The British-made Malloy Hoverbike, which burst onto the scene last year as a Kickstarter project, is being picked up by the US Department of Defense. The DoD is looking at the hoverbike as a multiple-role transport craft: it can transport soldiers over difficult terrain, but it can also operate in drone mode, providing logistical or surveillance support.
The Malloy Hoverbike, developed by Malloy Aeronautics (MA) in Berkshire, began its life as a bi-copter: a carbon fibre chassis with a motorbike engine in the middle, with two very large props at the front and back. If you squinted, it looked a bit like a motorbike or perhaps a Star Wars speeder bike. However, the bi-copter design was eventually dropped in favour of a conventional quadcopter design because "with current technology we could not design a bi-copter cheap enough for safe and competitive sales."
The current version of the Malloy Hoverbike is essentially a giant, sit-on quadcopter. The only real difference is that its rotors are off-set so that they overlap, which reduces both the width of the craft and the weight. The petrol engine is gone, presumably in favour of electric motors and lithium-ion batteries (MA hasn't revealed the exact specs, but it's still very much in the prototype stage anyway). The P2 Hoverbike seen below is apparently capable of lifting 100 kilos (220 pounds).
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