Canada-based B-TEMIA, which first developed exoskeletons to help people with mobility difficulties derived from medical ailments such as multiple sclerosis and severe osteoarthritis, are collaborating with defence technology company Lockheed Martin Corp to develop the technology.

With current equipment, soldiers deployed into war zones are bogged down by their critical but heavy gear such as body armour, night-vision goggles and advanced radios, all of which results in their gear weighing anything from 40-64kg (90-140lb), despite the recommended limit for individuals being around 23kg (50lb).

“That means when people do show up to the fight, they’re fatigued,” said Paul Scharre at the Centre for a New American Security (CNAS), who helped lead a series of studies on exoskeletons and other advanced gear. “The fundamental challenge we’re facing with infantry troops is they’re carrying too much weight.”

Such challenges are the reason why the US military are interested in exoskeletal technology. Worn over a pair of pants, the battery-operated exoskeleton uses a suite of sensors, artificial intelligence and other technology to aid natural movements. They are also lighter in comparison.

On Thursday, Lockheed Martin said it won a $6.9m award from the US Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Centre to research and develop the exoskeleton, called Onyx under a two-year, sole-source agreement.

Keith Maxwell, the exoskeleton technologies manager at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, said that people in his company’s trials who wore the exoskeletons showed far more endurance. “You get to the fight fresh. You’re not worn out,” he said.

Maxwell, who demonstrated a prototype, said each exoskeleton was expected to cost somewhere in the region of tens of thousands of dollars. Furthermore, B-TEMIA’s medically focused system, called Keeogo, a system used to help build the exoskeleton, is being sold in Canada for about C$39,000 (US$30,000), company spokeswoman Pamela Borges said.

However, the US is not the only country looking into exoskeletal technology, with Samuel Bendett at the Centre for Naval Analyses, a federally funded US research and development centre, saying Russia and China were also investing in exoskeleton technologies, “in parallel” to the US advances.

According to Bendett, Russia has been working on several versions of exoskeletons, including one that was recently tested in Syria.

Canada-based B-TEMIA, which first developed exoskeletons to help people with mobility difficulties derived from medical ailments such as multiple sclerosis and severe osteoarthritis, are collaborating with defence technology company Lockheed Martin Corp to develop the technology.

With current equipment, soldiers deployed into war zones are bogged down by their critical but heavy gear such as body armour, night-vision goggles and advanced radios, all of which results in their gear weighing anything from 40-64kg (90-140lb), despite the recommended limit for individuals being around 23kg (50lb).

“That means when people do show up to the fight, they’re fatigued,” said Paul Scharre at the Centre for a New American Security (CNAS), who helped lead a series of studies on exoskeletons and other advanced gear. “The fundamental challenge we’re facing with infantry troops is they’re carrying too much weight.”

Such challenges are the reason why the US military are interested in exoskeletal technology. Worn over a pair of pants, the battery-operated exoskeleton uses a suite of sensors, artificial intelligence and other technology to aid natural movements. They are also lighter in comparison.

On Thursday, Lockheed Martin said it won a $6.9m award from the US Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Centre to research and develop the exoskeleton, called Onyx under a two-year, sole-source agreement.

Keith Maxwell, the exoskeleton technologies manager at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, said that people in his company’s trials who wore the exoskeletons showed far more endurance. “You get to the fight fresh. You’re not worn out,” he said.

Maxwell, who demonstrated a prototype, said each exoskeleton was expected to cost somewhere in the region of tens of thousands of dollars. Furthermore, B-TEMIA’s medically focused system, called Keeogo, a system used to help build the exoskeleton, is being sold in Canada for about C$39,000 (US$30,000), company spokeswoman Pamela Borges said.

However, the US is not the only country looking into exoskeletal technology, with Samuel Bendett at the Centre for Naval Analyses, a federally funded US research and development centre, saying Russia and China were also investing in exoskeleton technologies, “in parallel” to the US advances.

According to Bendett, Russia has been working on several versions of exoskeletons, including one that was recently tested in Syria.