MARTIAN MARINE POWER ARMOR: All Features Explained | The Expanse

[@Apollo-zc2rj]

Correction: You said at around 6:40 that in the middle of a battle it can be hard to hear through the helmet, this is because they were in a no atmosphere environment without any medium for the sound to pass through, so the marines used their helmets as a medium to pass orders

[@friedhelmchrist1547]

If i remember this right from the books, you actually can't talk through the faceplate of the Armour (or nearly can't), even in atmosphere. Cause of that, the Armour has speakers to talk to people not wearing Armour. In the books it is often stated, that Bobby's Voice sounds metallic or tinny when she's inside the Armour.

[@KralikJR]

Yeah it is called vibrations!! Like old cup and strings telephone!!

[@mattstorm360]

@@friedhelmchrist1547 Makes sense. The suit is sealed and thick enough to resist gun fire. Granted gun fire in the expanse isn't as powerful due to the risk of damaging the hull of ships and stations, it's still a lot to yell out off. And i bet it echos inside.

[@Phrancis5]

Yup, in a vaccum touching the faceplates together can transfers some sonic vibration. He also messes up at 13:20 calling em "ceaseless rounds" LOL.

[@hl6965]

Yep. There's a reason they headbutt each other and start screaming face to face. It's so the vocal vibrations carry through the helmets in contact.

[@UlfHansen]

Chrisjen: "I could give you a gun" -- Bobby: "Ma'am, if you give me a gun, I'm a soldier - if you give me my suit, I'm a damned superhero"

[@TheRealGuywithoutaMustache]

I can't believe this show has been going since 2015, its narrative is so good

[@komickid833]

Just Some Guy without a Mustache soon I will watch it but I will read the books first and good to see you again

[@muffinguy25]

"Every way I go, I see his face"

[@ThatOneGuy-iv9sn]

He is everywhere you can’t beat to a video he will always be there first

[@komickid833]

That One Guy True but one day there will be someone who will take his place

[@buruzn09]

It helps that it has great books to work off of.

[@T3HR3PP4]

13:14 *Caseless Rounds*, not ceaseless. If the Martians had ceaseless rounds, they would have invaded earth decades ago.

[@KenKnowlesPersonal]

I noticed that too. “Caseless ” meaning just compressed solid propellant (gunpowder) behind a projectile (bullet) i.e. no brass cases flying out of the ejection port. Super cool.

[@TheMasaoL]

ceaseless rounds every marines dream

[@leopolddupuis6678]

Delivery "Case Less". What are "Cease Less"?

[@FerdinandZebua]

ceaseless (I would imagine) means they do not stop (doesn't 'cease')...

[@joshuasantana685]

Reminds me of the Pulse Rifle from “Aliens” They have caseless rounds as well

[@bernarrcoletta7419]

Bobbie wore an older version of power armor than her teammates because she had trouble finding armor that fit her.

[@Bustermachine]

I've been constantly impressed by how the show handles power armor. Like a lot of the tech, the suits are impressive in analysis but are presented in the show in a fashion that remain practical and subdued.

[@SgtRackhamm]

"Sure it matters who's got the biggest stick, but it matters a helluva lot more who's swinging it" General Shepherd

[@noahturner6807]

We can't give you freedom but we can give you know how to acquire it and that my friend is worth more than an whole army base of steel.

[@death_parade]

Shepard: "We are the most powerful military in the history of man" Osama Bin Laden's reaction: Fcuking run. Marco Inaros' reaction: That's cute.

[@mortivore222]

When talking power armor it has to be divided into two categories. Augmented human use (Space Marine, Spartan), and un-augmented human (sister of battle, MMC) be interesting to see what is the best in each category.

[@barrybend7189]

Meanwhile Macross Frontier pilots have powersuits( EX Gear).

[@tinamoul]

It's basically the same thing, it's just about dialing up the response.

[@marsar1775]

I always classified with augmented abilities or walking tank

[@mortivore222]

More about what would be useful if you actually found it. A lot of the armor is useless to unaugmented humans. Also, there is some armor that can compete with its bigger cousins, like 40k Inquisitors.

[@barrybend7189]

@@mortivore222 well in Macross's case the EX Gear is mostly a mix of EVA suit, pilot gear and pilot assist. The suit has aerial mobility and is combat grade for most military small arms. Later special ops versions have silenced motors and enhanced sensors for anti cyborg combat.

[@Awol991]

Looking at the armor, there are no hydraulics there, we would see hydraulic cylinders. More like smart fabrics acting like muscles under the armor layers.

[@Awol991]

@@jrvasquez Not if you look at the joints. Looking at the joints there is nothing but "spandex" reaching over the joint point. Servo motors would need hard hinge points. Hydraulics would need cylinders and leverage points. The only option is some sort of smart fabric.

