I get that shields have rendered ranged weapons largely ineffective and the slower movements of melee weapons can penetrate shields. So why has armor development seemed to lag so far behind. A simple cut resistant bodysuit, with lightweight polymer plates on vital areas, and you would have a tank almost immune to small arms.
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Easier to make more powerful guns than something that can stop them. We can currently make guns that can blow through tanks and virtually nothing can stop them.
>A simple cut resistant bodysuit, with lightweight polymer plates on vital areas, and you would have a tank almost immune to small arms.
For the 12 hours it takes for someone to design a blade hat can cut through cut resistant bodysuits.
The blades used aren’t just plain steel. They’re usually something hyper effective that’ll peel hardened armor like paper. So if armor is going to be useless might as well focus on shields with acrobatic and mobile combat. Essentially why trade off speed and mobility if it likely won’t help to be a slow turtle of armor in a world of armor piercing knives made from space worm teeth
Open warfare is nonexistent at this point in time. If you’re going to go after a person then you’re sending in a solo assassin to take them by surprise. Shield emitters are small, basically weightless and portable, and can be worn over your every day clothes. Lightweight armour is only lightweight for armour, it wouldn’t be practical to wear a 20 pound suit every single day while waiting for an assassin that might not come for years.
So for the realities of every day life wearing your shield suffices, and if you’re someone who needs to worry about being assassinated then you’re going to have people like Gurney and Duncan on your payroll to protect your ass, and prevent the assassin from even getting to you anyway.
The primary close combat weapon outside of the Fremen chrysknife is the kidjal. Historically, those were anti-armor fighting daggers. You use the edge to cut straps to remove armor, or place the point on relatively weak chainmail and force it through. Several medieval fighting manuals mention that daggers are the most dangerous weapons to fully armored knights, and there’s no technology in the Dune universe that will change that.