California-based JetPack Aviation announced it has closed a sale with an undisclosed military customer in Southeast Asia for two JB12 JetPacks. The USD $800,000 order will take around six months to complete.
Weighing 105lb (48kg) and powered by six turbojet engines each delivering around 88lb (0.39kN) thrust, the JB12 delivers unprecedented air mobility to individual pilots. The vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) JetPack is controlled through whole-engine vectoring and a thrust management computer which enables the pilot to hover and maneuver in all directions, at speeds up to 120mph (193km/h).
“The ratification of this deal demonstrates that the JB12 JetPack provides defense forces with exceptional aerial capabilities to fulfill a wide array of mission requirements. The maneuverability of the JetPack, its small form factor, which fits inside a set of standard Pelican cases, and ease of integration with our Speeder platform to complement the JB12’s capabilities, were all factors that informed the sale,” said David Mayman, Founder and CEO of JetPack Aviation.
“This order represents a significant step forward for us as it confirms that our development program is meeting military needs,” he added.
The JetPack technology supports the ongoing development of the Speeder program. With its unique combination of heavy payload, speed, minimal-footprint VTOL operation, simplicity and optionally piloted flight, the Speeder offers unparalleled special missions and emergency services capabilities, with longer term application to the urban air mobility market.
In military and special missions’ applications the JB12 and Speeder offer distinctive individual capabilities, while together they offer an attractive mix of personal mobility and high-speed VTOL mission performance. Through commonality of technology and operational compatibility, the teaming of JB12 and Speeder enables expansion into new, emerging mission sets.
JetPack Aviation recently completed flight trials with P1, its first full-scale prototype Speeder, and plans to begin flying P1.5 later in 2021. The aircraft will gather data to inform the design and build of P2, for which flight test is anticipated from Q1/2 2022. Demand for the Speeder is expected to be high and JetPack Aviation has already begun readying letters of intent for customers and taking pre-orders for the aircraft.
The Speeder and JB12 burn regular Jet A-1, kerosene, or diesel, but in a recent cooperative supply agreement with Prometheus Fuels Inc., JetPack Aviation has committed to using 100% zero net carbon fuel in all its future operations.
The engineering leader in small, turbine-powered personal VTOL aircraft, JetPack Aviation spent millions of R&D dollars between 2009 and 2015, designing, building, and testing a series of JetPack designs that led to the JB10, JB11, and JB12. A lower thrust version of the JB12 and the world’s first FAA-approved jetpack, the JB10 is scheduled to debut in its own race series next year. With pilots racing around a three-dimensional overwater track, the competition will demonstrate real world JetPack capabilities that are equally applicable to military maneuvers.
JetPack Aviation’s wider mission is to create a range of VTOL aircraft that will save lives and revolutionize complex special missions. Based on its Speeder design and capable of carrying heavy payloads, the aircraft are small, transportable, optionally piloted, and fast. They have no rotors or lift fans, reducing operational footprint and complexity, and while JetPack Aviation’s initial focus is on special missions, they have obvious longer-term application to the urban air mobility market.
From 2022, all of JetPack Aviation’s aircraft will operate using zero net carbon fuels supplied by Prometheus Fuels Inc.
Photo Caption: The JB12 is a classified model evolved from the JB11, in this photo, developed by JetPack Aviation
