TL;DR: Edgerun builds powered legs for soldiers. A 10 lb exoskeleton worn at the waist that adds assistance to every step and cuts the effort of moving under a combat load by 30-45%. Since May, we've run 100+ field tests with Ukrainian operators out of our Kyiv field office.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFLeQV2DWMc

▍The problem

Every system on the modern battlefield has been upgraded. The human carrying it has not.

• For 2,500 years the soldier's load sat around 40 lbs. In the last 40 years it doubled, then doubled again.
• A US infantryman now carries 90-140 lbs into a fight. The Army's own field manual sets the limit at 48 lbs.
• On deployment, load carriage causes twice as many evacuations as enemy contact.
• The Pentagon and VA spend $9.3B a year on the injuries it leaves behind.

Battles are won through speed and surprise. Load kills both.

▍Why now

Sixty years of military exoskeletons died the same death. The device cost more to carry than it gave back. SOCOM's TALOS burned $400M before it was cancelled in 2019.

That all changed in the last 18 months. The humanoid robotics boom produced one-pound actuators that put out 30+ Nm of torque, and 21700 cells crossed 450 Wh/kg. The components finally exist. They’re getting better every quarter.

▍What we built

Our first exoskeleton is a bilateral hip system worn at the waist. It reads your gait in real time and adds torque at the moment your hip drives forward. The hip produces about 60% of the force in loaded walking, so assisting it gives the most help-per-pound of anything you could strap to the body.

• Under 10 lbs with batteries
• 30-45% less metabolic cost under a combat load
• On in 5 seconds, off in one
• 12+ hours on hot-swappable drone-class batteries
• Quasi-direct-drive actuators, composite structures, CAN bus. Nothing exotic by design.

The soldier arrives at the objective still able to fight, patrols 10 km farther, and keeps a body that lasts past one tour.

▍Ukraine

Our field engineers work out of a Kyiv office, alongside operators from infantry, special operations, and National Guard units who provide structured feedback every day. Balistyka, one of Ukraine's leading body armor makers, is an integration partner, helping us ensure our system fits the kit soldiers already wear.

▍The mission

Defense is the first customer, not the last. Read the mission at edgerun.com/mission