Power Armour

Power Armour is a Pre-War and Post-War technology in the Fallout universe, it was originally developed by the United States through defence contractors, most notably West-Tek. Power Armour's primary focus was on developing powerful armour capable of giving a single soldier immense durability in combat and reflects the diverging philosophy of combat design of the US compared to the more light-armoured stealth-based approach of China. Power Armor exists in four main canonical iterations known as the T-Series and a few post-war iterations developed by the faction known as the Enclave as well as Raiders. While Power Armour is mostly used for combat some iterations were also designed for manual labour as seen with the Excavator Power Armour however their usage was later phased out in favour of robotic workers.
==Canonical Iterations==
In total the are six main iterations of Pre-War Power Armour although only two, the T-45 and T-51 saw significant usage. The T-60 is known to have had physical models before the Great War although their deployment seems to be incredibly limited and the later T-65 and X-01 were only known to be in schematic states of existence.
===T-45 Power Armour===
T-45 Power Armour is the currently earliest known iteration of Power Armour to see deployment, its most notable usage being during the Battle of Anchorage and its development occurred prior to 2067 as it is known to have been deployed to Alaska in that year. The design is largely similar to the later T-60 model of Power Armour although has a generally lighter frame and lacks many of the later improvements further iterations would see such as a hermetically sealed suit, protection for the air ventilation system and just general discomfort for the wearer.
===T-51 Power Armour===
Perhaps the most well-known of all Power-Armours, the T-51 is the largest produced of all the Power Armours and initially saw deployment in 2069, the suit improved on many of the faults of the T-45 and would be instrumental in bringing the conflict against the Chinese to their homeland, something the T-45 had failed to achieve in the years prior. The T-51 is known to be the primary workhorse for the US Military during the period leading up to the Great War as the T-45 saw redeployment back within the thirteen Commonwealths. The T-51 was designed under the expectation that the Chinese would retaliate from the Battle of Anchorage with their own power armour, as such the T-51 is also somewhat of an Anti-Power Armour having laser reflective material laced into the armour's surface protecting it against not only ballistic weapons but energy weapons as well. The suit also saw improvements to the general armouring being much more protected and altering the shape of the visor to the uniquely V-Shaped design.
===T-60 Power Armour===
T-60 was intended to a successor to the T-45 Power Armour that would see deployment across the US however was limited due to the Great War. It is not known when the T-60 saw initial deployment however it was not significant enough to be mentioned in the international conflict suggesting it only ever saw national deployment within the thirteen commonwealths. The armour retains many of the design traits of the T-45 although adopts the more successive design elements of other models such as the T-51 including the improved armour design and hermetically sealed suit.
===T-65 Power Armour===
The last numerical iteration of the T-Series of Power Armour known to have been conceived during the Great War, none were ever deployed however as the schematics remained in one of the underground Vaults. The design is a noticeable departure from previous iterations with a wholly unique helmet design that differs from all previous iterations as well as a much heavier armour covering the boy with even multi-layered armoured around the joints. Beyond this rudimentary information not much is known about the armour or its deployment intentions, which prior models it succeeded from and its intended utility against China.
===X-01 Power Armour===
X-01 is the only known non T-Series Power Armour that has some existence in the pre-war, it appears to have been the first iteration in wholly new lineage of Power Armour and adopts many new designs that make it differ from T-45 or its successors. The armour is almost as heavily armoured as T-65 although is much closer fitted to the body. Its deployment is unknown, there are suggestions it may have been deployed in a very limited degree pre-war however these accounts are unverifiable. There does appear to be a suit retained by the Nuka-Cola corporation within Nuka World although its intended function is unknown.
Post-War would see the Enclave, remnants of the US Government use the schematics of this suit as the basis for their own Advanced Power Armour designs which would go on to become the most powerful Power Armour known to exist.
===Enclave Power Armour===
The Enclave are generally regarded as one of the most technologically advanced factions that existed in the Post-War, as such they are some of the only known to have had access to the means to develop Power Armour. Utilizing the X-01 design as their based they developed a new iteration that improved on the original known as the X-02 Power Armour or more commonly Advanced Power Armour, this armour would see predominant usage by the Enclave and would be further iterated upon to become the Advanced Power Armour Mk.II. In general the original iteration appears to be the pinnacle of Power Armour design being incredibly effective in combat and has yet to be succeeded.
An off-shoot also developed by the Enclave although only having seen usage by their East Coast division is the Enclave Hellfire Armour a specialized armour developed to provide the wearer with an even greater resistance to heat-based weaponry which these units were specially fitted to wield.
