🦾 The exoskeleton has left the cinema

Powered exoskeletons spent decades as a Hollywood prop. The real thing arrived quieter — and went straight to IKEA warehouses, Ford assembly lines, and Ukrainian front-line positions.

In early 2026, Ukrainian soldiers were confirmed to be using Hypershell exoskeletons to carry artillery shells. "Less fatigued, work faster, maintain combat effectiveness for longer," Colonel Serdiuk told *Ukrainska Pravda*. Seattle Mountain Rescue is field-testing similar devices in the wilderness; Boeing and Ford have them on assembly lines.

The sector sits at around $500 million today, with a two-to-threefold jump projected by the mid-2030s.

Science fiction's favourite gadget showed up — and its first job was moving pallets.

Ars Technica