Is Tony Stark on the government payroll?

Probably not, since the character, immortalized by Robert Downey Jr. in the Iron Man and Avengers franchises, isn’t actually a real person. However, according to a new report from the BBC News, the government is taking a leaf out of Stark’s book for a current high-profile project, designing state of the art “smart” armor that would give soldiers super strength and turn them into Iron Man-like figures.

The project is in the hands of the United States Army, which is apparently requesting assistance from the most brilliant minds in the country – from the academic sector to technological engineering – to build a super soldier suit that does the model in the Iron Man films justice. Of course, the U.S. Army prototype likely won’t have the same flashy, futuristic weaponry that comic book cartoonists and Hollywood film producers were able to dream up, but at very least, a super soldier suit would do two very important things.

First, a super suit would provide American soldiers with superior strength, making it easy for them to transport heavy loads across long distances. According to a Singularity Hub article published all the way back in 2009, an exoskeleton suit  that would allow for such boosts in strength has long been embroiled in the testing stages. The suit would apparently attach to the arms and legs of its human subject and then use hydraulic technology to allow for increased strength.

Second, a super suit would double as heavy-duty combat armor that would almost undoubtedly reduce military casualties. From the BBC report, one can gather that, while the U.S. Army has already tested an exoskeleton suit, it has not yet figured out how to meld such a design with a more comprehensive armor. The ultimate goal, though, is to create a suit that boosts strength and offers protection, along with a high-tech display that allows soldiers to monitor the health, power, communications technology, and weapons use of their suit.

The project is an ambitious one, with the U.S. Army proposing innovations that, for all intents and purposes, have not been invented yet. Furthermore, as the government nears its current debt ceiling, it is unlikely that the army will have the funding it needs to make the major breakthroughs necessary to produce an Iron Man-esque suit.

For that reason, the army is hoping for a strong assist from the private sectors. (After all, Tony Stark built his suit in a cave!) An army source has classified the project as something that “no one industry can build,” and rumor has it that at least a number of scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have already come on board with the project to help.