[quote=@pugbutter]
[@Foster] With [color=f7976a]fully articulated five-digit hands, responding in real-time to militaristic threats? And bipedal movement[/color]? Running on gasoline and internal combustion.
[/quote]

[color=f7976a]Well, the main driving force behind the R&D of this tech IRL is for prosthetic limbs, and I'm pretty sure we've got pretty lifelike hands and legs right now (plus I just got done discussing Harry Dinsmore's removal of an unexploded mortar-shell that was lodged in a soldier's chest, along with 30% of his uniform and another fella that took a full mag to all his vital bits in 11th Co 3rd Brigade, ROK Marines back in 1967 and went through 14 pints of blood.)[/color]. The idea of ignoring electronic storage problems by strapping a gasoline generator (or hydraulic pump) on an operators back dates back to the 1960's along with backpack-mounted air-conditioners for troops stationed in SE Asia.

Concurrent development was also for man-amplifying deepwater diving-suits and early space suits, wich again, for ease of use is making [i]very wholehearted efforts[/i] at making responsive 5-fingered hands.

Then there's outright robotics and telepresence units, particularily in respect to "robotic-arms".

The grounds of the complaint isn't the physics, but the touted portability of such a powerful system. -Currently, railguns and coilguns are being pursued for multi-thousand ton craft willing to invest several additional tons into things to power and operate a railgun in order to carry a few more bullets. Not for being mounted to replace tank main armarments.

The break-even point isn't even a nice number like the difference between rifle grenades vs grenade-launchers (which the mass of the launcher including ammo breaks even at around a mere 3 grenades on each system) but more along the lines of several hundred thousand kilograms of ammunition.

For comparison, the ZSU-57-2 only held about 600 kg of shells.