A-Z Fallout lore

P is for Power Armor

Powered Infantry Armor was the pinnacle of pre-War military technology and is now one of the most coveted technological artifacts in the wasteland. During the Sino-American War, United States military researchers and contractors developed many new weapon systems to get the upper hand over the Chinese. While China experimented with stealth technology, the United States perfected the first prototypes of their man-based tank design for the army’s mechanized cavalry. The first suits of T-45d Power Armor were deployed in Alaska and proved to be an enormous military asset, despite the fact that the early suits burned through energy cells at an alarming rate. Allowing a single soldier to carry heavy ordinance and withstand overwhelming numbers of enemy combatants, Power Armor units were instrumental in the reclamation of Anchorage from the communist invaders. Shortly before the Great War the improved T-51b suits were manufactured, with built-in microfusion packs eliminating the energy problem of earlier models. After the War, Power Armor is rarely seen in the wasteland. Only those groups rumored to have ties to the old US military or government, such as the Brotherhood of Steel, have access to the remaining examples of this extremely valuable technology. Few suits made it into other hands, and those who examined them say that without specialized training the operation of the Power Armor’s gyroscopic systems is utterly impossible, while removing these hydraulics reduces the armor’s functionality to little more than cumbersome suits of metal armor.