[@Celebmacil]

@@Awol991 There are small "pistons" shown at that ankles at 3:08 in the video, and, there's those flexible "straps" that go sort of loosely over the joints but stand off a bit. But I'd assume your assessment of them being some sort of 'smart material' is more correct of those, as in, they flex and contract under some sort of current or input somehow. I'm honestly curious about the sort of power supply/energy storage system these things have. Man, it'd be absolutely catastrophic if there was a rapid dump of that energy though. Sheesh.

[@shaider1982]

Coud be fluidics pulsing through the tubes inside the armor. I think it was MIT who had a video on soft robots albeit with air flowinf inside the tubes

[@mebrit6130]

I think that in the books they do mention that it's an advanced hydroloc system but it's impractical to create this puerly for the show.

[@jamesbutson7051]

I think we gotta just suspend disbelief cos that shit look cheap as fuck

[@ShadeThe777]

Who's going to feast on Earth's sky and drink their rivers dry ? MMC ! Who's going to stomp their mountains into fine Martian dust ? MMC ! Till the rains fall hard on Olympus Mons, who are we ? MMC ! I can't hear you ! MMC ! Who are we ? MMC !

[@sebra8408]

BELTALOWDA✊

[@zhaimorenn8273]

Flying at the speed of war: Thrust determines how fast you accelerate in this setting, and this in turn creates the artificial gravity which the ship crew experiences. Mars has sufficient mass to create about 1/3 Earth Gravity. In this setting, every Martian naval ship flies at 1g acceleration minimum. This is because if they every decide to invade earth, they want their people acclimated to fighting on Earth Grav. The only reason to fly at 1G is because you expect war with Earth and have a mindset to go on the offense.

[@kokofan50]

Mars’s gravity is closer to 2/5ths Earth’s. Wanting to match any possible adversary isn’t an offensive mind set, just a militaristic one.

[@jamoecw]

well if we are getting precise then the gravity is 38% of earth's gravity. as for them always operating at 1G, then those that live on these ships for an extended period of time wouldn't get sick from the gravity of earth as we saw when gunny went to earth. they would be going from 1G to 1G. maybe that is how it is in the books, but in the show they definitely don't operate at 1G.

[@zhaimorenn8273]

@@kokofan50 Meh, 1/3 vs 2/5 doesn't really change the point. And it's not about matching them in speed capability, though that is a nice benefit. The point is they are telling the Earth military that they are ready and willing to take the fight to them and fight the UNE on their home soil, and considering how gung ho the Martian Marines are about putting boots on earth, it's a message and mentality cultivated to their entire military culture.

[@kokofan50]

@@zhaimorenn8273 exactly, it’s a warning. It’s a warning that Mars can and will match anyone anywhere. You don’t make those kinds of warnings if you’re not looking for a fight.

[@mikemoore2791]

For flipsake, its hyperboly. Not a literal unit of speed. Oy.

[@TauLupis]

It's worth noting that Bobby's Right Hook is so powerful that when she arm wrestles a suit of goddamn power armor, she wins.

[@GenerationFilms]

Important 👆👆👆

[@jamoecw]

actually that just illustrates how weak the suits are. your muscles force your bones, which means that your bones need to be just as strong or stronger than your muscles. mars has lower gravity and it is such a difference that martians get gravity sickness just by stepping foot on mars, and gunny is no exception. this means that if she is as strong as her bones would allow, then she is still weaker than what an earther could be (which is why those that use steriods to bulk up fast sometimes snap their bones while working out). so if she is weaker than an earther, and her suit is weaker than she is, then an earther without a suit might be stronger than her with her suit.

[@ThomasTee]

@@jamoecw So Amos is still top dog. Gotcha! ;D

[@ryavix]

@@jamoecw the suit IS it's own exoskeletal frame. This means that the strength and endurance of the squishy monkey inside doesn't count for much.

[@jamoecw]

@@ryavix except the original post clearly points out that the squishy monkey is about the same or more than the suit's strength. so if both are push in the same direction they add their strength together. each is independent in their strength as muscles pull on bones to get their strength, and the suit pushes or pulls on the exoskeleton for its strength. her muscles don't use the exo skeleton, the suit doesn't use her bones.

[@MrSlick16]

When on a moon with no atmosphere or in space and without radio, the marines aren't communicating through the face shield but rather through the direct contact with vibration

[@contorta960]

Haha stopped watching the video after he made that remark

[@Kitkat-986]

It is said that Bobbie Draper's right hook once punched a PDC round out before it could core her dropship's reactor. Some say she could do the same to a railgun round, but no railgun has been brave enough to cross her yet.

[@GabbieTheFox]

How did I not see this comment earlier? This is fucking gold.

[@SandsOfArrakis]

Ah so Bobbie Draper is the Chuck Norris of Mars?

[@DrewLSsix]

One thing that I dont think has ever been exploited in fiction is the fact that power armor can easily be used as a physical training aid. If it can greater extra force to help the wearer run jump lift etc to a greater degree then it's a simple alternate mode away from adding resistance to any and all movements of the wearer. It's a compact portable gym that can likely provide resistance in excess to what any wearer could reasonably overcome if it were in the form of weights on barbells. This could be used as general conditioning, replicating the load one would feel on a larger planet for example, or even to mimic stregnth training movements like squats deadlifts and presses.