===Excavator Power Armour===
Developed during the Pre-War this is currently, the only known type of Power Armour not intended for combat usage although does offer the protection of other power armours. Originally designed to assist miners in acquiring and collecting ore, the suit was seen as incredibly useful during the Pre-War but eventually phased out in favour of specialized mining robots. Unsurprisingly, due to the different role this suit served to other models its physical design is also quite different, notably lacking significant chest armour and having a brighter colouration as well as additional features which are more relevant for mining.
===Raider Power Armour===
A somewhat uncommon sight in the Post-War, Raider Power Armour was created by Raiders during the Post-War as a means of making use of the otherwise difficult to operate power armour suits. The general design appears to be a composite of T-45 and T-51 with original components designed by the raiders themselves, in general it is of poor design and lacks much of the protective qualities of the Pre-War designs.
==Fanonical Iterations==
===T-46 Power Armour===
The T-46 Power Armour was the first specialized Power Armour, developed shortly after the original T-45 Power Armour, many of the design elements of its predecessor are retained an the general intention was for the T-46 to be a heavier and more defensive variant, this would lead into the Tank Lineage of T-Series Power Armour. In general the design is similar however the armour was the first to employ the Finned Armour a variant that is considered a median between Angular Armour of T-45 and later Rounded Armour of T-51. The design did not see significant distribution and beyond prototypes only schematics of it exist.
===T-47 Power Armour===
The initial hesitation towards T-46 lead to a much more limited funding towards its successor the T-47 Power Armour, this again retained the more weighty armour and was the first iteration to introduced multi-layered armour which would become a core design of Tank Lineage Power Armour and contrasted it against the integrated layering armour of other lineages. T-47 was the first iteration to employ the Rounded Armour although did not see as much success as T-51 as the multiple separate layers somewhat weakened this armour's functionality in combat. Notably the armour did employ new innovations in the visor display opting for the split visor which although reducing visibility provided the wearer with much greater protection, this came at around the same time that new technologies in providing environmental information to the Power Armour's wearer were being integrated making the trade-off much more favourable. In addition T-47 employed what would become known as the Dome Helmet design, considered the most durable of all helmet designs it does trade a degree of flexibility for the wearer as its rotational movement is limited, however this was considered a worthwhile exchange as it reinforced the T-47's role as a walking tank.
T-47 saw moderate deployment nationally in particular appear around the Central States where it was useful in quelling the early riots of the Late-2060s, not much is known about international deployment although it is believed that a later iteration of the T-47 known as the T-47e were used to help maintain Anchorage following the battle.
===T-48 Power Armour===
Initially devised concurrently with T-46 and T-47 Power Armour, T-48 Power Armour was intended to be a more direct successor to the T-45 Power Armour and serve a role on the front lines of combat, however faults with the design which lead to its unusual and somewhat hap-hazard design lead to the plans being scrapped, however they would later be revisited for the successors in T-51 and T-60 Power Armour. As such very little is known about this iteration, it is speculated to have included the unique V-Shape visor that the T-51 would later adopt as well as being the first to integrate the Air Supply Apparatus into the suit itself, something that would become common on later designs. Much if its design was otherwise largely similar to the T-45 and generally regarded as inferior to the T-46 when initially developed although in hindsight is now considered superior thanks to the improvements it made to usability.
===T-49 Power Armour===
Following repeated encounters with the Chinese Stealth Armour, the T-49 was commissioned as a counter-measure to these suits, intended for infiltration and to utilize means of identifying cloaked individuals the suit would for the most part be a leaned down variant of the T-45 although like the T-46 before it would utilize then at the time new Finned Armour to reduce noise. In general the suit's utilization was not overly significant as it was considered sub-par for infiltration although did prove useful in identifying cloaked individuals as it had a localized sonar, however in the snowstorms of Alaska this would prove ineffective. The design was ultimately shelved after very limited use.
===T-50 Power Armour===
The T-50 began its life immediately after the development of the T-49, as a means to address a recent influx of Chinese technology that the US had managed to acquire, the suit is often regarded as the first successful stealth power armour suit and utilized a prototype of the devices that would later be known as Stealth Boys. The project although successful did not see significant usage as the Battle of Anchorage occurred shortly after their completion and new information acquired from more in tact Chinese Stealth Suits would lead to the T-50's successor and the first fully realized Stealth Power Armour.
===T-52 Power Armour===
Often regarded as the sister armour to the T-51, the T-52 was intended primarily for infiltration and anti-infiltration missions, utilizing Mk.I Stealth Boys and the now more common Rounded Armour adopted by the T-51, the T-52 would prove incredibly useful in international attacks and helped to pave the way for the later mainland attacks on China that would be lead by large fleets of T-51, the Power Armour was considered for the time exceptionally difficult to detect as it used a modified Fusion Core Reactor which would run at a much lower temperature and rely on a stronger fission reactor which although made the life of Fusion Cores in this suit woefully short compared to the typical 100-200 years other suits had did provide it near impervious detection in regular temperature environments.
