RT NewsA new US military project looking to combine a ground vehicle and a helicopter has been generating online buzz. The new technology, which so far has surpassed initial expectations, could well be performing rescue and supply missions in the future.
Advanced Tactics, an El Segundo, California-based aerospace engineering company that specializes in the “development of next-generation military and civil vehicle technologies,” released a new video Tuesday of the “Black Knight.” Part transport vehicle and part helicopter, the Black Knight is categorized as a so-called “transforming vehicle” that hopes to function on the ground and in the air.
The project started as a proof of concept for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), although many have wondered if the project was ever expected to surpass the principle feasibility test. If the military currently has any intention to deploy a fleet of Black Knights, they are unknown.
Based on the Advanced Tactics video posted this week Advanced Tactics certainly seems to hope the project is impressive enough to warrant a new contract agreement from the Department of Defense. The video indicates that it is designed to cruise at up to 150 mph in the air, guided either by a pilot or autonomously.
A recent US government study on the specifics of medical evacuation provided more details on the possible uses of the Black Knight.
(1) Provide tactical commanders with increased tactical and operational flexibility; (2) Allow the execution of Unmanned Aircraft Systems for Casualty Evacuation – these missions in conditions that manned platforms cannot (or should not) operate in, such as “zero-zero” weather or a contaminated environment; (3) Husband critical medical “first responder” resources; and (4) Act as a force multiplier of scarce “high demand/low density” medical evacuation assets.
A bullet magnet!
I’ll believe it when I see it , and not before.
I think DARPA’s real mission is to scare people with new technology that doesn’t, and can’t actually work.
Helicopters are nothing new, but the video of this piece of trash shows it struggling to get off the ground when it’s empty, so I don’t know how much cargo it’s ever going to carry.
The aerodynamics of helicopter flight require a wide diameter propeller to give it lifting ability, and the propellers can’t overlap because they can’t gain lift from pushing downward on air that’s already being pushed downward by another propeller. See?
For more lifting ability the propellers have to be separated, and large, which would result in making this particular vehicle unwieldy for ground use, so I doubt that DARPA’s latest crazy dream will ever come true.
If this thing could fly, they’d be very eager to show you a video of it actually flying, but what we see here is a lead balloon.
Why would anyone want a flying box? Especially when a helicopter would do just fine. And why does the title mention “humvee”, when this has nothing at all to do with a humvee?