By Kevin Samson

Anyone still not familiar with the concept of a Hoverbike that was popularized by Star Wars will have a chance to see it in the new feature to be released in movie theaters on December 18th. It seems science reality is catching up to science fiction.

A successful 2014 Kickstarter campaign raised nearly $100,000 to help make the world’s first Hoverbike a reality, and all indicators point to it arriving sooner rather than later.

Designers from Malloy Aeronautics employed the mechanics of a quadcopter drone to create a proof of concept that could revolutionize transportation … or at the very least provide some serious fun.





Although the Hoverbike still hasn’t been made available for purchase, a recent update indicates that the military has shown interest; which, as we know, is an indicator that this technology will most likely trickle down to the rest of us in one form or another.

At the Paris Air Show, Maryland Lt. Governor Boyd Rutherford joined with SURVICE Engineering Co., a Belcamp, Md.-based defense firm, and U.K.-based Malloy Aeronautics, an aeronautical engineering firm, to announce that the two companies have teamed up on the development of Hoverbike technology for the U.S. Department of Defense. SURVICE and Malloy are working on the Hoverbike as part of an ongoing research and development contract with the U.S. Army Research Laboratory. The Hoverbike is being developed to operate as a new class of Tactical Reconnaissance Vehicle (TRV). As part of this strategic alliance, Malloy Aeronautics has also announced that they have established a U.S. office in Belcamp adjacent to Aberdeen Proving Ground to complete work on the Hoverbike.

SURVICE engineering has 400 employees and specializes in military support, which clearly will take the Hoverbike concept to a new level. Their work has produced a new version of the Hoverbike, called P2, that can be seen in a test flight video recently released. It is still operating largely as a drone, but designers say that it is already capable of being used by a person weighing up to 220 pounds.

Do you think the Hoverbike will actually become a viable cheaper option for civilian transport, or is the military likely to keep this technology under lock and key?

Kevin Samson writes for ActivistPost.com. This article may be freely shared with proper author attribution and source link.