The U.S. military's exoskeleton suits in development for the Navy may have more uses in the future than for warfare, a new report suggests.
The report, titled "Between Iron Man and Aqua Man: Exosuit Opportunities in Maritime Operations," spans 28 pages and points out several other potential uses for the technology, such as humanitarian aid and operations at sea, according to The Washington Post.
For ship-based operations, sailors can use exosuits to repair and resupply damaged ships and dealing with issues on rough seas like overturned ship containers and fires.
"More importantly, the benefits from accelerating these functions would only increase during military operations getting ships back to the fight sooner is particularly valuable," the report says.
The report's authors, Navy Lt. Scott Cheney-Peters and Andrew Herr, added that for humanitarian and construction missions, the suits can help people move large amounts of equipment, The Washington Post reported.
However, the Navy will have to make improvements to the exosuits in order to deal with several issues that can make things difficult for the technology, such as unpredictable ship movements at sea, rust in saltwater environments and the need for a constant power supply.
The authors suggest that the Navy can manage costs by developing one exosuit that can be used in different areas, and that the Coast Guard can possibly lend a hand, The Washington Post reported.
"If the Navy tries to jointly develop a suit with the Army, it will likely be burdened with the cost of the requirements necessitated by operating in a land environment away from reliable power sources, almost certainly skewering the cost-benefit analysis against this promising technology for maritime applications," they said.
