Forum - View topicMechs and the military
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ANN_Bamboo
ANN Contributor
 Posts: 3904 Location: CO |
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I'm sure most of the people here are familiar with the folks at Mecha PS, and what their plans to build a real-life mech. They're current work can be seen at http://www.mechaps.com. Chances are, though, if they ever get the mech up and running, the military's gonna gank it. For now, the US military has no such desires to build human-looking mech-fighting things. But... in a huge number of anime series, there's mecha everywhere fighting in the military, as they seem quite versatile.
Does mecha have a future in the military? Discuss here! Flame! Argue! Resurrect the forums!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
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Emerje
 Posts: 7384 Location: Maine |
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Well, like I said in the other mech topic, there's a place for it, I just don't think it will be any time soon. Not gundam Sized, but smaller, like Patlabor. If they can do them like in anime then they would have superior mobility over tanks or any other type of vehicle, but i wouldn't expect them to be doing back flips and spin kicks, there's just some things gravity and physics don't allow.
But damn, i'd love to have my own Transformer in 30 years! 
Emerje |
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ANN_Bamboo
ANN Contributor
Posts: 3904 Location: CO |
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I wonder if it would be feasible, though. They'd have to be pretty heavy weight to sustain enemy fire, and what not. I guess they'd use the same naval carriers that the naval aviators do. But if every country eventually had their own mechs, would the older forms of military vehicles phase out, like the sturdy, but really slow tanks? Anime fans would be giddy beyond exclamation, but I wonder how military leaders would like it if they're troops were slowly replaced by the more life-efficient mechs. There'd be less need for combat soldiers.
On the other side, I guess if one country started building mechs, other countries would jump into the arms race. This could potentially end up bad, like all arms races do. |
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cookie
Former ANN Editor in Chief
 Posts: 2460 Location: Do not contact me for support. |
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Actually, the military IS highly interested in this sort of thing. I saw a request for submissions a few months back, asking basically for first generation mecha.. which is exactly what MechaPS is creating. I'm not sure if they needed proof of concept, or if they just wanted papers showing the theoretical capabilities of various models, but it doesn't really matter -- the US military IS seeking mecha.. maybe not human-looking mecha, but mecha nonetheless. Also in the research pipe are ... well, Hard Suits, a la BGC. See Soldier Nanotechnology for a tiny bit of info. the latter (the 'hard suits' for lack of a better term) are much more complex than standard mecha, and thus have been deemed nearly impossible to produce within the next decade. it would require a significant leap in computers (probably beyond the currently predicted 10ghz 'barrier') and nanofabrication (the manufacture of nanotechnology) just to complete the most basic goals of a hardsuit. the former (the mecha research; wish i had a link for it still...) is something that is much easier to construct (in comparison). we'll probably see humans driving mecha within the next 10 years.. it won't be like patlabor... not for a while... but it's coming. |
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cookie
Former ANN Editor in Chief
Posts: 2460 Location: Do not contact me for support. |
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Absolutely not, initially. :) The amount of energy required to fire a beam powerful enough to actually blast something is pretty phenominal at this point in time.. possible, but costly. A mecha won't be carrying that for now. Missles might be a possibility, if the weight of the mecha is good enough... but missle-armed vehicles are already very easy to maneuver, so missles aren't useful to put on a mecha unless it could outrun current indirect fire technology. besides, Modern tanks are pretty agile... some can go faster than 45mph on roads, and still maintain pretty tight turning. you won't see mecha used in war (or even for civilian use, probably...) until the military can produce weapons small enough and powerful enough to make it worth putting on a mobile suit. |
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Aya Reiko
 Posts: 166 Location: Nowhere and Somewhere |
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Military mechs won't happen probably within our lifetime. This is simply because limitations imposed by technology makes them impractical.
However. Space Exploration Mechs will happen. Initially they will be either fully robotic or Elemental-like bodysuits. Assuming we actually commit ourselves to space exploration, that is. Tangental Sidenote - NASA is looking into developing a Space Forklift by using Babylon 5's Starfury as the base design. |
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Judau
 Posts: 247 Location: Boston, MA |
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yeah, i think it might be a possibility later on.. right now, although as Cookie says, they might be searching out information about it, they will not actually be using, or for that matter contructing mecha anytime soon... but they really do have a lot of use, from battling on rough terrain, to sniping from in possible lengths, to plain crowd control at soccer riots... I would definetly be thinking of something like an Ingram though, Gundams I can really see... no use for, sadly, I would love to pilot one...
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SuperSkylineGTR
 Posts: 471 Location: Chicago, IL |
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Well, as much as I would like to see the US develop mecha, it would be just not practical...
1. Wars are no longer this is your side, this is ours. There is no front lines. Most of the fighting now a days is done by special forces (i.e. SEALs, Army Rangers, Delta Force, British SAS, etc) and air power using surgical strike cabilities to limit civilian casualties (unlike the carpet bombings of WWII and Vietnam). 2. I have always felt that Gundam is BS, Mecha would be HIGHLY vulnerable to aircraft. To the pilots in there fighter, a mech would be just another tank. But if the US did develop a mech, it would more then likely be something like Metal Gear and I HIGHLY doubt they would develop a Zaku or Valkyrie. |
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shinji th3 l0s3
 Posts: 16 Location: Wisconsin, USA |
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tanks aren't all that slow any more,the French Leclerc has a top speed of 75 kilometers per hour. but tanks are pretty much useless in a city, i guess thats where the mech would come in. |
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PuertoRicanMan
Posts: 30 |
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If we ever see mech in the military or any other application.. I agree that they probably wont look anything like and Eva, if anything I think the series Gasaraki tried to show what a mech would most likely look like. It also agrees with what most people have said, they werent heavily armored, their weapons were limited. They even have several scences were the TAs (mechs) were used in urban combat and beat the hell out of some armor.
By far of all the various mechs I've seen these were the most believable by far. |
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ANN_Bamboo
ANN Contributor
Posts: 3904 Location: CO |
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I guess there are really no needs for mecha in the military. Even in the city, the military would use small divisions of troops for whatever reason, like riot control, or even regular "peacekeeping." When I envision the future of mechs, the only place I can really picture them is for space travel. Fighting? Nah. Everything they can do on land, tanks can do. Everything they can do in the air, planes can do. Besides, unless they made the actual mech out of some super-metal, they'd be too easy to blow up. |
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Meplat
Posts: 3 |
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One thing to consider is that Urban combat is considered the worst place for any kind of mechanized warfare. Situations where a man vs.tank engagement would be an even matchup, are very easy to set up in a city. (Armor rarely operates in an urban environment without LOTS of supporting infantry for this reason. The tank here, is relegated to fire support at best.)
The existence of very inexpensive (relatively) anti armor rockets and missiles make this possible. While a RPG-7 would not destroy a modern MBT, it would not be good for the variety of sensors, optical devices or antenna that cover the outer armor. A blind tank, is a stationary target.This is not too hard to expand toward a similar, mech vs. man engagement. As to mecha in a military use, ask yourself "What void would they fill?" Tanks have reached a point of refinement that a replacement would have to demonstrate massive battlefield superiority over existing designs. The only role I could possibly see a Mech being used is as a cross between a light tank, and a scout helo. Something that combines better manuverability than a tank and heavier firepower than a scout helo. Meplat- |
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