[@Oriansenshi]

The orphans journey book series delves into this. The suits offer resistance normally that feeds into alternators that charge the batteries. Then with the flip of a switch it goes from resistance to assistance mode and assists the movement. This helps to extend the battery life of the suits

[@HeadHunterSix]

10:22 That's not an air hose, that's an ammo belt for the wrist cannon.

[@shehranazim4784]

It is actually the air hose. It's a little known bit of lore from the books that Martian Marines are trained to breathe 6.25mm ammunition in low air situations.

[@GabbieTheFox]

I believe that it's mentioned in the books that the air hose is hidden in a armoured conduit within the suit which connects to a port in the bodysuit. This decision makes a great deal of sense when you consider that the air supply is vital for the user's survival in the main usage scenario the suit was made for. I would imagine the suit's design team basically took one look at the required specs for the project and went "Let's put as much armour around the whole thing as possible and make the air line as short as possible to minimize the risk of it getting damaged."

[@N1lav]

The latest episode(S06E06) shows that particular belt when Draper is reloding her suits ammo.

[@CBRN-115]

Man, you guys really love this show. Which is totally understandable, cus the aesthetics is amazing

[@jeffbenefiel2676]

A great clip you missed was Ensign Sinopoli upon seeing Draper says "that's Force Recon uniform, she could force feed you that gun"

[@Krahazik]

One thing you didn't mention was that it was implied that the under armor does provide some ballistic protection as well. At one point in the show a Martian marine was holing a small handgun at draper and one of his comrades recognized her under armor and commented that if he pulled the trigger, all he would do is piss Drapper off before she fed him his gun. Also, I got the impression that s Force Recon soldiers go, Drapper was a bit of an outstanding case. A case of she is a badass amongst badasses.

[@AG3624C]

Sound doesn't carry in a vacuum, hence they bump heads in the expanse to allow the sound to conduct through the helm like a cup and string. It's a lot clearer because the audience need to understand what's being said. Hence Acassarala can hear bobby in the clip through the helm. Awesome break down +1 sub

[@robkemp598]

"Get out of my way before i throw you out of it" Bobby Draper Also the ammo is probably Naraman Dynamics, same as the PDC'S but I have no proof of that

[@kirknay]

would make sense. Using new ammo is a logistical nightmare.

[@pettersonystrawman9291]

I lost my shit at "Objects are closer than they appear" XDDDD

[@stanshatter3875]

The Expanse could clash with halo history. How crazy would that be? Think about... Goliath armor almost seams like a downgraded prototype mjolnir Spartan armor. Also the Expanse and halo's time line isn't so far apart. Plus in the Expanse, it almost seems like humanity is on the verge of civil war, just like it was in halo lore.

[@HalNordmann]

It could be that one is alternate history of the other.

[@DaMedicalKraken]

Except The Expanse has more ships

[@potatonoodlebear8035]

The protomolecule civilization= flood. Both hive mind.

[@BlueTeam-John-Fred-Linda-Kelly]

Cough cough hasn't heard of the protomolecule pocket dimension cough cough clearly hasn't read halo books cough cough.

[@jamoecw]

the martians grow up at less than half of earth's gravity. this makes their bones weaker, and thus the amount of strength they can have. spartan's are upgraded humans with normal bone density and strength, and so are stronger than earth humans. given how gunny is stronger than her suit this means that it would be highly unlikely that the spartans would be weaker than them (even without their suit). add to that they use weapons that have better ergonomics for aiming and you have stronger, faster (speed is tied to strength), more accurate marines versus more fragile martian marines. the martians would lose hard.

[@WoodHughes]

Great vid! Bobby points out she wears an older generation suit due to it fitting her torso better. I’d also like to see a comparison between some of the more realistic work suits/ armor out there. For instance, what they wear in The Martian, the crew suits in The Expanse, the suits in Alien and Aliens, etc. Drafting a wishlist and/ or a set of criteria would be a good videos.

[@GenerationFilms]

Thanks for the suggestions! Noted.

[@theov3rmind]

6:40 Not difficult to hear because of the battle. Impossible to hear without direct contact because there is not atmosphere on the moon, hence no medium to transfer sound =P Directly pressing the helmets together allows to sound to conduct through the helmets directly. Holden and Naomi actually do this in space in an earlier episode =)

[@Centaur255]

Holy cow the level of detail in this video is AMAZING!!! Thanks for the heavy lifting on the research for this vid, guys!

[@GenerationFilms]

Haha it took long hours of work but The Expanse makes the work feel fun and I don't want to give y'all subpar content. Thanks for watching.

