At the "Warrior Expo 2024" military and tactical equipment exhibition in Moscow, equipment developers from St. Petersburg, "Khamari", presented their new exoskeleton "Khamari Medoed 2.0". It was presented by Evgeny Bataev, CEO of the company, the developer of the first widely used military exoskeleton in Russia and in the world.
According to him, the "Khamari Medoed 2.0" exoskeleton comes with a "Medoed" bulletproof vest. The use of an exoskeleton and a bulletproof vest makes the wearer a universal soldier. The weight of the exoskeleton and bulletproof vest together is 16.5 kg, the coverage area is 90% of the body or 1.6 square meters.
The materials of the exoskeleton are resistant to corrosion and easily adapt to the need for the fighter to crawl and move actively.
We took the simple route. We took a human skeleton and drew the degrees of freedom of its joints. All the hinges and elements of the exoskeleton repeat the degrees of freedom of the joints – knees and other limbs.
Inside the structure there is 8-mm aviation aluminum, impact-resistant composite plastic, and it is not easy to damage the exoskeleton.
The "Medoed" bulletproof vest can be equipped with BR4 and BR5 armor plates. Its features are that it is a transformer: it has a load-bearing frame bulletproof vest, which is part of the exoskeleton, and a second degree of protection – armor plates that can be removed, plus hinged anti-fragmentation equipment. During an assault, for example, the armor plates can be transferred to the chest, the structure can withstand a hit from a Dragunov sniper rifle, saving the owner. And when sleeping or resting, you can stay in a lighter version of body armor.
If a wound suddenly occurs and a tourniquet needs to be applied, the quick-release system on the rings with the help of fastex will help. If the wounded person is not transportable, the exoskeleton unfastens very quickly.
According to Bataev, initially the exoskeleton also included its own tourniquets, but they were removed for three reasons. Firstly, to make it easier for the military to adjust the exoskeleton to themselves. Secondly, the built-in tourniquet may be damaged before it is needed, and the use of such a damaged tourniquet can be fatal. Finally, one of the tasks of the developers was to create a design that is understandable to a fighter with any level of training, and in any situation, so that the exoskeleton is as "simple as a Kalashnikov assault rifle, and just as reliable".
The price of one "Khamari Medoed 2.0" exoskeleton in full configuration, with a bulletproof vest, including pouches, a new hydration pack – "camel hump" and everything you need in a duffel bag, has ranged from 312 to 320 thousand rubles since the beginning of October, it has risen. But it is still one of the cheapest combat equipment kits in Russia.
In addition, "Khamari" also has developments in the form of industrial and medical exoskeletons. The latter is a medical orthosis and is called "Protector".
The exoskeleton is actually an orthopedic device. It allows a person to recover from an injury and facilitate movement after he is injured. A very serious point in this is the psychological component. A person, putting on an exoskeleton, is more confident in his own capabilities. He is more confident that he will pass the necessary distance, and will not sprain anything. The exoskeleton is designed so that it is impossible to overload the knee, sprain the leg.
However, the development also has disadvantages.
Unfortunately, we produce very little of it – this is the first and main disadvantage. We have not yet been able to make a larger-scale production. The second disadvantage is that the exoskeleton is still heavy. The third is that the production is still artisanal, it differs from serial production.
Now the exoskeleton is undergoing repeated testing in the exoskeleton laboratory for further modernization. "Protector" – the medical version – is being finalized taking into account consultations with specialists from the S.M. Kirov Military Medical Academy in St. Petersburg. In the coming year, it will be examined in detail and accurately how and for what diseases it can be additionally used.
However, "Khamari" is not going to stop there.
At the moment, there are already developments that strengthen the knee joint, there are developments that accelerate running, in fact, this is a vertical exoskeleton. [...] In addition, work is underway to combine an industrial power exoskeleton, which is designed to facilitate lifting loads directly from the floor, and other exoskeleton options. That is, within the next one or two years, we have all the technologies and chances to get [Russian] "Iron Man". And we will get it because now it is very necessary for us – the situation in the country is such that it is really necessary, and your support, and the support of patrons – it is very important.
Read materials on the topic:
Russian anti-fragmentation vests for service dogs were presented at "Warrior Expo 2024"
