14 ms·
Royal Marines Testing Out Jet Suits [video]
- wing-_-nuts 5y agoThis reminds me of an old WWI video where the troops are still coming to grips with the technology. It will be interesting to see how things evolve in the future.
- ch4s3 5y agoI'd be very surprised if low flying, high velocity anti-ship missiles don't make this sort of moot for most cases. Modern militaries seem to be playing a dumb game right now where they aren't acknowledging the absolute horror of modern missile systems, and pretending these sorts of WWII style ship to ship battles might happen between one-another.
- djrogers 5y ago> Modern militaries seem to be playing a dumb game right now where they aren't acknowledging the absolute horror of modern missile systems CIWS has been a thing for decades, and had progressed from auto cannons to lasers in the past ~5 years. This demonstration has nothing to do with ship-to-ship battles, and everything to do with improving options for boarding parties (which can be used against more than warships).
- wespiser_2018 5y agoI'm pretty skeptical of this system, but if it has value it would be used only for boarding unarmed, or maybe lightly armed ships. Stuff like piracy, or rescue. I don't think modern militaries are "playing dump" to the threat of modern missiles, a ton of work right now is being done of figuring out exactly what it takes to deliver a missile hit from beyond the horizon, and how to disrupt this so called, "kill chain".
- iso1210 5y agoLightly armed pirates have AK47s, which will cause a lot of problem to an unarmed marine with a fuel tank on his back.
- wing-_-nuts 5y agoAny boarding party would probably have overwatch by an armed escort (cobra gunship, something else with a minigun door gunner, etc). Anyone on deck with a weapon would find themselves having a very bad day, very quickly.
- Miner49er 5y agoOut of curiosity, why did these jet suits not exist until now? Why not a few decades ago? What (recent) technological advancement(s) has only now made them possible? My first guess is improvements in batteries?
- traverseda 5y agoSurely if you're hauling around all that fuel adding a small jet with an alternator can't be that difficult? Sometimes things just take a while. We could have had inexpensive desktop 3D printers decades ago.
- tpmx 5y agoFDM 3d printing was invented in 1989. The patent expired in 2009. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S._Scott_Crump https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S._Scott_Crump
- FridayoLeary 5y agoI'm sorely disappointed that thus far, 3d printing hasn't been the commercial revolution that was hoped for. It was, and remains, little more than a hobbyists toy with little benefit to the general public. The manufacturing side of things may have found uses for 3d printing, but i'm doubtful if even that is the case.
- serf 5y ago>The manufacturing side of things may have found uses for 3d printing, but i'm doubtful if even that is the case. you are grossly under-representing the role of additive manufacturing in today's world.[0] [0]: https://amfg.ai/2020/01/14/40-3d-printing-industry-stats-you-should-know-2020-redirect/ https://amfg.ai/2020/01/14/40-3d-printing-industry-stats-you...
- slavik81 5y agoThere have been jetpacks for decades, but historically, landing softly was difficult. Lots of broken legs. They had limited flight time and many injuries.
- bostonsre 5y agoI wonder how quickly one would sink in one of those things. Definitely does not look like it would be easy to swim in.
- jackfrodo 5y agoGood point. I would imagine/hope there's some kind of compressed air device that would inflate upon impact with water.
- Vecr 5y agoProbably not, those are usually attached to armor vests and he's not wearing one, and having large enough bladders to support the whole jet suit would be pretty bulky/heavy, and I can't see anything like that. The plan would probably just be to ditch the suit and swim. The clothing he's wearing is quite snug fitting, Crye G4s if I'm not mistaken.
- moepstar 5y agoOk, that's on my Amazon Wishlist now... With that out of the way - could this be one of the devices that have been used/spotted at high altitudes by plane pilots?
- e12e 5y agoI think it's unlikely - the company/team behind this tech appear to quite serious, with multiple government contracts in the works, and a focus on safety. I'd be very surprised if they were buzzing commercial aircraft on the US west coast. unless of course they've exported a few suits for testing by some crazy US black Ops private contractors... but again I think it's unlikely.