The suit did reportedly see some very limited national deployment in particular in the Mid-West where it was used to track down insurgency camps that had been cropping up in the area. The suit is now mistakenly referred to as the Mid-West Brotherhood Power Armour and sometimes referred to as T-51, many design alterations however differ it from its Combat cousin making those familiar with Power Armour design and history able to identify the difference.
===T-53 Power Armour===
The last in the lineage of Infiltration-style Power Armours, as the conflict in China become more heated, the need for these stealth-based power armours was less needed, as such while the development of T-53 began almost immediately after the early success of the T-52 in the field, its budget was slashed significantly limiting the degree of variation in its design. Perhaps the most obvious design change is the near weightlessness of the suit, T-53 is recognized as the lightest Power Armour known to exist and is made of a special pre-war composite threaded metallic alloy which provided extreme elastic resistance against ballistic weapons. The suit was the only known model to adopt the Flayed Armour a specialized armour who's strange shape was initially proposed for the T-52 but scrapped due to failures in development, success is believed to have been acquired for the T-53 however as the strange design would dissipate heat and mask the signature of signals transmitted by the armour making it impeccable for intelligence gathering.
No known suits are believed to exist in the Post-War however the documentation of the design was well-maintained and believed to be intended to be used by the US Government had the Great War not occurred.
===T-54 Power Armour===
Following the early successes of the T-51 Power Armour seen in the Battle of Anchorage and similar operations, the other major branches of the US Military sought to acquire their own power armour, this would lead to the T-54 Power Armour for the Air Force known as the Aeronautical Power Armour. The T-54 was only able to use the T-45 as a basis however as the later models had been classified to prevent an information leak, T-54 would adopt the Finned Armour seen on T-46 and T-49 which although rare were documented on by interested parties within the Air Force. In general the T-54 can be seen as less of a unique design and more so of a hodgepodge of other Power Armour designs meant to serve as the basis for the Air Force's component technology which would be add-ons to enhance the wearer.
T-54 was utilized fairly soon after T-51 primarily being used by the Air Force for Paratrooper missions as the suit was at the time the only one able to be equipped with the Parachute Module. The armour was seen as somewhat successful and helped with initial missions into the Chinese Mainland seeing predominant usage up in the north around Siberia where the Infiltration lineage Power Armour was not as useful.
===T-55 Power Armour===
Following the early successes of the T-51 Power Armour seen in the Battle of Anchorage and similar operations, the other major branches of the US Military sought to acquire their own power armour, T-55 Power Armour would be the Navy's answer to Power Armour although its troubled development coupled with the Navy's general failings leading to the invasion of Anchorage left much to be desired and although recognized as the predecessor to later Naval Power Armour it did not see significant use. The limited budget of the T-55 Power Armour's development effectively made it a T-45 Power Armour that was several years too late, its only major upgrades to keep in line with the then common T-51 were the Armoured Breathing Apparatus, needed due to the dangers of damage to the unit during underwater operations and the hermetically sealed suit which was required for the suit to function at all. The most notable contribution this suit made was the adoption of the Mariner Helmet style, a specialty of the Naval lineage which would offer a greater field of view for the wearer and special equipment designed for underwater navigation.
===T-56 Power Armour===
The T-56 is considered a failure among Power Armour models, intended to be the first successor to the T-51 Power Armour it would eventually earn the unfortunate nickname of the Lemon Power Armour. The armour was made heavier with improved armour although in general retained many of the design elements of the predecessor, this however introduced a new problem as the armour would frequently break down as the actuators that had been used for movement no longer met the design needs and had not been properly accounted for when designing the armour. Initial tests were considered an abject failure and the Power Armour was considered a massive blowback for the research department leaving them scrounging for money until the development of the T-60.
===T-57 Power Armour===
Following the initial small successes of the T-54 Power Armour the Air Force would invest more heavily looking into a splintered approach to develop two new models of Power Armour, the former intended to continue being used for Paratrooping Missions and would be known as the T-57 Power Armour. A lightweight Armour it offered the specialized Shield Visor which offered a much greater range of view for the wearer albeit at the cost of a degree of protection, the main advantage this design saw was an improvement to the Breathing Apparatus which was now contained within its own pressurized compartment allowing for much greater altitude drops with the armour making it far easier to target more inland targets for operations. The armour generally became known for its scouting operations although notably never saw proper usage nationally as it was deemed ill-fitting for protection of home-guard, this has lead to it becoming the rarest of the successful armours in the Post-War United States.
