Power Armor

From The Vault

United States soldier in T-51b Power Armor

Orginal Power Armor concept art

The Powered Infantry Armor is the peak of armored infantry technology, initially developed in the West Tek Research Facility laboratories. Now, only the most technologically advanced factions with ties to pre-War military or government, such as the Brotherhood of Steel or the Enclave, have access to those, and only the latter possesses the technology required to manufacture new Power Armor models, such as the Advanced Power Armor and Advanced Power Armor Mk II.

The first version of Power Armor successfully deployed in combat was the T-45d model, which originally ran on Small Energy Cells, burning through them at an alarming rate. In response, later versions were manufactured with built-in MicroFusion Packs.

The most advanced pre-war model, T-51b Power Armor is fitted with a back-mounted TX-28 MicroFusion Pack which generates 60,000 Watts to power the HiFlo hydraulic systems built into the frame of the suit. Made of the poly-laminate composite, the T-51b shell is lightweight and capable of absorbing over 2500 Joules of kinetic impact. The 10 micron silver ablative coating can reflect laser and radiation emissions without damage to the composite subsurface.

T-51b Power Armor and later models also include a complete waste recycling system. Basically, you can urinate in the armor and it recycles everything.

[edit] History

August 2065: The need for increased mobility among the units of the US Army Mechanized Cavalry leads the American government's defense contractors to focus their research on the development of a man-based tank - the ultimate result is Powered Infantry Armor.
2065 - 2067: Research and development into Power Armor intensifies among the different firms involved in the project and several prototypes are developed, many of which prove to be unworkable once they are deployed in the field. These prototypes pave the way for several major future advances in materials science, robotics, and nuclear fusion technology in the decade before the outbreak of the Great War.
Summer 2066: The first crude nuclear microfusion cell is unveiled, one of the civilian technological spin-offs of the Power Armor project. The new technology is soon incorporated into a wide variety of consumer goods, including robots and automobiles. It begins to alleviate the terrible energy shortages plaguing the United States, but was unable to fully alleviate the world's energy problems before the outbreak of the Great War in 2077 made the problem moot. Ironically, had the fusion microcell technology had more time to disseminate across the globe from the United States, it would have solved most of the world's energy problems, thus ending the need for the armed conflicts that ultimately lead to the downfall of human civilization.
2067: The first suit of T-45d Power Armor is deployed for combat duty among American infantrymen fighting the Chinese occupation of Alaska. While lacking the full mobility of future versions of the armor, this early suit of Power Armor is incredibly effective against conventional Chinese tanks and infantry. Its ability to allow a single infantryman to carry heavy ordinance becomes key in various localized conflicts during the Sino-American War, and it has the power to destroy entire towns without endangering the wearer from attacks by conventional firearms or even missile launchers. The Chinese People's Liberation Army rushes to create its own versions, but the Chinese are many years behind the United States' work on the project.
2074: Contrary to the United States' claim of waging a defensive war that seeks only to retake Alaska from the Chinese, entire mechanized infantry divisions outfitted with Power Armor are deployed in an American invasion of China, but they become bogged down during intense combat on the Chinese mainland, putting a further drain on American resources and supply lines in the Sino-American War.
June 2076: The T-51b Power Armor prototype is finally completed, resulting in the development of the suit of Power Armor that the Vault Dweller finds in Fallout. This suit represents the pinnacle of Power Armor technology before the outbreak of the Great War ends all technological progress for many decades. Many of these units are sent by the American military to the front in China, and they begin to carve a swath through the Chinese forces defending their nation, ending the stalemate that had defined the Chinese front of the war in the two years since the start of the American invasion. Chinese resources are strained to the breaking point by the new American offensive using the T-51b armor, and the supply lines from the nations China has annexed in East and Southeast Asia begin to break down.
January 22, 2077: Power Armor is used for the first time for domestic purposes within the United States by U.S. Army units deployed within American cities for crowd and quarantine control duties related to the growing resource shortages and outbreaks of epidemic disease. Units originally serving in China and on the Anchorage Front Line find themselves fighting fellow Americans at home as the disorders grow worse across the course of this year. Food riots increase, and many civilians are killed in fights with the military and police. A growing number of soldiers desert from the American military both in Canada and the United States. These deserters are captured when possible by military policemen and are sent to various military prisons across the United States. Some of these prisoners are later used by American military scientists in illegal human experiments at the Mariposa Military Base in California where the Forced Evolutionary Virus is first tested.
2198: The Enclave's scientists develop various new technologies, including the first new viable Power Armor variations since the Great War. None of these suits are much of an improvement over the original versions of Power Armor developed before 2077, and some are actually worse.
2215: Under Presidential Order, the Enclave's scientists begin to work on an upgraded version of Power Armor that exceeds the performance of the T-51b model. Many prototypes are developed and tested.
October 2220: Enclave scientists finally develop a reliable version of what they call Advanced Power Armor. The prototype's capabilities (and the various accidents/explosions/deaths involved in its creation) are classified by order of the Enclave's President Dick Richardson for the sake of the Enclave's morale.