[@jamoecw]

the servos are electrical not hydraulic. the putting the helmets together is due to the comms going down and sound not being able to travel in a vacuum(using the vibrations of the helmet to vibrate the other helmet via direct contact so sound can pass). the fall she suffered was better than it looked as gravity was much weaker. that is just the mistakes i noticed (other than the mispronouncing of caseless as ceaseless). extra info from the show is that martians grow up in low G and that means weaker bones and a weaker heart. this means that she, as a martian, is far weaker than her earth counterparts, and her suit is about as strong as she is, making the suit only compensate for the lack of strength. it also means that the lighter weight stuff built into the suit is to compensate for the weaker heart (so they get tired slower). the aiming assist simply compensates for the smaller and less easy to aim weapons (the training scene didn't have them with better accuracy from today's grunts). this means that a sustained conflict on earth would have them at a disadvantage, assuming that the earth marines have armor that just protects as well and has a sensor package somewhere in the ballpark. it is quite cinematic within the confines of the show, but once you step out of it in comparison with other franchises it falls short due to the circumstances within the show.

[@stevensonDonnie]

At 6:40 they had contact with each other so that sound vibrations could travel between helmets.

[@justgivemethetruth]

One thing these suits need is a propulsion capability ... like when Draper almost got thrown off the ship. Or like Spidey's web - a way to shoot a filament and latch onto a ship or surface to pull itself up, or back to the ship.

[@henryward5457]

They have a limited thruster capacity as shown in the video. More would take up too much space. The bit they have is probably as a safety feature in space.

[@seamus6387]

Yup, all armor has weak spots and it takes training to overcome and work with it. In the end it's just armor and it's the one wearing it that matters. Plus I think those are more mini-missiles that what we think of as an rpg. But meh, they still go boom.

[@artbrann]

ya, they are definitely guided, at least the pack Bobbie has is

[@_____J_____]

love your expanse videos pls do more

[@GenerationFilms]

You got it! 👍

[@pyeitme508]

@@GenerationFilms cool video!

[@GenerationFilms]

Thank you!

[@pyeitme508]

@@GenerationFilms Your welcome!

[@DerpEye]

The lights inside of the helmets are there for cinematic purposes. In reality it wouldn't make any sense, because you wouldnt be able to see properly. It's addressed in behind the scenes: you need to see the actor.

[@JakeBaldwin1]

@@jrvasquez Wish they wouldn't do that though, a good actor should be able to convey emotion without ever showing their face. It's all about small ques, a slight adjustment in the shoulders, a tick of the head, a change in tone. Not saying that they are bad actors, far from it, but I think that they could pull it off even better if they rarely showed their faces. What if Gunny rarely showed her face and came into conflict over it when she was dishonorably discharged from the marines. Which one is she really the faceless epitome of warfare, or the caring and emotional human?

[@EdMorbius46]

But there is also a strategic reason for helmet internal lights. Fore example in the Ganymede incident their coms were jammed, and they were attacked, with Draper rescued later with damaged suit visor. Rescue and communication in those circumstances is assisted by seeing the marine's face and judging their status. No use touching helmets if one is unconscious... Multiple redundancies, folks. 😎

[@LeeCarlson]

In the books, the Goliath is a model of Martian Power Armor (like a Mustang is a model of Ford automobile) and Bobbie Draper relies on her (albeit older) armor because 'tis the only model available that is built big enough to fit her Maori-descended frame

[@00784865]

You officialy got me hooked on this series. Edit: support to my leftie brother. Society hasnt been kind to us.

[@GenerationFilms]

You won't regret it!🙌

[@outerheaven155]

So I love The Expanse and I am thrilled they have power armor but I've got two big gripes as far as bad design choices go for this armor. The Face Shield really needs an armored plate that covers the transparent material. Since sensory information is already being displayed to the user, might as well go Full AR and decrease the likelihood that a bullet is going to go through the weakest material on the armor. If the Sensory devices are impaired they simply remove the face armor to reveal the transparent face shield, Of course the reason they wont do that is because they would obscure the actors face. The arm mounted gun is also a poor choice for a primary weapon. It complicates reloading and sharing ammunition as well as stopping you from loaning a weapon to a fellow soldier. If your right arm is injured you are effectively defenseless. You lose the fine motor control of your wrists which are needed along with your elbow and shoulder for precision aiming. The only advantage it gives you is you can hold something in both hands while firing and that their is next to no chance of accidentally losing your weapon, but i'd say the first advantage is negligible and the second is solved more elegantly with a shoulder strap or tether of some sort. I think maybe you could make an argument for a mounted side arm or support weapon though, as long as you had a properly held weapon as your primary firearm of course

[@kevinwestrom4775]

Great assessments on the face shield, the arm-mounted gun with alternatives for each.

[@DerpEye]

It's for cinematic purposes. You HAVE to see the face of the actor, to convey emotions etc. The suits of the bad guys from the stealth ships, had some sort of metal net in the visor. It's the same with the lights inside the helmet, in reality there would be none.

[@Nitram4392]

I don't think you need to to always see the actor. Iron Man for example, also has a face plate.

