Richard Browning has been working for years on the concept of a self-propelled suit in the best Iron Man style. We are talking about a British entrepreneur who in 2017 founded Gravity Industries to materialize an idea that over time has evolved.
That same year we met Daedalus Flight Pack, a $250,000 jet suit that gave the person wearing it the ability to fly thanks to its five integrated turbines. This suit can now also fire in a very unique way, at least in testing.
Daedalus Flight Pack debuts guided attack system
One of Browning’s goals for his invention is that it could one day be used for military operations. In fact, winning several defense contracts is an important element of his company, which is just beginning to develop its business model.
The British Royal Navy, for example, has tested the Daedalus in various scenarios, including one in which the operator boards a simulated enemy ship. Here’s a problem in an eventual real-world scenario: he will have his hands full piloting the self-propelled suit.
This means that the soldier would be much more vulnerable and unable to return fire if necessary. Gravity Industries wanted to address this drawback with a guided attack system that works with the user’s head movement.
In the tests shown by Browning (video available on TikTok and X) we have seen the suit soaring through the air and an operator firing what appear to be two Glock G18 pistols attached to the system. All this while carefully maneuvering the Daedalus, albeit without flying too high.
The technical and safety details of the test are unknown. We are, however, before a first approximation of what could be incorporated into a future version of the suit. Certainly, the demonstration leaves some doubts in the air, for example, the accuracy of the system.
Earlier this year we had seen another version of the jet suit equipped with armament. It was a test run by the U.S. Navy’s Joint Prototyping and Experimentation Maritime (JPEM), but this is the first time we have seen the system in action in what appears to be a controlled environment.