MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor/Mark IV

The Mark IV MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor was (despite its name) the first version of the MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor series. The suit was issued to Spartan-II commandos on November 27, 2525, and was in service until it was replaced by the Mark V on November 24, 2551.
== Armor platforms ==
Throughout the Great War the Mark IV saw several generational design changes and became a testbed for new technologies and hardware to help improve its integrity and efficiency in certain combat conditions. While some of these variants are rumors and have never been witnessed in the field, others have become common knowledge. By 2535 fourteen variants had already been developed. Mark IV went through multiple external design iterations and variants designed for a specific purpose tend, by necessity, to look different from the contemporary core model. However, each generational "Mark" is categorized by its internal components and software suite, not by its superficial design: therefore, while a first-generation Mark IV suit may look drastically different from a third-generation suit, they are still essentially the same model.
=== Functional prototype ===
The Materials Group developed this prototype to test the technologies that were being developed for the MJOLNIR battlesuit. In February 2525 this model was sent to Naval Special Warfare for evaluation and final testing. Over the next four months the model was tested to ensure proper function and to evaluate its capabilities. The prototype was built and fine-tuned for the SPARTAN-II supersoldiers. A test was conducted to see if a normal human could operate the suit. Because of an override in the prototype's safe mode to prevent unintended use, the operator was killed by his own muscular twitch. A short time after the failed demonstration limited production of the MJOLNIR battlesuit was approved.
=== Initial production model ===
Five months after production began the MJOLNIR PAA entered service. The initial version was bulky, angular, and restrictive in mobility. Due to its design philosophy being centered around a human insurrection this model was not adequately prepared for dealing with advanced alien technology and weapons. Although highly advanced the suit entered service in an accelerated state due to the threat posed by the Galactic Empire. As such, upgrades to the suit were already in the works when it was issued to the Spartans. In 2531 the suit was replaced by a generational upgrade to better combat the alien threat.
=== Final production model ===
By 2535 the MJOLNIR system had become the single most expensive item ever produced by the UNSC. It had been intended as a continuous, pioneering effort to shatter technological barriers. However, with each suit costing as much as a destroyer to manufacture, the budgetary commission overseeing the MJOLNIR project mandated a simplified generational system to categorize, prioritize, and serialize development neatly into fiscal-year budgets. Thus the "Mark" system was added to MJOLNIR, with the current version being retroactively designated "Mark IV" to suggest continuity with the powered exoskeleton program that had preceded MJOLNIR's development.
With the adoption of the "Mark" categorization, an updated model of the suit that had entered service four years earlier was adopted as the standard-issue suit. Its design would inform all future "Mark" generations. The third-generation suit included numerous improvements not available at the beginning of the war, including a standardized vacuum survival system, standard fusion power, and a new radar sensory package.Category:Daisy-023
Category:Body Armor
Category:Parallels
Category:Imperial Entanglements