[edit] Variations of Power Armor

[edit] Fallout games

[edit] Spin-offs

[edit] Appearances In-Game

Power Armors appear in every Fallout game. T-51b Power Armor and its hardened version appear in both Fallout and Fallout 2 (and was to appear in Van Buren), while the latter also introduces the Enclave's advanced variants. In Fallout 3 the T-45d Power Armor is the general Power Armor that can be found, as most members of the Brotherhood of Steel wear it. The Enclave's variant suits of Power Armor are also encountered. A rusty set of T-51b Power Armor is located in the Fort Constantine military base (but can only be obtained by doing a specific quest), and a Winterized Version of the same model can be found in the Fallout 3 Operation: Anchorage add-on. Quite inconsistently with previous games in the series, Fallout Tactics shows the T-51b model only once in the introduction of the game, and the Midwestern Brotherhood Power Armor is used instead in the game, including a technologically more advanced version, years before the Enclave's new model is developed. In Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel a very different version is used, with a modern appearance unlike any of the known models, despite supposedly being used by the same Brotherhood of Steel organization as in the previous games. The Power Armor from the canceled Fallout d20 was a mixture of the T-51b model and the Fallout Tactics PA model.

[edit] Notes

In Fallout 3, you must receive training at the Citadel from Paladin Gunny or complete the Operation Anchorage DLC mission before you can equip power armor. Whilst being given the training, the Paladin tells the player to "relax their muscles" and "let the suit do the work".
A number of companions, as well as NPCs who may follow the Lone Wanderer, can equip Power Armor without receiving training.
It has been observed that Raiders can equip Power Armor that they might find.
When selling unwanted Power Armor to Wastelander scavengers and traders, they sometimes equip the armor after they've purchased it from you.

[edit] Sources

Holodisks:

Power Armor Specs

[edit] Gallery

[edit] Fallout

		A United States soldier in a Power Armor	A Brotherhood of Steel Paladin
Rhombus
Cabbot	US soldier executing a Canadian freedom fighter	US soldier executing a Canadian freedom fighter	Loading screen

[edit] Fallout 2

Tribal with a broken T-51b helmet	Advanced Power Armor	Enclave soldiers in Advanced Power Armor	Enclave soldiers in Advanced Power Armor in front of a pre-War poster depicting the T-51b PA

[edit] Fallout 3

Fallout 3 Power Armor	The Power Armor in the Fallout 3 teaser	Brotherhood Paladin with a Laser Rifle	A dead person in Power Armor in the Paradise Falls concept art
Outcast Power Armor	Army Power Armor	Tribal/Ashur's Power Armor	A rusty set of T-51b Power Armor
Winterized T-51b Power Armor	Enclave Power Armor	Tesla Power Armor	Enclave Hellfire Armor

[edit] Van Buren

[edit] Fallout Tactics

T-51b Power Armor	T-51b Power Armor	Eastern Brotherhood Power Armor	Eastern Brotherhood Power Armor
Eastern Brotherhood Power Armor	Eastern Brotherhood Power Armor	Eastern Brotherhood Power Armor	Eastern Brotherhood Power Armor
Eastern Brotherhood Power Armor	Eastern Brotherhood Power Armor	Eastern Brotherhood Power Armor