The jetpack soldiers are coming

At least that’s what DARPA wants, which wants a simple design. Known in the field of sci-fi, the concept of a jetpack, ie a mini-turbine that can be mounted on our back, has been occupying engineers for a long time, but so far we have not seen many reliable solutions that can be used in everyday life. We read about an interesting test recently, but now DARPA himself wants to see something like this, namely in the field of tactics.

A call for the agency’s System for Award Management has been published, describing a platform that is easy to use, whether it’s urban combat or even deployments in uninhabited areas. They mainly rely on private companies, their task would be to develop the so-called Portable Personal Air Mobility System, but they also formulate several important criteria in this regard, as in addition to use, they have high expectations in terms of development and production costs, logistics and specific technical features. . It really looks like I want to apply these improvements to a number of different situations, although we’re obviously a little far from that.

As mentioned, these platforms would be used both in urban combat and away from populated areas, for which a range of approximately 5 kilometers, take-off from virtually anywhere, and assembly of up to 10 minutes are considered desirable. Soldiers equipped with a jetpack would be launched from the ground or from the air, in the latter case aiming to penetrate behind the enemy’s back, but it is at least as important that individuals unfamiliar with the system can quickly learn to use it, as time and would be achieved through limited training.

The Royal Navy is also working on the idea of ​​applying similar improvements, they are already testing such a system, while JetPack Aviation in California is working on a unit that would transport troops at 320km for up to 10 minutes.