Afghanistan and in Iraq, and hopefully North Korea.

not gonna happen. the inventor of the Trojan is selling the suit on ebay, which means the military probably didn't think much of the armour.
"small" mobile armours may be one of the directions personal mechanised technology will take. increasing strength, speed and defence through technology.

[Shyguy-Truve]

Mechs would be really impractical, but what about a souped-up, modern version of that giant metal spider from Wild, Wild West? I bet that fucker'd hard to knock over. Unless of course someone used an EMP, or was able to cut off the majority of the legs...probably a hell of a lot better than a Mech on 2 legs.

[killa-teddy]

The only type of mechs that the military could possibly use, though quite unlikely, would be similar to the gekkos from MGS4. They are basically very manuverable walking tanks.

The only use for these would be for terrain that is other wise impossible for tanks to manuver in. Though the technology needed for them to walk and balance on rough terrain would take a while to obtain. Making it more unlikely mech use in war.

[the-salmon-of-doubt]

At 2/15/07 02:57 PM, SolInvictus wrote:

At 2/15/07 02:09 PM, KemCab wrote: Mechs are large and unweildy. I would have a hard time controlling one, and they're extremely visible targets.

the technology is still in its infancy who knows what routes they will take and how these ideas will evolve.

why would the military want one of those? they're going to start using movement augmentation devices and better armor and robots with machine guns, but a bipedal vehicle isn't something they're going to be too interested in

[DJ-Jerakai]

It was said, (by Japan) when nuclear tensions were highest between Japan and North Korea, that the Japanese people could "re-arm" nationally and have a fully functional military capable of easily defending the Japanese homeland and nuetralising North Korea, within a period of 3 days.

Of course the UN and the US disallowed them this ability, WW2 isn't so far in history yet.

But it is kind of scary to think about.

Also consider that this type of Mechanised tank, is a Japanese creation.
These are the types of weapons they would employ in a full scale military.

Of course the guns were weak and exposed but with a bit of government funded research I don't think its a farcry to say the japense could figure out a way to equip high powered machine guns and rocket launchers in a more amored fashion.
And further more, to tackle the obvious problem of the Mech's stability.

Sollv is right.
The technology is in its infancy.
And for those of you who say Mechs don't exist:

THIS WALKER IS A MECH.