[@GabbieTheFox]

It isn't mentioned in the show... But it is in the books. The "Face Shield" as everyone is calling it (It's called a Faceplate in the books, show and IRL) is made of highly reinforced ballistic glass... I believe that in the books it is stated that it's basically impervious to small arms fire, needing to take a hit from something like a PDC in order to penetrate it, effectively the same as the areas covered by the metal armour. The bodysuits worn underneath the armour are also made of a more flexible armour similar to modern day bullet-resistant vests (Note: I said bullet-resistant for a reason. There's no such thing as a bulletproof vest IRL.) which are increasingly being made of Polyethylene fibers, which is basically a plastic woven together in layers so when someone gets shot, the impact of the shot gets spread out over a larger area to stop the bullet penetrating through to hit the wearer's body as best as they can. Right now, that technology is best suited against low calibre weapons like handguns, for the military, they get reinforced with strike plates made of Ceramics or Steel to provide additional protection against bigger and faster bullets. Naturally in the time period where The Expanse takes place, this flexible armour technology would have advanced to the point where a body suit could be made of flexible armour and would be able to offer sufficient protection against all but the biggest bullets that could be flying a soldier's way. Sure, it wouldn't be as strong as the rest of the suit, but those small regions of vulnerability would be difficult to target at the best of times and would be next to impossible to target when an enemy is aware of you and actively moving to get the best position available to take you out. To tackle your final point about the weapon placement, I would remind you that having it directly mounted to the user's arm would provide the weapon a great deal of stability that something like a conventional assault rifle wouldn't have, allowing the user to compensate for recoil (if any exists in The Expanse) more intuitively (presumably) or something. Additionally the weapons are directly belt-fed from the suit's backpack allowing for uninterrupted fire until the ammo is expended. Lastly in response to the point about injury, I would remind you that with these suits almost all of the arm is encased in the heavy metallic armour in addition to the flexible armour bodysuit, which would make the risk of a injury to the arm which would render you unable to control the weapon properly extremely unlikely outside of a dumb training accident. Going by what is stated in the books, I believe your point is actually true for the U.N. marines as their suits are less technologically advanced and have substantially less hard armour plating on the arms and legs, only fully covering the shoulders, wrists and hands. Martian Marines in the books I believe are specifically trained to aim for the mid-section of the arms and legs in combat for that exact reason.

[@seanc9520]

If you go back to season 1 and watch episode where the Donnager was boarded. The helmet Mars forces use only show the eyes. There was an old interview that says redesign was done so that Mars suits also show their faces. It's a tv show, give and take.

[@TheKenPrescott]

16:27 Speaking as a former U.S. Marine: training and ethos can be force multipliers. The Martian Marine Corps is clearly descended from the United States Marines; rank structure and unit designations show this (I would not be surprised if they actually trace their units' lineages back to the USMC). Their mindset is clearly that of the modern USMC, which has a legacy of not being the best-funded branch, and of having to get the most bang out of every buck they can cadge out of Congress. This has created a culture that prizes tactical and operational flexibility, one that seeks to use tradition as a source of esprit de corps without making it into a straitjacket of organization and mission. This can be seen in 2021 with the current shift in USMC organization to meet the perceived future needs of the Indo-Pacific region. This is what makes The Expanse so damn good. It's not about protomolecules and spaceships and powered armor; it's about people confronting Big Change.

[@GabbieTheFox]

4:10 "And as they walk you can hear how heavy they must be." While that is partially true, the boots and gloves feature electromagnets to allow the user to walk normally in zero-G environments as well as sort of anchoring themselves to a metallic surface while under heavy weapons fire. This also means that if the wearer wants to, they can effortlessly reorient themselves while inside a vessel and walk or crawl along the walls or ceiling (or in Draper's case, along the outer hull)

[@TheKenPrescott]

8:21 The suits and the ship are likely exchanging data from their own sensors to establish what we call today a "Common Operational Picture," the key part of what's known as "network-centric warfare." Now, there may be times where the suits and/or the ship may go radio silent for tactical reasons. This is one of the many things that The Expanse gets right about warfare.

[@Raeinok]

Martian Marines: They train at 1G. Goku and Vegeta: Pathetic.

[@capnahayes]

Who is Goku and Vegemite?

[@galadballcrusher8182]

@@capnahayes i think they related to an entertainment holoreel for kids in expanse universe called Donkeyballs X

[@haldyordan2316]

At the realistic sense not anime, Vegeta train at 400g, at Berrus planet they wear 40ton weight suits. But we're talking plausible science here.

[@jhwheuer]

Why not 1.2? Would give an edge…

[@Tony-sx3nf]

I know it's a joke but damn Goku and Vegeta are practically top tiers in general so it's a bad comparison to put them against medium strong soldiers

[@almondmilk3014]

HUMANITY FIRST🙏🏽🙏🏽

[@Bear-kr3gr]

Helmet to helmet discussions are contact provided sound conductance because the vacuum they’re in stops sound dead. Unlike yelling in a room with air on both sides of the helmet.

[@jukio02]

The only thing the armor is missing is a badass sword.

[@dansanchez301]

GREAT video !! just subscribed after watching this. The Expanse is, in my opinion the best SciFi series, bar non, that I have ever seen. Can't seem to get enough of watching it. Bought the whole video series, bought the book series and the Audible series. Enough said I guess. thanks again.