===T-58 Power Armour===
The sister power armour to the T-57, it was developed with a more heavy design intended to be used by assault forces in what would become known as Bald Eagle Squads, the T-58 also sometimes referred to as the Vulture Power Armour is an incredibly well-armoured type of Power Armour which was developed to provide an even more effective form of attack for Paratroopers. During its development a split in the design philosophy of the T-54 lead to the development of deep impact operations for the T-57 and hard impact operations for the T-58. The armour's adoption of heavier plating would result in it not being able to drop from altitudes as high as the T-57 however would be much more successful in protecting the wearer from gunfire, as such it was also the first Power Armour to incorporate the Jet Pack modification would would later see usage by T-60 models although never to the success of the T-58 which were able to navigate hard terrain remarkably well.
===T-59 Power Armour===
Considered the pinnacle of the Air Force's development of Power Armour the T-59 is a very rare model that was to see greater deployment however was interrupted by the Great War. Initially starting development after the success of the T-57, the T-59 sought to improve on the design and achieve an Atlas Jump an aerial dive performed from >50km above ground. The armour and helmet design were both redesigned with the former being slightly slimmed down although using new improved composite materials to provide a more aerodynamic shape for the user whilst the Helmet adopted an armoured design which while making it more difficult to separate the helmet from the suit provided a much greater degree of protection for the wearer. Not much is known about the success of this Power Armour although Pre-War documents make mentions of deploying units far further inland than any previous missions to regions that had previously only been explored by Infiltration Power Armour.
===T-61 Power Armour===
After several years of inactivity, the research project into the Naval lineage of Power Armour resurfaced with the implementation of T-61 Power Armour. Although much had been learnt over the years and the defence contractors behind the T-61 would managed to acquire several key researchers from previous T-Series Power Armour projects. The T-61 would be lightly armoured, a retained limitation from its predecessor the T-55 due to the nature of sub-nautical technology at the time. However the suit implemented many of the improvements that the T-51 and T-52 would introduce. The result finally allowed for a nautical division of Power Armour to be developed, intended for sub-nautical traversal they were capable of being deployed at sea from a distance and making their way on land, the suits contained many technological advancements as well primarily for the comfort of the user as they would be some of the longest missions that would use Power Armour. It is known that T-61 Power Armour was used nationally around the US Coast as a means of sweeping for submarines, although the success rate is unknown due to the relatively low number of submarines able to be confirmed in time.
===T-62 Power Armour===
The success of the T-61 finally gave the US Navy the necessary funds to begin development of a proper unique sub-nautical Power Armour which would become dubbed the T-62 Power Armour and nicknamed the Mariana Power Armour, it is considered one of the most durable suits to exist being able to endure extreme pressure differentials making it remarkably effective against ballistic and even explosive weapons. The suit is the only Naval Lineage Power Armour in the Heavyweight Class and likely would've been one of the most successful of this class had its completion not being mere weeks before the Great War. Very little is known about this Power Armour's operational life as such documents simply weren't recorded in time, however experimental data suggests that the suit may have originally intended to be used within the deep, underwater ravines around the Chinese coast with heavy weapons to bombard submarines from below.
===T-63 Power Armour===
Not much is known about this design, the T-63 was intended to be the successor to the T-60 and began development fairly soon after the experimental phase of the T-60's development was complete. Documentation left behind by Pre-War researchers suggest that the T-60 was failing to live up to expectations from the higher-ups and so the T-63 was under higher pressure to succeed. The design largely opted for a more naturalistic appearance opting for layered armour giving it a much more traditional armoured appearance, although the general silhouette more closely resembled a large human than the non-descript shapes of other Power Armours. The armour never saw life beyond schematics so its success rate is unknown.
===T-64 Power Armour===
After the failure of the T-56 Power Armour the researchers involved in the project were tasked with coming up with a new solution, fortunately the T-51 had remained highly successful and so the T-64 did not suffer the cost restraints of its sister model the T-63, like the T-63 however the T-64 did not create any physical models in the Pre-War only remaining as schematics. What is known is that the design of the T-64 utilized a new composite material that helped to keep the weight of the armour down while retaining the defensive capabilities of a heavier set, this was most obvious in the helmet which for much of the Combat Armour's lineage had remained in the traditional Trapezoidal-Dome shape sometimes nicknamed Bucket Helmets however the T-64 would break away from this and opt for following in the successes of the T-59 utilizing the much more efficient armoured helmet to improve user safety. The armours reports also describe it using a much more comfortable interior material that would buffer the user from kinetic forces allowing them to wield heavy weapons with ease.
==Gallery==
File:Power Armour Timeline.png|The fanonical timeline of Pre-War Power Armour Development
Category:Fallout (series)
Category:Equipment