US soldiers could soon travel like stormtroopers: Military bosses developing Star Wars 'hoverbikes' for the battlefield
- Hoverbike will become a Tactical Reconnaissance Vehicle
- Could carry troops and equipment into battle
- Being developed with UK firm Malloy Aeronautics
Star Wars could soon be headed to the battlefield - thanks to a New Zealand inventor.
Malloy Aeronautics has revealed a deal with the U.S. Department of Defense to develop its radical flying machine for the military.
They say the Hoverbike is being developed to operate as a new class of Tactical Reconnaissance Vehicle (TRV).
Malloy Aeronautics has revealed a deal
with the U.S. Department of Defense to develop its radical flying
machine for the US military.
A mockup of the full sized hoverbike, which is similar in size to a small car.
The firm made the announcement at the Paris Air Show.
Maryland
Lt. Governor Boyd Rutherford joined with SURVICE Engineering Co., a
Belcamp, Md.-based defense firm, and U.K.-based Malloy Aeronautics, an
aeronautical engineering firm, to announce that the two companies have
teamed up on the development of Hoverbike technology for the U.S.
Department of Defense.
SURVICE and Malloy are working on the Hoverbike as part of an ongoing research and development contract with the U.S. Army Research Laboratory.
As
part of this strategic alliance, Malloy Aeronautics has also announced
that they have established a U.S. office in Belcamp adjacent to Aberdeen
Proving Ground to complete work on the Hoverbike.
'I am
pleased to join with SURVICE Engineering and Malloy Aeronautics to
announce their partnership on the Hoverbike, which represents a new
frontier in aviation,' said Lt. Governor Rutherford.
'We are also very excited to welcome Malloy and look forward to working with them to grow their operations in Maryland.'
'Establishing an office in Maryland was a clear business decision,' said Chris Malloy, managing director of Malloy Aeronautics.
'The
proximity to the Army Research Laboratory and U.S. defense decision
makers, access to the world-class facilities through the laboratory's
Open Campus initiative, and the co-location with our strategic business
partner, SURVICE Engineering, were all factors in favor of Maryland as
the best choice for Malloy Aeronautics.'
The firm says it producing a 1/3 sized version of its design to help fund the full sized prototype.
'This
drone was originally built as a proof of concept for our latest
full-sized Hoverbike prototype,' said Chris Malloy, the drone's
inventor.
'After
testing the 1/3rd Hoverbike, we realized that it had lots of features
that made it a fantastic drone, not only this - selling this scale
Hoverbike to the public would allow us to raise funds to continue the
development of the manned version.
'The
objective of this campaign is to kick-start sales of our beautiful
1/3rd scale Hoverbike drone and accessories via your pledges, and to
help create a long term income stream that we can use to continue
development of the manned Hoverbike,' it says.
The full sized design uses a motorcycle engine and controls.
However, the smaller version uses electric motors, and can be controlled using a standard RC helicopter controller.
The hoverbike in action - complete with its 3D printed humanoid robot driver.
The drone is made up of four blade, which give it its stability.
The firm says its full sized version could be used to commute on.
The
futuristic prototype has the potential to travel up to 92 miles or for
about 45 minutes on one tank of fuel and is expected to come with a
hefty price tag of more than £45,000.
So
far the bike, which weighs 270kgs, has only been tested while tethered
to the ground to prevent it flying too high. But plans to test it's
capabilities without any restrictions are set to go-ahead soon.
The firm will also make a 3D printable pilot, who can have a Go Pro camera fitted in his 'head' to record flights
'We
combined the simplicity of a motorbike and the freedom of a helicopter
to create the world's first flying motorcycle,' it said.
'When
compared with a helicopter, the Hoverbike is cheaper, more rugged and
easier to use - and represents a whole new way to fly.
'The
Hoverbike flies like a quadcopter, and can be flown unmanned or manned,
while being a safe - low level aerial workhorse with low on-going
maintenance.'
The firm says it is almost ready to begin flight testing of the full sized version.
Big screen: Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and Princess Leia (Carrie
Fisher) battle a Stormtrooper on their speeder bike in Star Wars Return of the
Jedi
'We
are in the final construction stages of the latest manned prototype of
Hoverbike, and in a few months we will start flight testing.
'After
the successful completion of test flights we will build a final
engineering prototype for submission to aviation certification
authorities.
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