Remember those speeder bikes in Star Wars that raced through the air? Soldiers and Marines may get to zoom around the battlespace on a type of real-life version in the not-so-distant future.
The new vehicle (which flies using rotors) has been dubbed the Joint Tactical Aerial Resupply Vehicle, or JTARV. Malloy Aeronautics and SURVICE Engineering Company teamed up to further develop Malloy’s Hoverbike for the U.S. Army Research Laboratory.
Why the interest in a Hoverbike for American ground forces?
The U.S. military believes it could possibly carry teams rapidly and nimbly throughout the battlespace, and a robotic version could even be used to deliver supplies by itself.
This flying motorcycle could provide three options: it could be flown by a warfighter; it could fly itself around using advanced autonomy; or a mix could be employed where a warfighter flies it and lets the smart vehicle do some of its own flying as well.
What is it?
The Hoverbike started in a garage in Sydney, Australia. New Zealander Chris Malloy began working on it as a hobby, but it rapidly gained traction commercially.
Most of the original Hoverbike frame was handcrafted from Kevlar, carbon fiber and aluminum with a foam core.
The design is similar to a quadcopter. It has four standard helicopter-style shrouded rotors and they overlap with each other and help provide stability.
The full sized Hoverbike will harness a motorcycle engine and controls. It could ultimately be as large as a small car. The current mini-prototype is operated in a way that’s similar to a hobbyist quadcopter. The smaller version uses electric motors and a standard RC helicopter controller can be used to direct it.
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