- neither_color 5y agoThe lateral/transversal movements could resemble UFO descriptions, but that those altitude you'd probably need a whole life support system to keep the pilot alive.
- 1cvmask 5y agoJames Bond comes to life. Goldfinger was ahead of its time. https://www.bondsuits.com/007-coolest-james-bond-suit-moments/ https://www.bondsuits.com/007-coolest-james-bond-suit-moment...
- user-the-name 5y agoI can not comprehend the mindset that would let someone work for years on building something, and then go, "I know what I want this to be used for: Murder!"
- Mauricebranagh 5y agoYou know most of SV was built on military tech requirements and its not "murder" if its a navy assaulting an enemy ship.
- user-the-name 5y agoOnly in the strictest legal sense. It still involves intentionally killing human beings.
- wedn3sday 5y agoIs pulling the lever in a Trolley Problem murder? Is the navy sniper who killed the pirate captain who was holding hostages at gun point a murderer? Seams like you're taking a moral absoluist stance in a very morally grey world, and remember "only sith deal in absolutes."
- user-the-name 5y agoStar Wars is not a very good basis for a moral argument.
- Veen 5y agoNor is naiveté. There are bad people in the world. That's a brute fact you have to account for in your moral reckoning. If you take the purist "no violence" stance, you're abandoning victims to their fate so you can remain pure. That doesn't seem moral to me.
- ArnoVW 5y agoWithout making any statement of adherence from my part (on your perspective, or any of the below), I'll give you some possible alternative perspectives I can think of: - "this way I can help our guys protect innocent civilians" - "I need to sell this to to develop my baby (which I'm sure will ultimately benefit humanity); I'd prefer to sell this to Indian orphanages, too bad they have no budget or use for this" As a anside, the product has already been sold to Argentinian mountaineering search-and-rescue teams. To get an idea of the motivations or people in the Army, I can recommend "why I chose a gun", a 15 minute TED talk by a Dutch army officer that explains his reasoning. https://www.ted.com/talks/peter_van_uhm_why_i_chose_a_gun/transcript https://www.ted.com/talks/peter_van_uhm_why_i_chose_a_gun/tr... Or to give some historical perspective: Christiaan Huygens developed clocks for (military) naval navigation. Not because he was the type of gung-ho "let's kick some French ass" type of guy. In fact, he collaborated scientifically with French and English, being Dutch, even when for example France was at war with Holland. He just wanted to Make Something People Love (tm). And at the time, the only one able to foot that sort of R&D bill was the state. If the state had not invested huge sums like that, it's not at all obvious that he would have been able to perform his work.
- kleiba 5y agoIf that's not the coolest thing you've ever seen, I don't know what is...
- andyjohnson0 5y agohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtvCnZqZnxc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtvCnZqZnxc Same device being using in a training exercise by a civilian mountain rescue team in the UK.
- Someone1234 5y agoI suppose it could be useful, but not being able to evacuate someone certainly limits what it can do. In the video they still needed a helicopter for the actual rescue part. For search drones are cheaper, scale better, and are safer for mountain rescue staff. This may make sense for whatever cross-section exists for remote mobile first aid where a helicopter is unavailable, and you roughly know where they are (due to limited fuel and the risk of the jetpack itself getting stranded). If it can be expanded to hold two people this could be incredible for rescue.
- kylegordon 5y agoI believe it's being targeted at rapid medical response. In the same way paramedics arrive on a motorbike or in a car, prior to the ambulance and subsequent patient transport.
- dharmab 5y agoIt is very common for SAR to send EMTs in on foot to start initial stabilization and lifesaving procedures before a helicopter or ambulance is able to arrive. Check out these old SAR reports- they're mostly on-foot, not by ambulance. https://www.nps.gov/zion/blogs/sarblog.htm https://www.nps.gov/zion/blogs/sarblog.htm You wouldn't use this for evac- you wouldn't be able to stabilize a neck or spine with this.
- bjornsing 5y agoVery cool. But I can’t help thinking they would be siting ducks if there was armed resistance on that vessel...
- praveenperera 5y agoNot if they had a remotely controlled turret attached as well!