[@danaen9985]

The uniform they wear is actually the pressure suit based on real world MIT Dr Dava Newmans Bio-Suit. The Biosuit is being considered for the future Mars Colony.

[@trashynecromancer1155]

Midnight Generation Films while I play EVE Online? fuck yeah

[@ecrusch]

Good job Ben.

[@MidnightAspec]

How’d I miss this breakdown. Awesome analysis.

[@jaynoelreyes8604]

OK, you made me choke on my water when you said, "Martian T'Challa."

[@daedalus4748]

No wonder they're do advanced

[@MrAndyBearJr]

10:24 I think that connection from the back of the suit into the right arm is a munition feed for the minigun in the vambrace. Also, it's caseless ammo, not ceaseless. No casing for the rounds propellant.

[@GabbieTheFox]

Correct. That is the minigun's ammo feed. The oxygen line is actually housed inside an armoured channel that runs up the wearer's neck from what I recall. Also I think it's mentioned briefly in the books, but I don't remember for certain, but the suit's faceplate is actually one of the most armoured parts of the suit since it's a potential point of failure for keeping the wearer alive. If I remember correctly, the faceplate itself is designed to withstand several direct hits from any small arms fire and pretty much a solid hit from anything up to the size of a PDC round. For example in the final episode of Season 6, during the assault on the Ring Station, Free Navy soldiers open fire on Draper, Amos and their allies firing armour piercing rounds. In this battle we see Draper take several direct hits to the faceplate and it holds up albeit with some pretty nasty looking small marks / cracks. But obviously, debris from an agricultural mirror falling out of orbit has way too much kinetic energy for any part of the armour to withstand. So it is understandable that the faceplate would fail under such an extreme load.

[@silverwolfbwc]

Love your videos, just one comment on this one. Regarding the use of talking through the face shields, you mentioned about battlezone making hard to hear etc - I'd say that specifically in the scene used, they actually touched suits because they were in a zero atmo environment on the moon (Dome habitats everywhere in that same story arc, vent atmo when breached), so no sound travel because vacuum. They touch faceshields to get around this, because then the soundwaves are able to pass directly from suit to suit via the medium of that physical contact / vibrations of the faceshield itself (I actually thought this was a really nice physics detail when I first saw the scene!).

[@SWells679]

I'ma say it, American Ben is a national treasure. Also, the incendiaries were "caseless" not "ceaseless".

[@MultiGG2]

1:05 Oh look, a husk from Mass Effect universe.

[@bthsr7113]

There are some important differences, but the TLDR version is that husks are cannon fodder, these uglies in the expanse are more akin to super soldiers

[@death_parade]

Husks had more human faces (skulls).

[@isaytheenay5961]

There's important differences. One is in the Mass effect universe, and the other was inspired by and copied from the mass effect universe. :)

[@mattstorm360]

To answer what "fly at the speed of war" means, martian marines train on ships traveling at 9.8 meters a second squared which is the acceleration of Earth gravity. Meaning if Mars ever went to war on Earth, their soldiers would be more accustomed to Earth's gravity as the gravity on Mars is 3.7 meters a second squared. So in theory, most people on Earth could fight a martian. But Martian marines are trained to fight on Earth.

[@paulmitrovich6339]

Leave these videos about specific scifi equipment/ships! Keep them coming!

[@niagarawarrior9623]

fun fact. the mars lieutenant Sutton is the singer to a Canadian rock band, the Headstones. it was interesting to see him in a cameo.

[@exitcodezero]

With the suits being made specifically for each user I'm fairly certain the gun hand can be changed for us lefties. No worries there. I am fairly sure (though I have no source) the suits would be able to withstand higher caliber weapons. Look at Bobbie D when she is training in the valley. She is being hit with more than little . 22 rounds. Many of the weapons they face may be designed to not put holes in space ships, but like the Ganyemed fight not every battle is on a ship. They are Marines. They have to be prepared for everything. Also, the suits come with lots of built-in weapons, but the Marines also use conventional guns, machine guns, etc. As I'm sure their opponents would do the same the armor would need to be fairly strong. Great video. Thanks for the heavy dose of Frankie Adams (Bobbie D). She is awesome.

[@JaumeSabater]

Too cool for seatbelts, definitely ;-) I mean, we can see them sitting in that dropship, can't we? :-P Nice video, impressive work. Lots of notes were taken to deliver this information, I presume. The amount of features, detail and options in the suits are impressive but coherent, as you very well put out. So I am sure a lot of work from the writers went onto them. Oh, and lovely hockey shirt in the background, by the way!

[@Bondubras]

"Bitch, behave mode" at 9:50 is a BEAUTIFUL description. I lol'd HARD.

[@pauln2661]

RPG seems a misnomer. RPG stands for rocket propelled grenade, a weapon that has no guidance except for fins and goes in the direction aimed until it runs out of fuel or hits something. The weapons coming from the marine armor are guided missiles as we can see by their turning and maneuvering.

