Star Wars style hoverbikes planned for Dubai police

Hoverbikes could be added to the Dubai Police Department’s vehicle fleet which has included luxury cars like Lamborghinis, Bugattis, Ferraris and Mercedes-AMGs.

Looking like something out of Star Wars, the Scorpion 3 hoverbike by Hoversurf has been revealed at this month’s Gitex Technology Week expo in Dubai in its police livery. It’s expected to be introduced to the Dubai police force by 2020 after further testing.

The single-seater can hover up to six metres above traffic and be used in rescues, flying for nearly 20 minutes before recharging, possibly having a battery pack swap to reduce time on the ground.

Russia-based Hoversurf’s Scorpion 3 version is capable of reaching 70 km/h when piloted and 100 km/h when flying autonomously, electrek

reports

Talk is about starting a “drone division”, although electric cars and motorbikes are becoming popular with police departments.

Meanwhile, The Verge

says another Russian company which makes the AK-47 machine gun is doing manned flying machines.

Kalashnikov Concern — part of the Russian defence giant Rostec, which is named after AK-47 designer Mikhail Kalashnikov — demonstrated its unnamed flying prototype, according to Popular Mechanics.

It has eight rotors joined by a skeletal frame, a couple of joysticks, and probably a couple of batteries under the rider.

A Swedish inventor has been posting videos on YouTube showing his device resembling a chair between dozens of rotors.

Inventor Colin Furze showed his hoverbike last year, and the US Defence Department has announced a deal with Malloy Aeronautics, a UK-based company, to develop the vehicle for the army, The Verge reports.

Dubai’s Road and Transportation Authority has arranged with Volocopter and Ehang to test passenger-ready drones there too.

Google co-founder Larry Page’s Kitty Hawk Flyer “all-electric aircraft”, also dubbed a flying car, may go on sale later this year.