The Next Stormtroopers

by Camila Rejalaga

for @hackinhumans

A big player in the bionic prosthetics word is the United States Department of Defense. All of the governments research for this advancement is done under DARPA, a research project agency with a budget of $3.71 billion. Although this might help a lot of soldiers that lost their limbs in the job, a big part of human augmentation in the military is the pursuit of a super soldier. In the future, getting amputated might not mean the end of your career but rather an “upgrade” arm that break walls. Right now, the most sophisticated prosthetic done under DARPA is called LUKE, a reference from Luke Skywalker whose prosthetics works exactly like a normal arm but with more strength. This is just an example on how the aspirations is not just replicating a natural limb but making a Captain America.

Another popular initiative has been the use of exoskeletons, the military has been working on being able to enhance a soldiers’ speed, mobility and power. It has been a constant race to who gets the first Iron Man, with the main players being the US, Russia and China. With the US and China focusing on exoskeletons, Russia has come up with a full body armor suit that is being compared to Star Wars Stormtroopers.  According to defense contractors the suit will come with

an internal powered exoskeleton, nuclear blast resistant watch and visors that offer head-up display. All of these technological advances could mean a big disadvantage to the countries that are not allies of this 3 superpowers. Imagine Russia invading Ukraine with Star Wars combat suits, the death count could start getting a lot higher.

Once again we must ask ourselves what are the repercussions of human augmentation increasing inequality. In this scenario this isn’t only about economic inequality but the drastic disadvantage in their capability to defend themselves. Just like the nuclear bombs became highly regulated after Hiroshima, some regulation must be done when it comes to having this kind of power.