[@Phoenixguyver]

The bit about touching helmets to talk when comms are down is real science. NASA teaches it to astronauts since sound waves don't travel without an atmosphere but will through the air in helmets and visors.

[@Kelduffnim]

You're right about the Mark V, it has a software system upgrade in comparaison with the Mark IV.

[@GenerationFilms]

Thx for clarifying.

[@aqareu875]

Good video buddy. DARPA is taking notes.

[@viciousstarfish]

Good show, this time, thank you.

[@hl6965]

13:16 Dude, did you just say CEASELESS rounds?

[@killman369547]

I think my favorite feature is the backpack missile launcher. That is such a cool capability.

[@gateauxq4604]

Check out the videos of Adam Savage visiting the set and checking out Bobbie’s armor twice. The designers are way on top of what’s the what on the armor even though they remodeled it to make it lighter for the actors to wear (not that Frankie needs that, they were just being polite.)

[@gateauxq4604]

Oh and its shown briefly in the show I think but they can do a full teardown of the armor to do maintenance and make sure its in peak condition. In the book Bobbie always does this by hand since she wears an older model that is more comfortable for her 2 1/2 m frame so the Marines are a lot more adept at tuning the suits than you give them credit for (or Bobbie at least.)

[@theduke6174]

Awesome production! 🙌

[@gavindowson4390]

Hey brother🤘once again nice video... Thank you for the entertainment man, really appreciate it

[@GenerationFilms]

Thanks to you again for watching!

[@barry99705]

In the books Bobbie is a physically huge individual. Including winning a arm wrestling match with the armor.

[@reload2893]

and is roughly 3x more badass in the books to boot (especially at the Ganymede incident-much better done in the books

[@mikej8940]

10:23 the supposed air hose is in fact the ammo feed belt for the gun below the hand

[@eliqfor1]

Hi American Ben , slight correction ."Tube " from the back pack to right arm is not breather .It's shape suggests this is an armored belt feeder from backpack to the arm mounted weapon .

[@Arendelft]

You know what I would love to know? If the Donnager (hope I spelled that right) had taken its last fight seriously and had deployed the Tachy AKA future Rocinante, would it have won?

[@jamoecw]

maybe, it depends on how many of them there were. they were a small ship with stealth tech and rail guns. their missiles were better and able to get through the defensive fire. if they didn't fire all of their missiles then they might have shot the gun ships out of the sky and it wouldn't have mattered. if instead they did fire all of their missiles then the extra firepower from the gunships when they got close would have helped swat at least one of them out of the stars, and of course made it harder for them to focus their fire so well on the one target.

[@seanc9520]

The bigger ship would have greater reach railguns. The enemy would have lost more ships before even coming into range. Is that enough? No idea but interesting topic

[@stantheman8175]

You mean 6.5mm caseless ammunition as opposed to "ceaseless"? I mean no spent brass would kinda indicate caseless ammo as opposed to ammo the never stops (or whatever ceaseless indicates here). fwiw

[@barrybend7189]

Look at Macross and in Macross Frontier and their EX Gear.

[@redpandemic1081]

In the end it's always down to the user. A sword can be as fine as it gets, but if the hands holding it doesn't know how to use it, it's just a sharp stick. Or to stay in the tune, the Equiment used by Special forces in real life isn't all that sci-fi like the latest Tom Clancy games make it look like. Yet the operators know pretty darn well how to get the maximum out of their gear.

[@DanBennett]

I love your posts!

[@AlexKasper]

13:18 "cease-less" ammo?

[@mebrit6130]

The power armour was actually tailered to the individual weaer and made to measure their particular body type. So when someone puts a suit on thsts not theirs they struggle to get it to respond properly to their commands. It also took a lot of training to get used to the enhancements the suit offers and in the book the scene where the belters use the power around they over estimate the amount of force needed and throw themselves around which ends up hindering them more than helping them. It's mentioned that Bobbir also preferred to use her mk2 power armour (Bessie) because it was aligned with her body type and had her personal operating preferences, rather than upgrading to the newer models. The network is two way with the ship with both drawing information from the other but when the ship was blocked or destroyed the suits would lose comms with their hq. You mentioned that the guns tend not to be as powerful as they don't want to blow a hole in their own ships Hull, but it's worth mentioning that private security forces often used plastic bullets as they were still lethal to unarmoured personnel, but wouldn't penitrate bulkheads or body armour.

[@KatrinaLeFaye]

Helmet face plate issue would be easily fixed with so much display on hud, but it would not look good on camera... Oh, and Star Ship Troopers, from the book, were very labor intensive for maintaining suites.

[@Scarethelocals]

I love the expanse vids!

[@thedoneeye]

YES!!! That was sooo cool! I wonder how the MMC would do against... Xenomorphs? "WHO ARE WE!!??" "WE'RE THE MMC!!"

[@Joshua_N-A]

They'll be carrying not one but two Smartguns. There's no kill like overkill. They also be carrying the ubiquitous M41A1 pulse gun and the small built-in minigun would be used as backup or reserve.

