Built to withstand radiation, gunfire, explosions, and worse, there’s a reason the T-51b Power Armor is “the armor that rules the Wastes.”
In the Pre-War days, Powered Infantry Armor helped the army claim decisive victories. In the days following the nuclear apocalypse that led to the Wasteland as we know it, T-51b Power Armor. It was so durable and well-manufactured that it remains ubiquitous in the Wastes, even 200 years later. But what makes it so resilient? What makes it such a coveted prize? The answer lies in its capabilities.
T-51b Power Armor – Design & Capabilities
The helmet of the T-51b Power Armor is iconic in the post-nuclear world of Fallout. For many reasons, but perhaps most relevant to the residents of the Wasteland, its ability to resist radiation. Ironically, this was one of its least-publicized features. It was almost a side effect of the protective suite built into the armor.
Part of its unnique silhouette is a rounded curves of poly-laminate composite armor, capable of absorbing more than 2500 joules of kinetic energy. Each suit of armor is also coated in 10 micron thick silver, which protects against lasers and ionizing radiation. The shape of the armor plates aids in deflection. And each suit of armor can be further hardened, enhancing its protective capabilities.
As part of the protective suite, the armor comes with a head-mounted light and the ability to make an airtight seal, capable of protecting against chemical attacks (and more importantly) making its operator all but immune to radiation for extended periods of time.
And sure, the armor also enhances an operator’s strength and agility and even perception in the case of certain helmet mods, far more useful to the people wearing them for extended periods of time in the irradiated Wasteland, is the recycling system which filters urine into drinkable water, allowing its occupants to have access to clean water for potentially weeks.
And of course, in a world where war, war never changes, T-51b Power Armor renders its users capable of easily wielding “crew” or “heavy” weapons like a minigun or laser gatling gun, and the force multiplier of that capability alone makes them extremely formidable.
No wonder, then, that this suit of armor is iconic throughout the Wastes.
Power Armor For The War To End The World As We Knew It
It even had success during the Great War. Designed in the military buildup that led to escalating tensions (and then nuclear war), the T-51b Power Armor took ten years to develop. But when it was finally deployed in June of 2076, what a difference it made.
In the Battle of Anchorage, the Power Armor was devastating to PLA troops. It wass aid that enemy soldiers surrendered to the mere sight of troops outfitted in suits of T-51b, carrying miniguns. And then later, during the Anchorage Reclamation operation, General Constantine Chase was able to spearhead an assault that would have been costly to unarmored troops.
Sadly, these power armored suits weren’t only used against enemy targets. They were employed domestically as well. Military units wearing T-51b armor were deployed against protesters, as veterans of China and Alaska found themselves fighting their own.
Other series of power armor were in development. However, as with most things, nuclear apocalypse brought these research projects screeching to a halt before they could be completed and deployed en masse, leaving the T-51b a remnant of a world gone by, and a symbol of a world reclaiming itself from the sins of the past.
T-51b – surviving apocalypses for more than 30 years!
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