Humanity has always sought to expand the boundaries of its capabilities. Thanks to the desire of man to swim under water like fish, scuba gear and submarines appeared, thanks to the desire to fly like birds, balloons and airplanes appeared. During the past XX century, a huge number of ideas have been generated for the creation of various vehicles. Some of them have become reality, some still remain only on the pages of fantastic works.
It was fantastic literature that gave the world such concepts as a flying motorcycle - a hoverbike, a jetpack - a jetpack and a flying board - a hoverboard. Despite numerous attempts, in the XX century, none of the above vehicles left the stage of prototypes and were not implemented in any finished form.
In the 21st century, advances in electronics, sensors, compact and powerful electric motors have made it possible to return to the idea of creating personal aircraft.
Hoverboard
The greatest success in the creation of the "flying board" was achieved by the French athlete and inventor Franky Zapata and his company Zapata Industries. In 2005, Zapata Industries introduced the Flyboard, a powerful pump that pumps water through a flexible tube supplied from a jet ski, which is forcefully thrown downward, allowing the pilot to fly at altitudes up to 16 meters. The Flyboard flying platform is designed for entertainment and sports, but many solutions have been worked out on it, which later made it possible to create more advanced products.
The most breakthrough model by Zapata Industries is the Flyboard Air hoverboard. With a dead weight of 25.1 kg, the Flyboard Air's carrying capacity was 102 kg, the maximum flight speed is 150-195 km / h, and the maximum ceiling is 1524 meters. The capacity of the fuel tank is 23.3 liters, the flight duration is 10 minutes. In 2016, a record was set on Flyboard Air, officially registered in the Guinness Book of Records, the flight range was 2 kilometers 252 meters, covered in 3 minutes 55 seconds.
The Flyboard Air propulsion system includes four jet engines fueled by aviation kerosene. Fuel comes from a tank located in the knapsack behind the pilot's back. Each engine produces about 30 kg of thrust, with a dead weight of 3 kg. In addition, the platform is equipped with a pair of additional low-inertia propfan motors to ensure fast response of the control system. The control system is another essential element of Flyboard Air, it compensates for wind gusts, weight redistribution due to the movement of the pilot, fuel consumption, uneven operation of the engines with high speed and accuracy, and stabilizes the Flyboard Air flight.
The Bastille Day military parade on the Champs Elysees in Paris featured a Flyboard Air hoverboard with a pilot armed with a rifle (or imitation of it), highlighting the military's interest in the technology.
In what capacity can hoverboards be in demand in the armed forces? If someone imagines flocks of mobile marines attacking the enemy with flying boards, they will most likely be disappointed. At the moment, hoverboards are still bulky, difficult to control devices, and their flight time is extremely limited.
However, there are certain tactical situations where hoverboards can be not only useful, but even irreplaceable.
First of all, we can talk about conducting special operations, for example, to storm buildings, free hostages, etc. In this case, the use of hoverboards will make it possible to abandon the use of helicopters for landing on the roof of buildings. Hoverboards are delivered to the location of the special operation by road, after which a combat unit can, within a few minutes, drop onto the roof of a building with the necessary weapons. One of the advantages of this solution is the ability to assess the situation on the spot, to choose a non-projectile sector for injection, taking into account the architecture of the building, the ability to quickly retreat if necessary.
Another example is urban warfare. In this case, hoverboards can be used, for example, to throw snipers onto a high-rise building, while all passages in the building can be mined. Or they can be used to approach the rear of a position defended by the enemy, "jump" over an obstacle.
Also, the hoverboard can be used to occupy dominant heights in mountainous areas. Here it is necessary to make a reservation that this will depend on the height to which he is able to rise relative to sea level. According to some reports, the flight altitude of Flyboard Air can reach 3000-3500 meters, which is already comparable to the flight altitude of some helicopters. If the enemy has taken an advantageous position, which makes it difficult for him to attack “head-on”, and at the same time other areas are difficult to pass, the maneuvering group on hoverboards can take a position that is more advantageous relative to the position of the enemy.
One might argue that the hoverboard pilot is extremely vulnerable in flight, but in fact he is no more, but rather even less vulnerable than the pilot of a light helicopter. Minimization of the probability of the pilot's injury should be ensured by the suddenness of its use (there is no flight time, like a helicopter, when it can be detected from afar by the sound of the engines) and a short flight time, in fact, by a jump. And getting into a small-sized moving target is not as easy as it seems at first glance.
