Oh, Hey, Stormtroopers...

Here's some facial armor from MTek Weapon Systems.

As a purely academic principle, extremely well-armored soldiers are a good thing and face-masks would seem like a fair bit of common sense. Problem is, even though this thing offers some pretty impressive protection (it'll stop a .44 magnum slug), it's yet another hot and heavy piece of equipment that's gonna decrease the stamina and mobility of the troops that choose to wear it.

Also, it's kinda scary-looking. American soldiers fighting in lesser developed foreign countries already look like aliens or robots to the local populations. Adding armored plates to hide their faces isn't going to do much to help that.

Apart from its complete and total lack of practicality, though, the FAST G1 is kinda neat. It's just too bad they couldn't have made it out of transparent aluminum.

Via DefenseTech.

Technorati tags: FAST G1, Facial Armor, Gadgets, Stupid Products