Soon All U.S. Soldiers Will Be Able To Run Sub-4 Miles

I'm guessing it'll probably take quite a bit of time before they actually manage this. According to the videos, the jetpack is presently able to take a 5:20 miler down to a 5:02 mile...

Is that helmet really necessary? Is running 12 miles per hour so dangerous as to necessitate a full-face motocross helmet?

If they can't even give all of them armor, I don't think they're going to be distributing many jetpacks.

And the guy in that demo video had decent form. Most people haven't got the form to handle that speed and would fall over.

Plus he was in shorts and tennis shoes, unless the only objective is maxing the fitness test that'll need some tinkering. Good idea, still extremely raw at the moment.

Given that soldiers only have to run about a 8min/mile for their 2-mile fitness test, and the US Armed Forces are about as fat as they've ever been, this is kind of a worthless investment...

Good idea, this way they can runaway from battle even faster lol

As long as they don't go to Somalia, where everyone can run sub four without a jet pack.

Cool idea in theory. If the design could be lightened up, streamlined and more energy efficient (which is essentially a complete technological overhaul) it could be part of a future combat exoskeleton or something.

how effing miserable must be to jog a 5:08 in a motorcross helmet.

I'd like to try it.

to me it seems like it could be used to as over speed work for sprinters to teach their bodies what the faster pace feels like. but yes the helmet does look funny.

The eccentric forces when landing would be extremely tough on the theoretical soldiers' quads/calves/glutes; it's unlikely this would work in terms of increasing performance that substantially.

It's not like adding a small motor to a bike that is just supplemental energy. It's more like artificially helping people attain a 50" vertical; landing is going to hurt.

The new EPO/HIF strains would be a lot cheaper, handier, and would help with propulsion and landing.

Further, why would we even have human soldiers much longer?

Probably still less of an advantage in competition than whatever the Blade Runner use to use.

And only on par with EPO.

BTW: the article said it could improve a mile time by 18sec. How in the world do people think that would put the average US Soldier even close to 4:00? I'd guess that 5:20 is pretty rare.

An even better question. Could it assist someone enough so they can break 2 hours in the marathon?

Umm no wrote:

Good idea, this way they can runaway from battle even faster lol

We can make a fortune selling them to the French military!

jgor wrote:

to me it seems like it could be used to as over speed work for sprinters to teach their bodies what the faster pace feels like. but yes the helmet does look funny.

Also, it might help teach their bodies to run faster w/o the extra weight of an equipment? I would be curious to see before, during and after results.

asdfasdfasfasdf wrote:

Is that helmet really necessary? Is running 12 miles per hour so dangerous as to necessitate a full-face motocross helmet?

________________

Have you ever been on a military base?

It's all about safety. If you ride a motorcycle, you must, not suggest, but must wear a reflective vest and helmet.

Most squads doing PT (physical training) like jogging as a group, they all wear reflective vests, and some even make the person on the front corners carry a small pole with a red flag

The thing is that a four minute mile isn't really a great getaway speed if someone is shooting at you.

It's just an arbitrary number that seems pretty fast but really isn't.