It looks like the “Iron Man” project of the U.S. Military is proceeding as slowly as it can. But there is some good news for those who have been looking forward to seeing this in reality as the first prototype will be fully built by the end of 2018.

Popularly called the “Iron Man” suit, the project is called Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit (TALOS). Four years have already been spent on going over the technical aspects to develop and exoskeleton suit that can be used by special operations units. Revision Military has its concept of the TALOS as shown in this video:

What is known about this project is to make a bulletproof suit that would protect the operator, especially when breaching doors and other areas where most of the enemy’s gun would be pointed at. Apart from ballistic protection, it provides superhuman strength with the use of exoskeleton, and high technology equipment at the operator’s disposal.

During the Special Operations Forces Industry Conference (SOFIC) in Tampa Florida last week, an update by Col. James Miller, the director of the Joint Acquisition Task Force TALOS, reveals that a team of about 35 vendors, labs and academic institutions are diving deeper on systems engineering, according to Defense News. That will speed things up a bit for the project as critics say it is moving slowly.

Building the TALOS would take a lot of inputs, as it is a 800 part suit that will utilise carbon fiber, but for the first prototype it will be built using titanium which itself lightweight and high strength. It should be able to regulate temperature inside and would also conduct life-saving procedures in case the operator gets wounded.

A conceptual Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit #sofic2017 for special operators. pic.twitter.com/RzgECOxPVO

— JenJudson (@JenJudson) 17 May 2017

Apart from those, there are also considerations that will need to be thought out and implemented thoroughly such as the power to support all the functions of the TALOS, and that means batteries, though the plan it to use commercially available batteries. Another is ballistic protection, as present day protection does not yet protect the arms, legs and face of the operator. A very important aim of TALOS is to provide ballistic more protection to different parts of the body without the ballistic armor hindering movement.

Just less than two years to for us to see how TALOS turns from a concept to a prototype. But given military projects not always following the timetable, end of 2018 might just be a very optimistic estimate.