Royal Marines trial jet packs for boarding vessels
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Royal Marines trial jet packs for boarding vessels
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Looks impressive, but a short burst from a mp5 would take them all out in seconds unless they were suited in full body armour.
Then there’s the noise from those screaming jets......
No surprise attacks and no covert boardings.
probably some use if we could drop a pack or 2 for a downed crew to quickly put some distance between themselves and an approaching enemy.
Fitted With standard off the shelf drone circuitry I can see those “packs” being parachuted into a location to enable the self extraction / escape of a seal team.....suit up and press start...jetpack then automatically “returns home” or removes the “captured target” to his new home.
rescue uses in inaccessible locations ? How about parachute a medic and spare pack into a very remote bush or mountain area, have him suit up the injured party and deliver them to the ramp of a low flying herc ?
all sounds very James Bond right now but look at the advances in recreational drone technology recently , Given time the jetpacks will evolve to be quieter with better fuel burn, by then its uses will be limited by ones own creativity.
Then there’s the noise from those screaming jets......
No surprise attacks and no covert boardings.
probably some use if we could drop a pack or 2 for a downed crew to quickly put some distance between themselves and an approaching enemy.
Fitted With standard off the shelf drone circuitry I can see those “packs” being parachuted into a location to enable the self extraction / escape of a seal team.....suit up and press start...jetpack then automatically “returns home” or removes the “captured target” to his new home.
rescue uses in inaccessible locations ? How about parachute a medic and spare pack into a very remote bush or mountain area, have him suit up the injured party and deliver them to the ramp of a low flying herc ?
all sounds very James Bond right now but look at the advances in recreational drone technology recently , Given time the jetpacks will evolve to be quieter with better fuel burn, by then its uses will be limited by ones own creativity.
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Plenty of negative comment, but this is just a trial using one convenient Patrol Vessel. IMO insertion onto the acres of deck of a super-tanker, or an offshore oil rig, would be a more likely operational scenario.
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In principle this has many applications - as has already been stated - for SAR / Mountain Rescue there is a video on t’intereeb somewhere showing that exact application. Self extraction is also a plus point.
However, as I understand it, thrust vectoring by changing arm positions is how they’re controlled. Leaves a possible hostile boarding environment where the ability to defend oneself at the same time requires so “work”.
However, as I understand it, thrust vectoring by changing arm positions is how they’re controlled. Leaves a possible hostile boarding environment where the ability to defend oneself at the same time requires so “work”.
Accept it is just a trial but add a bit of body armour and weaponry and I guess you'd need quite a bit more thrust and/or fuel. Switching rapidly from transit mode to fighting mode and back might also be an issue.
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There was a feature article in Saturday’s Times magazine on the inventor.
reminds me of an early RM trial of a hovercraft - I think "flight" put it brilliantly
"here is a photo of the Royal Marines practising sneaking up on a totally deaf Russian beach guard..."
"here is a photo of the Royal Marines practising sneaking up on a totally deaf Russian beach guard..."
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They thought up a lot of bright ideas then - but retrofitting a seat with an engine, blades, electronics that could survive an ejection ......................... maybe in a B-52 or a Hercules.................
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... FB-111 ejection pod with deployable wings and an engine? And a map.
Good marketing by the individual concerned - a quick look at the BBC link shows that he's done it dressed as a paramedic and even a postie. Practical? At least after descending a rope you just have to shake off the gloves; trying to access anything while wearing that clobber (having attracted all that attention while inbound) means you're more likely to be used as a decoy while the other operators gain access by other means. If the target vessel is doing any kind of aggressive manoeuvring, you're far better off getting a Chinook (OK, OK - 2 Chinooks...) on the task.
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https://patents.google.com/patent/US3662978A/en
https://patents.google.com/patent/US3042347
http://airsoc.com/articles/view/id/5...-ejection-seat
Flying a jet fighter can be sometimes tricky, and in some cases, you may need to eject in order to save your life. The ejection seat technique dates back from 1945, and has since been improved to fit all modern jet fighters. But did you know that at some point, they thought about a flying ejection seat ? During the Vietnam War, the US Navy lost over 500 aircraft in combat, as a result of which nearly 200 aircrew became prisoners of war. Alongside them, the US Air Force suffered three times as many aircraft fosses. In every case there were aircrew who had either been killed, captured or were in need of rescue. And while rescuing aircrew from behind enemy lines was given top priority, the challenge was considerable. Dedicated USAF squadrons flying Sikorsky HH-3 ‘Jolly Green Giant’ helicopters, supported by heavily armed, piston-engined Douglas A-1 Skyraider attack aircraft, flew dangerous extraction missions, which, of course, put even greater numbers of aircrew at risk. This prompted the navy and air force to ask, ‘What if downed aircrew had the means to fly themselves back into friendly territory?’ Three different aircraft companies accepted the challenge of coming up with an answer. The results were worthy of a Transformers movie: ejection seats that, on firing their occupant out of a stricken aircraft, unfolded, extended and locked themselves into mini-flying machines. Bell Aerosystems suggested a jet-powered hang-glider that suspended the pilot, face down and still strapped to his seat, beneath it. Fairchild-Hiller also suggested a glider, but theirs was a sort of pop-up machine made of cloth stretched over a spring-loaded metal frame. My favourite is the gyrocopter designed by Kaman Corps. On ejecting, a two-bladed rotor unfurled above the pilot’s head, while a tail and a micro turbofan jet flicked up behind him. And the name given to this invention? Stowable Aircrew Vehicle Escape Roto-seat - or SAVER for short. How practical any of these ideas really were for aircrew disorientated and sometimes injured by the violent act of ejection itself remains a matter for conjecture as none, sadly, made it into service. But that they were dreamt up at all merits a hat tip to the creativity and ingenuity of aircraft designers - and to the importance that the USA attaches to bringing its soldiers home.