The think tank Brookings Institute examines the past and current endeavors of DARPA and the US military via programs such as the now defunct "Land Warrior," "Future Force Warrior," and "Z-Man Project" among many others aimed at bringing to reality much of the technology underlying the fictional super hero Iron Man from his "superhuman strength, virtual invulnerability, the ability to fly...[to his] array of weapons." For instance:
Much like Iron Man’s powered armor, future soldiers’ protections will also be computerized. The plan is for new body armor that, instead of Kevlar, is filled with nano-materials that are connected to a computer. It would normally be as flexible as regular uniform made of fabric. But, like how a crash-bag works inside a car, it would activate whenever the system detects a bullet strike and turn as hard as steel in an instant.[...]
"When you have a uniform with this new nanotechnology, it can absorb unlimited numbers of machine-gun rounds," tells the Army’s soldier systems representative “Dutch” DeGay. The pliability could even be controlled. Gloves could turn into real-life brass knuckles, to give them a punch like Mike Tyson. Or, if the soldier gets hurt (such as from tripping on a rock while reading an email with their eyepiece), the uniform could go rigid to create a tourniquet or cast. The fabric could even be woven in with "nanomuscle fibers" that simulate real muscles, giving soldiers more an estimated “25 to 35 percent better lifting capability."
I found it interesting however that in the military's research into various exoskeleton and augmented armor, in addition to bio and chemical based enhancements (eg. anti-sleep pills), soldiers' had one priority pragmatic concern: "There was one feature that the soldiers wanted the suit to have most of all: a quick way to get out of it."
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