Martin Jetpack

Applications to be firefighters in Dubai could be about to climb to new heights, as firefighters are being given actual, working jetpacks.

The city has 916 high-rise buildings and when fires take hold of them winds fan the flames up the high-rise blocks. So officials in the country have decided to team-up with manufacturer Martin Jetpack to provide both manned and unmanned jetpacks to firefighters.


Lt Col Ali Almutawa from Dubai's Civil Defence unit said the 20 jetpacks purchased by the city would be used to "improve and save people's lives".

He told the BBC that first responders would be equipped with the jetpacks. "Sometimes we have challenges or difficulties to reach the top floors of those buildings," he said.

Martin Jetpack

"The aircraft can go into confined spaces to size-up the situation. We are going to modify them with thermal imaging cameras".


The standard Martin Jetpack is powered by a V4 engine and can reach a top speed of 74kph (45mph), while climbing up to 1,000m (3,000ft) -- Dubai's tallest building the Burj Khalifa, stands at 828m tall.

A statement from Dubai's directorate of general civil defence explained that firefighters in the jetpack would be able to help locate what floor of a building a fire was on and decide what resources are needed to tackle it.

And firefighters may not be the only people getting jetpacks -- manufacturer Martin Jetpack said they may one day be used be soldiers and intelligence services.