- TheAdamAndChe 5y agoShooting a moving target is actually extremely difficult, especially if you are using a rifle instead of a shotgun. You can also see one of the soldiers drawing and aiming a handgun after landing, so they aren't completely without firepower. Chances are good that they could also strap a bullpup rifle or subcompact machine gun on their chest during flight. Also if significant resistance is expected, there are always torpedoes.
- dogma1138 5y agoShooting a target that moves at a constant speed isn’t hard even with a rifle, at least not at these ranges. A more interesting use for these would be if they can be used as an arrested landing system for arial insertion at that point you essentially get drop troopers. This is a nice proof of concept but i doubt this would go through a sufficient risk reduction to be useful in an actual combat situation anytime soon.
- hervature 5y agoA moving target only gets bigger if it is moving directly towards you. At some point, the jetpack has to start moving towards a landing.
- secfirstmd 5y agoI think you need to compare it to the existing alternatives when boarding which are essentially a boat + ladder (fixed or grapple style) or a very large helicopter hovering above a static limited location (e.g a wide open space away from wires). Once people starting going down the rope, the helo is pretty much committed (albeit with covering fire most likely). Whatever happens, usually that process only then gets you on one place, e.g one level. Smarter defenders often make that harder for people assaulting - locating sentries, using barbed wire to block those places etc. You then have to fight, often through openish ground until you get to the first breaching points on that same level. Everyone is usually coming from the one location, for example where the ladder or helo rope is and doing it one by one. So it might take 30-60 seconds at least to get everyone onto the ship. It would be much quicker to board and harder to defend if an assault team could land basically anywhere on the ship simultaneously. All of a sudden you have people assaulting from front, rear, sides, top and then downwards etc etc. You are suddenly trying to defend from 10 different assaulting positions. Plus the noise and signature of the jet packs will probably be lower than that of a helicopter, so a chance for more surprise. Anywhere with a small enough gap for the jet pack to land. I assume also in future they will make the transition to fighting a lot faster, such as some kind of quick release mechanism to drop the jetpack stuff off you and get into the fight. Also another side benefit is that you can use your jetpack to get back off the ship. That might not be the case if it's too tricky for the helo or assault boat to recover you.
- foxyv 5y agoSo, they have mastered jet arms, now they just need gun legs!
- nielsbot 5y agoEver play Downwell? The character flies and shoots using gunboots: https://downwellgame.com https://downwellgame.com
- mooktakim 5y agoIt might be better to have a chair you sit on and use a joystick to maneuver instead of your arms. Let software manage the flight and stabilisation.
- bigtones 5y agoIf you fall in the water strapped into a chair you will drown.
- BugsJustFindMe 5y agoYou'd drown strapped into the shown equipment too. Getting out of a chair is probably easier.
- kylegordon 5y agoGiven that they primarily fly over water for safety and how quickly he can remove his hands from the arm mounted units, I think it would be remiss of them not to have considered a quick release mechanism for the rest of the suit.
- bserge 5y agoYou could surround that chair with some armor. Maybe add a few guns and a bigger fuel tank, too. Add a more efficient air propulsion system like some sort of propeller and a bigger engine at that point for maximum performance. Just joking heh, I actually think it would be better to make it autonomous or remote controlled. I don't see why a drone can't drop on the ship and set up a ladder in a similar manner, while being lighter.
- scrumper 5y agoThese suits (Gravity Jetsuits) were on sale in Selfridges in London for 340,000 GBP a few years ago. I had no idea they were so far out of the prototype stage. Astonishing. There's a racing series, you can book experience flights in them (if you don't have half a million dollars for your own), and now apparently you can also fight pirates.
- genericone 5y agoAre there jets on the backpack as well? As a lightweight person doing ring workouts, I can already tell you that just holding yourself upright is tough for most people to start with. Heavier people have a way harder time on rings, so I'm imagining holding the fuel and equipment while doing a dynamic ring workout, and I can't imagine doing it without a jet on the backpack, always gimbaled downwards.
- gooseyard 5y agomy first thought was that this seems like the sort of thing that looks like it would be incredibly fun until my arms tired and went limp after gaining some altitude and I plummeted to my death. Now a jetpack exoskeleton on the other hand...
