Who couldn't conquer the world while wearing the impenetrable suit of armor showcased in the Iron Man movies? Even the United States military seems to have gotten on board with that concept.

According to published newspaper reports, the U.S. Special Operations Command (Ussocom) has asked scientists to come up with an armored suit that uses nanotechnology and which brings to mind the very suit depicted in the popular films.

How far away are they from a workable model? Possibly just two or three years.

The suit, known officially as the Tactical Assault Light Operator could give those who wear it the power to deflect bullets, to see in the dark and to apply a super-human strength – if the work-in-progress develops as planned.

The suit would likely be an improvement done on the ‘liquid armor’ work of an MIT professor, Gareth McKinley, who has been working on his project for the past 11 years. Once developed in full, the armor would be able to transform from a liquid or more elastic state into a rigid, solid one -- in the time it takes to blink an eye. The armor would also be able to monitor the wearer’s hydration levels, heart rate and core body temperature. Such a suit could theoretically use the collected vital-signs data to help keep a soldier best prepared for battle conditions.

Professor McKinley reportedly told National Public Radio that the special suit is reminiscent of the one in the Iron Man movies

He added, "The other kind of things that you see in the movies I think that would be more realistic at the moment would be the kind of external suit that Sigourney Weaver wears in Alien, where it’s a large robot that amplifies the motions and lifting capability of a human."

The call to the scientific community to develop the protective suit was issued after a soldier died in Afghanistan. In attempting to rescue a civilian, the soldier was shot by someone on the other side of a door; it’s possible he would have survived if he’d had a better form of protective clothing.

One giant hurdle to putting the suit into action – a power source that doesn’t weight down a soldier with bulky power cells or pumps.