After readjusting his state, Chen Xin no longer tangled with the matter of genetic modification and instead focused his energy on several more important tasks at hand.

However, most projects need to wait until the research base is completed before they can be launched. The only thing that can be done instead is military weapons research.

Research on Titans and large vehicles is restricted by the site, so Chen Xin did not proceed immediately, but planned to wait until the research base was completed and conditions were met to carry out research work. He now only intends to use the time before the research base is completed to produce a few weapons as part of the exoskeleton and power armor.

If it is just an exoskeleton, ordinary weapons can be used. Although the assistance brought by the exoskeleton is not very strong, it can at least allow soldiers to use heavier and higher-recoil firearms and weapons to exert stronger firepower on the battlefield.

Power armor is different. Without saying anything else, the trigger of ordinary firearms is designed according to the thickness of a normal person’s finger. It’s fine if you wear tactical gloves, but if you wear thick anti-freeze gloves, your fingers become about as thick as carrots, and they probably won’t fit into the trigger guard.

Therefore, the weapons equipped for power armor must at least enlarge the size of the trigger.

More critically, soldiers equipped with power armor have much greater strength and load capacity.

Under such circumstances, using ordinary firearms, they could even hold an automatic rifle and continuously shoot with one hand without needing to hold and press the gun to maintain ballistic stability, so naturally, they could be equipped with heavy weapons like the 12.7mm rotary machine gun originally meant to be used with vehicles.

However, the 12.7mm caliber is still a bit too powerful; aside from the main battle tank, normal vehicles, even armored cars, can hardly withstand the armor-piercing incendiary rounds of the 12.7mm caliber.

Chen Xin remembers that the Flame Country’s weapons research department tested the 12.7mm rotary machine gun using a small car. Not only was the car directly penetrated, but the entire vehicle was also set ablaze.

Thus, designing a weapon with moderate power, more suitable for soldiers equipped with power armor to use as an ordinary weapon, becomes an inevitability.

After all, they can’t always be carrying a heavy machine gun capable of tearing a normal person in half on a mission, right? That’s simply excessive firepower.

"If we were to design a weapon for power armor, Second Lieutenant Deng, what would you think it should look like?" Chen Xin asked Second Lieutenant Deng, holding a notepad, as Deng was currently testing the newly made power armor by Chen Xin.

This set of power armor was newly made by Chen Xin, using the prototype design diagram that Chen Xin had completed when creating the power armor for both him and Qin Lan.

Moreover, Chen Xin improved its power system by using the same small isotope thermoelectric battery as the exoskeleton power source, but the output power has been increased somewhat, and adjustments have been made to flexibility.

The whole set of power armor looks somewhat like medieval knight plate armor due to its lack of edges, making it appear rather sleek.

From the design structure, this set of power armor is actually exoskeleton packaged armor plate design. A set of exoskeleton was designed first, and then armor plates were installed on the exoskeleton frame.

Unlike the two sets belonging to Chen Xin and Qin Lan, their internal structure is the more complex power armor frame, not just exoskeleton packaging armor.

The reason Chen Xin designed this way is not because he is unwilling to provide the military with good items, but he needs to consider whether manufacturing costs and processes can support complex design structures.

Those who understand World War II know Hans Military Industry was famous for its precise design and high quality, especially their tanks. The Tiger, Panther, and King Tiger tanks were invincible on the battlefield, but accompanied by complex structures and numerous components, not only troublesome to repair but also very labor-intensive to manufacture.

Correspondingly, Suyia’s T34 tanks had simple, robust structures and were easy to repair. Even with the haphazard maintenance style of the Soviets, it could withstand the rigors. Manufacturing was also simpler, even having stories of T34s made by tractor factories during the Stalingrad defense that hadn’t been painted before being sent to the battlefield.

By comparison, it’s evident that for the logistics and military equipment of a country, being simple, reliable, and easy to maintain is very important.

Chen Xin can undoubtedly build technically advanced, functionally comprehensive, and powerful power armor, but such things are more akin to billionaire toys like Iron Man suits, rather than military equipment that can be deployed on a large scale.

Add the fact that the country is already mass-producing exoskeletons, utilizing production lines and using lots of standardized parts can also reduce manufacturing costs, facilitating quicker production.

Second Lieutenant Deng wasn’t particularly concerned about this point; the power armor he wore was already quite satisfying to him.

Although it was a motion-feedback power armor, he didn’t feel any sluggish response. Essentially, as soon as his body made a move, the power armor responded efficiently.

Regarding the weapon question from Chen Xin, Second Lieutenant Deng thought for a moment and said, "A reliable, stable automatic rifle is necessary. Although I’ve seen games or sci-fi works with many impressive weapons, like electromagnetic, Gauss, or laser, a simple, reliable firearm capable of consistently stable output is good enough."

Chen Xin nodded, not surprised by this point. A good gun is not just about high precision or fast rate of fire, more important is reliability and stability; otherwise, the AK47 wouldn’t be the highest-produced firearm in the world, used from World War II to now.

"I understand that. I’ll keep that in mind." Chen Xin noted Second Lieutenant Deng’s opinion and continued to ask, "Do you think there’s anything else to improve on this power armor?"

"All aspects are quite good, but our special forces bring lots of things on missions. How does this power armor carry stuff? Is it using external carrying gear?" Second Lieutenant Deng asked a very crucial question. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

In various film works and video games, asset carrying isn’t typically considered, with visuals focusing on aesthetics, and games having universal backpack spaces, sometimes not even requiring a grabbing animation.

But in reality, that’s impossible, as even Chen Xin added a silo at the back of his power armor. Certainly, there needs to be a place to store items on power armor meant for military use, otherwise, ammunition and other items have nowhere to go.