The power suits used by mobile infantry in Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein give the user access to what can only be described as superhuman abilities. This suit consists of many subsystems that allow the pilot to possess much greater strength, mobility, precision in a very compact package. These subsystems are in development today, with some being in active use by civilian and armed forces, and others existing only as a working prototype. If these technologies were condensed into one suit, a working version of the power suits of Starship Troopers could exist today, albeit in a much less powerful form.
The raw power of the suits lies in their improved strength, a technology that is evolving past basic prototypes in the modern-day. In the novel, Rico describes the suits as being able to “Jump over that house next door” or if you were to hug a gorilla it would be crushed without the suit even struggling (Heinlein 127-9). Current day technology might not be able to crush a gorilla with ease. Instead, they amplify the user’s strength well beyond what the user is normally capable of. For example, the Guardian XO suit made by Sarcos is capable of amplifying the operator’s strength by a factor of up to 20x (Sarcos). This is a significant increase in raw strength capable of easily moving a modern-day power suit.
Current-day technology already uses the “pseudo-musculature” technology that forms the backbone of the power suits of Starship Troopers. These ‘muscles’ function very similarly to human muscular tissue dialed up to 11 with a working prototype having already been brought to life by Hacksmith Industries. On July 2nd, 2020, Hacksmith Industries released a video detailing the “Bionic Arm” that they had created. This prototype allows the user to curl nearly 100 pounds with one arm by utilizing a system that behaves much like a human muscle (“Bionic Arm”). The existence of this type of muscular interface is another piece of the puzzle for creating a power suit. With this extra strength the suit will be able to carry whatever extra equipment a soldier needs, allowing them to be prepared for any situation.
The additional mobility that the power suits of Starship Troopers provide exist in an even more evolved form. The suits are described as allowing a user to jump over buildings, and the process by which this is done is described thoroughly by Rico. If a pilot decides to jump with all their might, beyond what the ‘leg muscles’ of the suit can achieve, a set of booster jets kicks in to assist. Using jets for enhancing air mobility is something that has already been achieved by the Jet Suit created by Gravity Industries (Gravity Industries). The jets described in the novel give a “three-jet shove” that propels the user through the air, and during landings, these same jets kick in to “cushion your landing” without the user having to do anything (Heinlein 129). Similar to the power suits of the novel, the Jet Suit utilizes a combination of 5 separate jets to give the pilot incredibly precise control while in the air (Gravity Industries). The Jet Suit provides much more to the pilot than in air control by allowing them to fly. Providing the pilot with 1,050bhp gives them the ability to fly at speeds over 136 kph (Gravity Industries). Enhancing a pilot’s mobility is well within the realm of reality for modern-day technology, exceeding the capabilities suits from Starship Troopers, making a power suit achievable. This increase in mobility will allow soldiers to traverse the battlefield like never before, creating a more effective soldier.
Enhancing the user’s ability to precisely use their weapons is something that exists in both Starship Troopers as well as the modern-day. Shown many times throughout the book, the power suits allow the pilot to hit targets miles away with ease. Rico describes one of his targets as being “miles outside” of the area he was sweeping. Despite this, he was still able to jump onto the nearest building, find the target, and “kiss it [the rocket] on its way” (Heinlein 13-14). The U.S. Army Research Lab has created an exoskeleton called MAXFAS that stabilizes the user’s arm, allowing them to shoot with more precision and consistency (Brayboy). The creator of the suit, Dan Baechle, hopes the suit “could be used to improve aim on the battlefield despite any adverse conditions” (Brayboy). During Rico’s engagement, it is stressed how easy it is to hit his targets, with another example being how he leisurely sends a bomb flying towards a waterworks that was three miles away (Heinlein 17). Integrating the technology used in the MAXFAS suit would allow a modern power suit to provide the pilot with a level of precision mimicking what the power suit Rico pilots can achieve. Since the suit allows a soldier to be more precise they will be able to conserve their ammunition and equipment, allowing them to be effective during combat longer.
The utilization of ‘negative feedback’ by the power suits of Starship Troopers as a method of control is currently in use in modern medical technology. This method of operating allows the pilot of a power suit to simply “wear it” and enables them to pilot the suit without even thinking. This form of control requires virtually no practice in order to operate a suit effectively. Similar technologies are used today by doctors treating patients who have lost their mobility through various causes. This exoskeleton, named CHUK-EXO, uses feedback from its sensors to regulate the actuators of the suit. Since the suit or exoskeleton does all of the ‘thinking’ the pilot can “immediately walk, run, jump, lie down, pick up an egg without breaking it…” without any form of practice or training (Heinlein 127). Similarly, the CHUK-EXO allows a patient to “perform daily life motions with the motion assistance from CUHK-EXO” (Chen et al.). With this technology, pilots of a modern power suit would enjoy the same lack of a learning curve experienced by power suit pilots in Starship Troopers.
The technology used to project the various displays of the power suits from Starship Troopers is the same technology used in helmets today. The displays of the novel function by projecting their image “on a mirror in front of your forehead from where the work is actually going on above and back of your head” (Heinlein 130). This functionality is strikingly similar to how the current heads up display functions. James Hobson and his team at Hacksmith Industries have created two helmets that both hide the electronics of their helmets on the inside of the helmet. This was achieved much like the power suits of the novel, with larger components placed behind the user’s head. The first of these helmets is a metal Iron Man helmet that utilizes a miniature display placed in front of the right eye as well as an infrared camera to allow the user to see in the dark (“Iron Man”). The second of these is a Predator helmet with multiple different cameras that allows the user to have multiple different display options. Just like the ‘snoopers’ of a power suit, the Predator helmet includes display options ranging from a normal camera to infrared, to thermal vision, allowing the user to have the best view of his surroundings in any condition (“Predator Suit”). The highly advanced optical technology of the modern era will provide the pilot of a suit a similar level of capability to that of a pilot from Starship Troopers. The inclusion of these optical features provides a soldier with any and all information about their current location, enabling them to be effective in any terrain or weather condition.
All of the technologies required to create a power suit from Starship Troopers exist in one form or another. Using a combination of the exoskeleton made by Sarcos and the bionic muscles created by Hacksmith Industries gives the suit all the strength it would need. Mobility would be covered by the inclusion of jets from the Gravity Industries Jet Suit. The inclusion of the MAXFAS suit created by the U.S. Army Research Lab would allow the pilot of this suit to be able to have the precision necessary to engage targets at any range. Optics can be neatly tucked into the helmet utilizing a variation of the technologies created by Hacksmith Industries. Rounding all of this off would be the implementation of a negative feedback control system that has already been proven effective by the CHUK-EXO suit. The combination of all of these technologies would yield a highly effective power suit capable of functioning in a very similar manner to the ones described in Starship Troopers.