DARPA Is Open for Military Jetpack Submissions interestingengineering.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from interestingengineering.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
By Garrett Reim2021-03-05T23:43:00+00:00
The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is studying the technical feasibility of military jetpacks, and other personal flying platforms, potentially for use by US special forces.
The agency is inviting submissions of research concepts to help it understand the practicality of a “Portable Personal Air Mobility System”, it announced online on 2 March via a Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Opportunity (SBO).
Source: Crown Copyright
Richard Browning, founder of Gravity Industries, demonstrating his jetpack at UK Royal Navy base HMS Sultan in the UK in 2019
Until now jetpacks have mostly been the stuff of fiction, films or spectacle, though some militaries have shown interest recently. In 2020, the UK Royal Navy demonstrated several personnel quickly boarding a boat using jetpacks made by Gravity Industries. The US Special Operations Command reportedly signed a development agreement