Japan's Liberal Democratic Party considering "Gundam Developement Project"

[CaptainCool]

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news...ng-real-gundam
not exactly a common news source but hey, what are ya gonna do.

anyway, japans liberal democratic party will be holding a 12 hour life stream about this project. they want to add it into their party manifesto and are considering the developement of "piloted, two-legged walking humanoid robots". as examples they mentioned machines from mobile suit gundam, appleseed and patlabor.
in 2008 they already estimated how much it would cost to build an 18 meter tall combat robot like this... they are actually serious about this topic. the 1/1 scale gundam statue was only the beginning!

so what do you think? awesome? feasable? practical? or just plain insane or stupid?

[Littlerock]

As long as they don't try to build Metal Gear, it's all cool. Besides, it won't be the world's first functioning mecha.

[thoron]

I think its awesome and feasable, but also stupid and insane at the same time. Definately not practical though, Japan as a whole is crowded enough with out a bunch of those thing.

Its cool and awesome simply cause I'm a bit of a Gundam fan myself.

[CaptainCool]

As long as they don't try to build Metal Gear, it's all cool. Besides, it won't be the world's first functioning mecha.

thats awesome^^ but it cant walk, right?

I think its awesome and feasable, but also stupid and insane at the same time. Definately not practical though, Japan as a whole is crowded enough with out a bunch of those thing.

i think the idea of a walking turret with easily interchangeble weapons makes sense. because of its height it might also be able to attack targets from better angles than a tank for example.
but i do see a ton of problems with this design of cource. it would be an incredibly easy target, depending on how tall it is. not to mention that it would be a HUGE bitch to maintain that thing!

[Littlerock]

thats awesome^^ but it cant walk, right?

Actually, it does walk, mimicking in real-time the actions of the person mounted inside it. c:

[CaptainCool]

Actually, it does walk, mimicking in real-time the actions of the person mounted inside it. c:

the japanese are totally gonna steal that thing if they really want to build mechs :P

[thoron]

i think the idea of a walking turret with easily interchangeble weapons makes sense. because of its height it might also be able to attack targets from better angles than a tank for example.
but i do see a ton of problems with this design of cource. it would be an incredibly easy target, depending on how tall it is. not to mention that it would be a HUGE bitch to maintain that thing!

Don't forget about storage, where will they keep them when not in use?

[Serbia Strong]

The People's Republic of China is not too far behind!

[CaptainCool]

Don't forget about storage, where will they keep them when not in use?

i dont think that would be a problem... you just need tall hangars. i dont think they would take up much more space than a tank. depending on how you place them.

The People's Republic of China is not too far behind!

oh yes, ive seen that one^^ kinda looks like it would fall apart if you farted in its general direction :P

[Term_the_Schmuck]

I'd just be happy with one of these.

[SirRob]

I can't wait until they start their "Pokemon Development Project".

[Aldino]

I don't understand why they would want humans inside of them though. It seems like it would be easier to make them RC or autonomous, considering how much progress we have made with the Big Dog robot, I feel like an autonomous mecha wouldn't be too far out of reality.

I think I'll get to see one during my lifetime at least.

[CaptainCool]

I'd just be happy with one of these.

id much rather have something like this.

I can't wait until they start their "Pokemon Development Project".

that culd be both cute AND terrifying...

I don't understand why they would want humans inside of them though. It seems like it would be easier to make them RC or autonomous, considering how much progress we have made with the Big Dog robot, I feel like an autonomous mecha wouldn't be too far out of reality.

I think I'll get to see one during my lifetime at least.

as cool as it would be to pilot something like that, i totally agree.
look at drones for example. i definitely think RC is the way to go in this case. when you have an 18m robot thats like sitting in a slowly moving target :P

[CannonFodder]

The only type of mech that makes sense is the shagohod.

[AshleyAshes]

No one is going to build a giant walking robot for military purposes. The issue is simple; Height. The taller something is, the easier it is to see it and to fire a missile at it. The current main battle tanks are about as high as anyone wants to make a military land vehicle and most all proposed tanks that arn't as high and have greater stealth abilities. Anything 'Gundam' like is the antithesis of design needed to avoid detection and it'd be nothing but missile-bate.

Of course this is also probably why nothing about the release says it's for military purposes. It's not like Japan can construct an offensive military weapon anyway, it'd violate their constitution.

[CaptainCool]

No one is going to build a giant walking robot for military purposes. The issue is simple; Height. The taller something is, the easier it is to see it and to fire a missile at it. The current main battle tanks are about as high as anyone wants to make a military land vehicle and most all proposed tanks that arn't as high and have greater stealth abilities. Anything 'Gundam' like is the antithesis of design needed to avoid detection and it'd be nothing but missile-bate.

Of course this is also probably why nothing about the release says it's for military purposes. It's not like Japan can construct an offensive military weapon anyway, it'd violate their constitution.

patlabor machines arent that high. just about 5 meters or something like that. that woud be borderline alright in terms of height in my opinion.

[Ikrit]

they are going to build gundams

WITH THE HELP OF KYOJI!

[AshleyAshes]

patlabor machines arent that high. just about 5 meters or something like that. that woud be borderline alright in terms of height in my opinion.

1) The AV-98 Ingram is more than meters tall, not five. Lrn2fandom.

