The Army Is Definitely Still Working On A Hoverbike
A “Joint tactical aerial resupply vehicle,” to be technical
By Kelsey D. Atherton Yesterday at 4:49pm
Joint Tactical Aerial Resupply Vehicle
David McNally, U.S. Army
Joint Tactical Aerial Resupply Vehicle
At the center of this scene is the hoverbike, which was briefly the Tactical Reconnaissance Vehicle, and is now the Joint Tactical Aerial Resupply Vehicle.
Let me cut to the landspeeder chase: the U.S. Army is currently working on a hoverbike. Last summer, when the Army expressed an interest in the hoverbike, Popular Science wrote about all the previous attempts at smaller, one-or-two person flying machines that the Army’s considered. In a rich history spanning mostly the 1950s and 1960s, the Army looked for some way to make an individual soldier airborne, in a useful way. And with a new, proven hoverbike design in the works, it seemed the 2010s could realize the abandoned dream of the 1960s.
Then, the army gave the hoverbike an underwhelming name. Calling it the “Tactical Reconnaissance Vehicle,” the hoverbike went from fanciful science fiction to something mundane enough to actually see use. “Tactical,” for short or immediate battle names, was fine. “Reconnaissance,” sure, it makes sense that this was a scout first, even if we had dreams of armed hoverbike chases in the future. “Vehicle,” it undeniably was that. This seemed real, very real, so bland it could be real. We haven’t heard much since.
http://www.popsci.com/army-is-definitely-still-working-on-hoverbike
