Origin
Firepower was designed (officially) to deal with rogue Superhumans by the US Government and Edwin Cord. Unofficially, it was also intended to be used for riot control purposes [ a bit of an over kill given that there are no non-lethal weapons on board firepower].
Mayor Story Arcs
When Iron Man went rogue during the “Armor Wars” it gave the US Government the perfect opportunity to test it. The US Government convinces Stark to help track down Iron Man with the intent to ending the threat he represents. Stark engages the Firepower armor and quickly realizes that he is severely outclassed. Firepower demolished the Silver Centurion armor and almost killed Stark and Rhodey.
Fortunately some quick thinking spared their lives. With Iron Man “dead”, Edwin Kord set out to ruin Tony Stark. Stark initially didn’t plan to build a new armor but after lives were almost lost he has no choice. Using footage of the fight, Stark’s new Golden Avenger Armor is designed to combat everything Firepower can throw at him and Iron Man trounces Firepower.
During an incident at a Stark facility, a Firepower Mark II armor is deployed to deal with a potential embarrassment posed by the echo-terrorist known as Atom Smasher. Atom Smasher sought to make illegal dumping grounds on a property owned by Stane International (used for government projects) come to the attention of the media. High ranking government officials that feared a scandal ordered Atom Smasher eliminated. The new Firepower was sent in. Sleeker than the original, this Firepower actually has less weapons but seems to pack a harder punch with the weapons still on board. Firepower engaged Atom Smasher and was holding his own. War Machine decided to end the fight with an EMP blast. It rendered both inoperable until their systems Rebooted. While Firepower’s auto reboots after 14 minutes, War Machine’s rebooted in 6. Rhodes carried the suit out to the army detail outside of the Stane Facility and ordered them off the property.
During the Mandarin‘s most recent campaign against Tony Stark, he had Ezekiel Stane upgrade almost all of Stark’s armored foes. Firepower was among the many armored foes that the new Iron Man (Rhodey) faced. His new armor easily outclassed the updated rogue (pilot unknown).
Powers and Abilities
Fire Power Mark I
Standard Equipment
Heads Up Display
Flight Capable
Armor – can withstand a dual repulsor blast at full strength from Iron Man
Weapon Systems
Surface-to-Air Missiles (2 on each leg, 4 on Back Missile Rack)
1 Termax Nuclear Missile (Back Missile Rack)
Grenades (Legs, Hips, Waist & Torso)
Particle Beam Cannons (1 on each arm)
Fusion Cannons (2 Mounted on Chest)
Dual Lasers (2 Shoulder Mounted)
Firepower Mark II
Standard Equipment
Heads Up Display
Flight Capable
Armor – can withstand a dual repulsor blast at full strength from Iron Man
Auto EMP Reboot – Reboots after 14 minutes if attacked by EMP
Weapon Systems
Surface-to-Air Missiles (4 on Back Missile Rack)
1 Termax Nuclear Missile (Back Missile Rack)
Particle Beam Cannon (Right Arm)
Fusion Cannons (2 Mounted on Chest)
Dual Laser Cannon (Left Shoulder Mounted)
Laser (Left Arm)
Alternate Versions
Ultimate ( Earth-1610)
Receiving a copy of technologies Tony Stark’s Iron Man, England created a special police unit to deal with riots. The project was called the Firepower, and each participant had armor similar to the Iron Man armor. Learning of this, in England, flew Tony Stark to take his technology back. After heavy fighting Stark nearly died, but Firepower received a new order, and saved his life.
Animated Firepower
In the 1994-96 Iron Man series the Armor Wars storyline is adapted and Firepower is developed by Justin Hammer and the Government to neutralize Iron Man. This Firepower is a biped robot as opposed to a human controlled armor. It’s weapons are more than a match for the Iron Man armor and require Stark to build a heavy combat suit (The Hulk-Buster) to defeat it.