The US military is developing Star Wars-style hoverbikes

Last time we heard from Malloy Aeronautics, it was testing hoverbike technology with a robot-carrying drone. A few months later, it's partnering with a Maryland-based defense company to develop a hoverbike for the US military. Working with Survice Engineering Co., the UK aeronautics company will set up shop in Maryland as part of "an ongoing research and development contract." The duo will also work with the US Army Research Laboratory on the project that aims to create "a new class of Tactical Reconnaissance Vehicle (TRV)."

The goal is to replace some of the work a helicopter does with the hoverbikes, a vehicle that provides increased safety and costs significantly less. "With adducted rotors you immediately not only protect people and property if you were to bump into them, but if you ever were to bump into somebody or property it's going to bring the aircraft out of the air," Malloy's marketing sales director Grant Stapleton told Reuters. Funds from a Kickstarter campaign for those compact UAVs was used to build scale models capable of carrying a human -- one of which was on display at the Paris Air Show.
[Image credit: Malloy Aeronautics]