Designation: RRG Hostile Environment Suit

• Year Introduced: 2004
• Type: Hard Armor
• Weight: 18kg

As the repair of the SDF-1 proceeded, the UNDF began to feel the need for a new generation of environment suit. The suit had to be hard, both to protect from micrometeorites in space, as well as weapons fire and shrapnel. It had to have good protection from radiation, so that it could be used in the engineering areas of capital ships as a work suit, and it had have a low thermal profile, so forward observers wearing the armor would be relatively undetectable by IR sensors. In other words, the requirements called for a jack-of-all-trades.

The HES (Hostile Environment Suit) was definitely that; but it was also master of none. It was heavy, clunky, and not particularly mobile. Because of this, it was a long way from meeting the needs of a military environment suit, or a personal armor suit for an infantryman. The HES, on the other hand, was an excellent suit for engineers in both extreme-temperature and high-radiation environments, and it was in this capacity that the HES was primarily used. In fact, it was only retired from this purpose in 2051 with the introduction of the HES2 by the RNF.

The HES is composed of a plastic-ceramic composite for maximal resistance to penetration and thermic explosive damage for minimal weight. The armor provides excellent protection against small grenade and shell fragments, good protection against small arms fire, and poor resistance to heavier infantry weapons, such as the 12.7mm machinegun round, as well as from fragments and near misses from higher caliber weapons. The HES armor consists of a single full-body unit and a separate helmet.

The HES armor has the following features:

• Full temperature control, by the use of Peltier-electric cooling units in armor, conducting heat between the thermally conducting inner and outer layers of the armor. A simple reversal of the voltage can alternate the armor from heating to cooling the pilot. Between the thermally conducting layers on all these pieces, and on the inner surfaces of all other pieces of armor, is a thin insulating layer, designed to minimize non-directed heat transfer. The Peltier-electric units are powered by small batteries in the armor units that contain them, and are designed to assist pilot comfort in hot and cold climes. The units are insufficient for protection above 60 and below -40 degrees Celsius.
• Full pressure control. The suit is rated from a vacuum to a pressure of 250 kilopascals.
• Independent Oxygen supply, 60 minutes maximum.
• Heat resistant up to 500K for brief periods
• Helmet with variable-tint photochromic polarized polycarbon faceplate.
• Radio microphone and speakers in the helmet

Go to RDF Armor/Weapons Index.

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