2) No, five meters is not 'borderline alright' when there's existing main battle tanks are only half that height. Five meters is about two stories high; It's huge.

If you think something as tall as a house is a good idea, you havn't clue one about what modern military conflict is like. Can you even comprehend trying to hide something like that? Your typical tank will peek just over the crest of a hill to shoot while keeping the remainder of it's hull obscured. It's a lot harder to find a hill to hide something behind when it's twice as tall as anything else on the battle field. That makes it far, FAR easier to spot.

"Hey, quick giant robot, go hide behind the... Uhh... The uhh..."
*BOOM*
"Wow, that MBT hit the robot from 4KM away."

Being taller doesn't give a weapon system an avantage, it makes it a massive liability, especially if you're the sucker they got to pilot it.


But like I said, this will NOT be a weapons system. The LDP is Japans strongest political party and they arn't stupid. You may not know this but once upon a time, Japan started a war... Then they got nuked and they kinda regretted the whole 'war' thing.. Afterwards, even having a 'military' was forbidden in their constitution. The JSDF isn't even legally defined as a military, it's technicly a police force. They can't have any weapons for offensive purposes, only defensive purposes. The Japanese people go apeshit if the government even ups the JSDF budget. My god, when the JSDF went to Iraq (Which caused much apeshitness) they had to be guarded by Australian troops, cause they wern't allowed to even enter combat.

Japan is not going to make a giant death robot.

[Jaxinc]

-waits for gene splicing-

[Mayfurr]

I find the Cold War-era British chicken-powered nuclear landmine more credible than a real-life Japanese fighting robot

[Randy-Darkshade]

I think this Japanese party has watched way to much anime.

[SIX]

I think this Japanese party has watched way to much anime.

"It's just like one of my japanese animes!"

[Cyanide_tiger]

1) The AV-98 Ingram is more than meters tall, not five. Lrn2fandom.

2) No, five meters is not 'borderline alright' when there's existing main battle tanks are only half that height. Five meters is about two stories high; It's huge.

If you think something as tall as a house is a good idea, you havn't clue one about what modern military conflict is like. Can you even comprehend trying to hide something like that? Your typical tank will peek just over the crest of a hill to shoot while keeping the remainder of it's hull obscured. It's a lot harder to find a hill to hide something behind when it's twice as tall as anything else on the battle field. That makes it far, FAR easier to spot.

"Hey, quick giant robot, go hide behind the... Uhh... The uhh..."
*BOOM*
"Wow, that MBT hit the robot from 4KM away."

Being taller doesn't give a weapon system an avantage, it makes it a massive liability, especially if you're the sucker they got to pilot it.


But like I said, this will NOT be a weapons system. The LDP is Japans strongest political party and they arn't stupid. You may not know this but once upon a time, Japan started a war... Then they got nuked and they kinda regretted the whole 'war' thing.. Afterwards, even having a 'military' was forbidden in their constitution. The JSDF isn't even legally defined as a military, it's technicly a police force. They can't have any weapons for offensive purposes, only defensive purposes. The Japanese people go apeshit if the government even ups the JSDF budget. My god, when the JSDF went to Iraq (Which caused much apeshitness) they had to be guarded by Australian troops, cause they wern't allowed to even enter combat.

Japan is not going to make a giant death robot.

Of course they're going to build a giant death robot, though it will be only for defence in urban combat situations. After all, it'll be easy enough to hide behind the buildings for cover! Besides, it'll also make one hell of a riot deterent too.

[CaptainCool]

Of course they're going to build a giant death robot, though it will be only for defence in urban combat situations. After all, it'll be easy enough to hide behind the buildings for cover! Besides, it'll also make one hell of a riot deterent too.

thats a good point. a tall robot thing would be HELLA intimidating :O

[Ozriel]

1) The AV-98 Ingram is more than meters tall, not five. Lrn2fandom.

2) No, five meters is not 'borderline alright' when there's existing main battle tanks are only half that height. Five meters is about two stories high; It's huge.

If you think something as tall as a house is a good idea, you havn't clue one about what modern military conflict is like. Can you even comprehend trying to hide something like that? Your typical tank will peek just over the crest of a hill to shoot while keeping the remainder of it's hull obscured. It's a lot harder to find a hill to hide something behind when it's twice as tall as anything else on the battle field. That makes it far, FAR easier to spot.

"Hey, quick giant robot, go hide behind the... Uhh... The uhh..."
*BOOM*
"Wow, that MBT hit the robot from 4KM away."

Being taller doesn't give a weapon system an avantage, it makes it a massive liability, especially if you're the sucker they got to pilot it.


But like I said, this will NOT be a weapons system. The LDP is Japans strongest political party and they arn't stupid. You may not know this but once upon a time, Japan started a war... Then they got nuked and they kinda regretted the whole 'war' thing.. Afterwards, even having a 'military' was forbidden in their constitution. The JSDF isn't even legally defined as a military, it's technicly a police force. They can't have any weapons for offensive purposes, only defensive purposes. The Japanese people go apeshit if the government even ups the JSDF budget. My god, when the JSDF went to Iraq (Which caused much apeshitness) they had to be guarded by Australian troops, cause they wern't allowed to even enter combat.

Japan is not going to make a giant death robot.

It'll ony be for the defense against Godzilla and other monsters like it.