More than once, sci-fi/futuristic movies have shown us what a world would be like if hoverbikes existed – very cool indeed, but the question is with today’s technology, would it be impossible to create one? As it turns out the answer is no, and the good news is that it looks like the US army could be getting hoverbikes in the future.
A report from Reuters has revealed that the US Department of Defense has made a deal with a company in the UK called Malloy Aeronautics, a company that specializes in building hoverbikes. According to the company’s marketing sales director Grant Stapleton, he believes that a hoverbike holds many advantages over a regular helicopter.
According to Stapleton, “Primarily there’s safety. With adducted rotors you immediately not only protect people and property if you were to bump into them, but if you ever were to bump into somebody or property it’s going to bring the aircraft out of the air.” Stapleton cites cost as being another advantage of a hoverbike. “This is much less expensive to buy a Hoverbike and much less expensive to run.”
Before you start to imagine a world where soldiers are chasing each other through forests on hoverbikes and firing lasers at each other, we’re not quite there yet. The company states that they believe their hoverbike would be ideal for search and rescue or cargo delivery missions. They are planning to create a larger version that can accommodate an attachable humanoid figure with a head-mounted camera.
Now the good news is that Malloy Aeronautics won’t be making hoverbikes for the military exclusively. While they will help the Department of Defense create military-grade models, they are also planning on creating commercial versions for leisure purposes.
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