In any of the scenarios, the hoverboard is not seen as a platform for warfare, but only as a highly mobile means of moving short distances in specific tactical situations.
Unmanned, the hoverboard can be used to deliver weapons and ammunition to a locked battle group.
Hoverbike
The idea of creating a flying motorcycle - a hoverbike - attracts people no less. At the beginning of the XXI century, two ways of creating hoverbikes were outlined. The first is the creation of a flying motorcycle with jet engines, the second is the creation of a flying motorcycle based on technologies used to create unmanned quadcopters. Accordingly, either liquid fuel or a supply of electricity in batteries is used as fuel. Each designated path has both its advantages and difficulties in implementation.
One of the more interesting, and presumably close to realizable concepts, is Jetpack Aviation's Speeder jet motorcycle. Equipped with four jet engines, the Speeder will be able to reach speeds of over 240 km / h and climb to an altitude of 5000 meters with a carrying capacity of 115 kg. Initially, jet engines are planned to be located in the central part of the structure, but this may complicate vehicle control and require the introduction of complex autonomous stabilization technologies, therefore, in the future, the turbines can be moved closer to the edges of the hull.
The flight time will be about 30 minutes. Is it a lot or a little? Taking into account the declared maximum speed, this is about 100-120 km. It is quite enough to fly to the country residence, bypassing city traffic jams. Jetpack Aviation has already started taking pre-orders for the Speeder. The cost of booking a place in the queue is 10 thousand US dollars, and the total cost of a flying motorcycle will be 380 thousand dollars. The first batch will be only 20 vehicles.
The possibility of creating a military version of a jet motorcycle is being considered. It will have five engines instead of four, the carrying capacity and the maximum flight time will be increased.
Another example of a hoverbike, previously developed by the Russian and now American startup Hoversurf, has more modest characteristics. Hoversurf was founded by Alexander Atamanov from St. Petersburg and registered in California in 2014.
His flying motorcycle, the Scorpion, has a carbon fiber frame that weighs less than 114kg, a lithium-manganese-nickel hybrid battery capable of 10 to 25 minutes of flight time, depending on the weather and pilot's weight. In remote control mode, the flight time will be 40 minutes. The Scorpion hoverbike can fly up to 16 meters above the ground, reaching a maximum speed of 96 km per hour.
Despite the more modest performance compared to Jetpack Aviation's Speeder jet, the Scorpion hoverbike is much closer to implementation. Pre-production prototypes are shown, a purchase order is also open - the price of the hoverbike will be $ 150,000 for the Scorpion. The Scorpion Hoverbike is classified as an ultralight vehicle that allows flying in the United States without a pilot's license.
Hoversurf plans to produce other types of similar aircraft for civil and special use.
How can hoverbikes be used by military and special forces? As in the case of hoverboards, hoverbikes should hardly be considered as combat vehicles designed to strike at the enemy from the air, although such their use cannot be completely ruled out in the future.
First of all, hoverbikes can be used for the prompt delivery of special forces. In the event of a terrorist threat, the account can go on for minutes. Delay will allow terrorists to equip firing points, install mine-explosive devices. At the same time, the congestion of city highways does not allow special transport to quickly move to the required positions. Hoverbikes will provide special forces with the fastest response to threats that cannot be achieved with any other type of vehicle.
They can perform a similar function for the ground units of the armed forces - to promptly deliver help, in the shortest possible time to transfer weapons and ammunition to a distance of about 100 kilometers, move into positions and take them, ahead of the enemy. At the same time, in the future, hoverbikes can return to base in autopilot mode, so as not to additionally unmask the fighters. Or vice versa, in unmanned mode, move to the specified point and ensure the evacuation of the ground unit.
The most important area of use of hoverbikes can be their use by doctors to provide emergency medical care to both civilians and the military, in case of injury. With many types of diseases or injuries, the count goes not only in minutes, but in seconds.
Time will show how correct the alleged scenarios for the use of hoverboards and hoverbikes are, but already now almost all developers of this type of aircraft provide for the possibility of their military and special use. With a high probability, these types of aircraft will be in demand not only in the civilian market, but also as vehicles for the armed forces and special forces.
