US Air Force & GE ‘Beetle’ prototype, designed to work with nuclear powered bomber aircraft

Developed between 1959 and 1961 by Jered Industries for General Electric’s Nuclear Materials and Propulsion Operation Division, which in turn delivered it to the U.S. Air Force Special Weapons Center (that’s the kind of bureaucracy Vogons would cherish in their poetry), the Beetle’s central purpose was to work in conjunction with a fleet of massive, nuclear-powered aircraft. It had to provide three main utilities: immense lifting capability, protection against acute nuclear radiation for its operator, and precision manipulation. And it at least fit the bill. The Beetle could pull and punch with 85,000 pounds of force (the most powerful boxers top out at around 1,300 pounds), had armor made with over 13 inches of lead and steel plating, and had precision pincers (like a beetle’s, hence the name) that could, if need be, pick up an egg without cracking it.