[@zarbog8618]

Well done!

[@evanmurphy4632]

iv been waiting to see this

[@JC-ze2et]

The Martians probably made it so anyone can use basic functions so that they didn't have a bunch of pressure suits only usable by specific people taking up space. There are other practical reasons too, I.e. rescue operation in space: just send a spare suit, and your VIP is as protected as the rescuers. This would apply to both situations like rescue from hostiles as well as rescuing people from wrecks, where snagging your suit would be as deadly as a bullet.

[@SpiffyLord]

May i present to you its counter the Slingshot MK.III we have once again upgraded it to fire a larger rock

[@milanurukalo]

correction - it is impossible to talk through face shield in a vacuum without comms - that is why they do direct contact with helmets - material "conduct" sound vibrations

[@anulfadventures]

I'm alway amazed how characters in these shows take multiple left or right hooks to the face without making any effort to defend themselves.

[@jamoecw]

part of the lore of the show is the weaker bones due to weaker gravity. this means that not too many people will be throwing punches, as they are much more likely to break their hand, even if it hits the intended target as someone who grew up in higher gravity will have much harder bones. i don't know if this is the reasoning, but it makes sense to me that throwing punches when it could cripple you would be a good deterrent (which leads to people not knowing what to do when punches get thrown).

[@natemeehan6776]

ok one question i have is what spaceship would ever be made of magnetic materials i would think they would be aluminum maybe stainless or a composite material so how would mag locks help

[@PavewayJDAM]

under rated comment

[@walterlyzohub8112]

Just wanted to mention it is possible to train in continuous 1G environment if you used a large centerfuge. Isaac Arthur videos discussed how you can use such large structures in places like the Moon for Earth like conditions. Same is possible in many places with less than 1 G. Sorry I did not finish reading all the comments before posting this.

[@StonehouseCinema]

When two helmets in space vacuum are touching together the occupants will be able to talk through vibrations. Otherwise, you can’t hear without comms.

[@ronaldknight9974]

Yaaa, I'll, take two, please.

[@BartBe]

Imagine being the pinnacle of the, hi tech soldier, the brave interpid martian marine... well armmed highly trained, all suited up in the hard vacuum of space... and getting a nose itch.

[@pyeitme508]

I think the Goliath armor should have some sidearms and knives to fight in cqb situations.

[@seamus6387]

I'm thinking those are grabbed as needed.

[@pyeitme508]

@@seamus6387 yeah, but without those will be pretty nasty when fighting enemies personally.

[@jlokison]

That's what a marine knife hand is for, but the wrist mounted weapons can actually be used in CQB better than a pistol.

[@MTerrance]

The bullets were labeled "caseless", meaning they had no casings, which would save weight and space - presumably allowing the marines to carry more rounds. Obviously, that requires the slug, powder and firing pin to be fused for handling. How that might be accomplished is open to speculation if it is even feasible. I suppose if the firing chamber was machined to an insane tolerance and could maintain that tolerance in use, it might work. Rather than a firing pin a charge that is activated electrically could be one option, eliminating the need for a firing pin. Another possibility could be some sort of rail gun, but that seems unlikely and not consistent with how they are shown working in the show.

[@morganleanderblake678]

You said the helmet is able to project and predict based on her Mariner Valley view, but Bobby could've just had that as a recording stored.

[@traviscooper8037]

Couple of things you stated in your opening that contradict the reality of The Expanse. You said, to the effect, that medical advances and the seamless communications allow us to populate space. However, it is these human conditions that add realism to the series. Yes, they have wonderful trauma and ICU capabilities but it's set against vacuum and null gravity. Additionally, lags in comm are continually plaguing our intrepid adventurers; same now as then even in our near real time social media construct. Great work on your part and hope to see more.

[@BobHerzog1962]

The headbut talking to each other was actually a misinterpretation of the show. The suit in the book actually even has speakers. But the problem on the surface of Ganymede is: No atmosphere. No atmosphere = no sound waves. So in the book bobby forces direct contact to convey sound through vibration.

[@mocafrost]

Great video. Ty.

[@Sophistry0001]

The guns use CASEless rounds, not ceaseless. Caseless is actually pretty bad ass as some firearms from the last couple decades have used it. There is no brass casing to eject. The one downside to this is that you don't have that brass acting like a heat sink to carry heat away from the firearm, a problem that gets even worse in vacuum. But I'm sure the suit has some other fancy way to re-purpose or expel the waste heat.

[@SgtRackhamm]

Not sure if you are into reading, but if you like the realism of the expanse's sci-fi, then I would recommend reading "The Deathworlders" by writer signature Hambone. Its witty, funny, clever, but doesn't get into its stride until the creation the HEAT (comparable to the Martian marine's elite and the Spartans)

[@GenerationFilms]

I haven't read much lately but I'll keep your recommendation in mind for sure. Thanks!

[@justgivemethetruth]

Hey, no digs at StarShip Troopers ... that was over 20 years ago ... ya schlub! ;-)