# what (if any) are the real world advantages of a "mech"?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-any-are-the-real-world-advantages-of-a-mech/274256
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [November 11, 2004, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-any-are-the-real-world-advantages-of-a-mech/274256 "2004-11-11T19:42:42Z")
**Posts on this page:** 14
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rabbit)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2004, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-any-are-the-real-world-advantages-of-a-mech/274256/1 "2004-11-11T19:42:42Z")
Was playing some old battlemech last couple nights and it got me thinking, other than being a “cool” concept, what if any are the benefits of a giant bipedal armored tank, as opposed to a regular tank design (with treads or wheels).
Would a walking design capable of human-like motion (mech) be better at all, than say a squat heavily armored slab of metal (tank)?
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### Author:  [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2004, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-any-are-the-real-world-advantages-of-a-mech/274256/2 "2004-11-11T20:12:24Z")
This has come up before. The general consensus was that a bi-pedal mech would be rather unstable and easily knocked over.
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### Author:  [@muttrox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muttrox)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2004, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-any-are-the-real-world-advantages-of-a-mech/274256/3 "2004-11-11T20:16:22Z")
Presumably if it was any better, they’d be working on it.
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### Author:  [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2004, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-any-are-the-real-world-advantages-of-a-mech/274256/4 "2004-11-11T20:22:36Z")
I suppose if it were really nimble, it could step over ditches, climb up rocky, uneven hillsides, etc.
Would be a damn hard thing to design, I should think.
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### Author:  [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2004, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-any-are-the-real-world-advantages-of-a-mech/274256/5 "2004-11-11T20:31:11Z")
> [@rabbit](#):
>
> Would a walking design capable of human-like motion (mech) be better at all, than say a squat heavily armored slab of metal (tank)?
The mech would arguably be more intimidating, but that’s about it.
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### Author:  [@Ross](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ross)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2004, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-any-are-the-real-world-advantages-of-a-mech/274256/6 "2004-11-11T20:35:49Z")
What about on a smaller scale? Like the one-person suits from the Forever War, that had built-in camouflage skins, and could lift a ton with either arm, etc? They were spacesuits iirc, but still… if you could design a sort of metal exoskeleton, efficient and at least as fast as a normal human, would that be worth investing tank money in?
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### Author:  [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2004, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-any-are-the-real-world-advantages-of-a-mech/274256/7 "2004-11-11T20:58:54Z")
That might work, but all the technologies would be easier to use and more effective on a tank chassis.
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### Author:  [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2004, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-any-are-the-real-world-advantages-of-a-mech/274256/8 "2004-11-11T21:07:24Z")
I was going to say something regarding the number of personnel needed, because mechs would supposedly only require one person per mech. But then I considered the amount of personnel that would be needed on the support end of them, and it probably counts against them.
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### Author:  [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2004, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-any-are-the-real-world-advantages-of-a-mech/274256/9 "2004-11-11T21:59:32Z")
Well nothing beats a powered suit when the queen of a hive of insect-like aliens is menacing your surrogate daughter… and “Get away from her, you bitch!” just doesn’t sound the same coming from inside a tank. 😃
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### Author:  [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2004, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-any-are-the-real-world-advantages-of-a-mech/274256/10 "2004-11-11T22:15:14Z")
Small scale power armor mechs (like in Starship Trouper the book) seem like a reasonable future application for infantry. This assumes no way of remote control or AI control are possible. Large scale mechs would make interesting exploration vehicles, being able to walk arround on an unexplored planet immune to any enviromental dangers and able to cover huge distances without feeling issolated from the enviroment. Such a thing would have touch smell even taste sences feeding back to the pilot. I immagine a vehicle that feels like you are not in a vehicle would be far less tiring to use or psychologically draining to stay within for weeks or months at a time.
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### Author:  [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2004, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-any-are-the-real-world-advantages-of-a-mech/274256/11 "2004-11-12T00:21:17Z")
Well how big? Humanoid size? 50 ft tall Robotech sized? Gigantor sized?
Are we talking about somthing that is agile and fast like a Mobile Suit Gundam robot or a lumbering AT-AT from Star Wars?
Is it humanoid shaped? Spider shaped? Other?
DARPA is researching powered armor for infantry soldiers that would allow them to carry additional weight long distances enhance performance.
I can see a value for robotic vehicles in urban combat:
-Smaller humanoid type infantry armor for punching through walls and assaulting buildings.
-Larger transports - at least 50 feet tall quadripeds (or more). Tall enough to step over small structures and obsticals. And more spider-like than lumbering elephant-like. Think of the steam powered spider from Wild Wild West.
The big danger to tanks and armored vehicles in urban combat is that they can get channeled into kill zones where they can’t raise or menuever their main cannon and the enemy can just rain death down on them from the buildings.
For open combat, the self propelled armored gun on a wheeled or tracked chassis (IOW a tank) is still the best.
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### Author:  [@Mirasawa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirasawa)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2004, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-any-are-the-real-world-advantages-of-a-mech/274256/12 "2004-11-12T01:02:45Z")
A famous\* anime called “Patlabor” has the mechs only about 2 stories tall and smaller, meant for construction. That seemed more plausible than using one in a battle situation.
\_
\_
Famous to old otaku like me. ☹ Kids this days probably never heard of it.
Weee I’m an anime curmudgeon.
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### Author:  [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2004, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-any-are-the-real-world-advantages-of-a-mech/274256/13 "2004-11-12T01:59:28Z")
I can see where they would be useful in extremely rough terrain and scaling or breaching obstacles. And of course, for fighting other mechs…
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### Author:  [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2004, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-any-are-the-real-world-advantages-of-a-mech/274256/14 "2004-11-12T02:22:31Z")
I recall the point to building humanoid transforming mecha in Macross was that we discovered remains of 50 foot tall humanoid aliens in a crashed spaceship. So Battloids would come in useful in hand to hand combat with giant aliens.
Didn’t really mention why in hell we’d want to get all up in their faces, when the two other forms the things transformed into (fighter plane and, er, I forget what they called it but it worked like a Harrier jet as I recall) would be a lot more handy in large scale alien combat. But I suppose if there _was_ a reason to go hand to hand with alien giants, it would help to be as big as they are.