- jessriedel 5y agoMost of the thrust is indeed coming from jets on the backpack. As far as I can tell, the hand thrusters are used mostly for balance. So like leaning forward a bit while standing and supporting yourself by grabbing a railing.
- nicoburns 5y agoYes there is.
- ChrisArchitect 5y agoas also seen previously on Verge article: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27059616 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27059616
- darod 5y agoCan someone explain the use case? Is it just to help soldiers board an aircraft quickly? With innovations in drone technology, I'd imagine it'd be more ideal to engage with the enemy with an autonomous or remote controlled drone. This would avoid putting a soldier flying's life in danger but maybe I'm missing something.
- andrewstuart 5y agoWalls are often a key defence against attack. These make wall defences irrelevant.
- raisedbyninjas 5y agoThis sure puts egg on the Trump administration's face.
- Gabriel_Martin 5y agoI mean ladders already existed
- veddox 5y agoWe have had helicopters for a while...
- chrisseaton 5y ago> With innovations in drone technology, I'd imagine it'd be more ideal to engage with the enemy with an autonomous or remote controlled drone. The enemy are likely inside the ship. So you would need to board and then go into the ship and fight. I can't imagine a drone being able to do that soon.
- dnautics 5y agoCould also be a hostage situation... You don't want to be willy nilly blowing shit up on an innocent third party ship, though a few bullet holes can be patched up.
- holoduke 5y agoIs this a jet powered engine or electric ducked fans? Cannot find it.
- cs702 5y agoThe closest thing I've seen yet to a flying Iron Man suit, in real life. The video shows royal marines flying off moving boats, and landing on other moving boats, in open water. Amazing.
- sgt101 5y agoHow many drones armed with a munition that could sink a power boat does the Royal Navy now field?
- JabavuAdams 5y agoConsidering how many times Boba Fett or his ancestors got killed by one shot or hit to the jetpack ...
- daniellenewnham 5y agoMore about the inventor/founder's story here - we discuss his background, his time in the Marines and why he built the jet pack https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/richard-browning/id1554305438?i=1000510527529 https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/richard-browning/id155...
- jimsmart 5y agoGravity Industries official website https://gravity.co https://gravity.co — They regularly post on FB also https://www.facebook.com/takeongravity https://www.facebook.com/takeongravity
- dmix 5y agoI thought I saw these before. Getting s trial deal with Royal Marines is a good get.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- cryptonector 5y agoThat's pretty cool, but the serviceperson doing the boarding has both hands fully occupied and might get shot at with no way to fire back.
- djrogers 5y agoThe same is true for a marine climbing a boarding ladder, net, or rope, or fast roping down from a helicopter (which would also be vulnerable to gunfire). This is an alternative to some of those options.
- simonh 5y agoExactly, this is an option for covert entry, or access to a location hard to reach any other way. If someone is shooting at you during infiltration, something has already gone horribly wrong and the whole thing is blown anyway.
- Tuna-Fish 5y agoNothing about this is covert. The jetsuit is really quite staggeringly loud.
- cryptonector 5y agoA helicopter is a lot less vulnerable, not least because it can put out suppressing fire.
- dharmab 5y agoUsually you would have someone else on a boat or helicopter with a gun to cover the boarders.
- cryptonector 5y agoDid you see the video? The angles involved may not be shallow enough.
- Tuna-Fish 5y ago
- umvi 5y agoSeems like these would be great for pirates (and other nefarious uses like smuggling, etc.) as well. Any technology that can be used by "good guys" can also be used by "bad guys".
- bencollier49 5y ago"Good for you! Mobile Infantry made me the man I am today!"
- mrcartmenez 5y agoI remember watching a similar video of Royal Marines demonstrating jet packs in the 1980s. What’s old is new again.
- OJFord 5y agoReally strange flashback feeling to playing Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun (at the after-school 'computer club', heh) watching this! Incredible. As a YouTube commentor says, this is the C21 everyone was waiting for right? (L5 self-driving cars or drone deliveries will be others I suppose, they're just further behind.)