Russian flying motorbikes could soon thrive under Dubai sun, following a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by Hoversurf, the Russian startup which has designed these futuristic machines, and the emirate’s police.
The agreement was inked last week after Hoversurf demonstrated its motorbike at the GITEX technology week in Dubai.
The local police intend to use the flying bike during heavy traffic and to respond to emergency situations, the Gulf News quoted a police officer as saying.
The Russian company has also received an invitation to start mass production of its futuristic hoverbikes in the Dubai area with support from the local authorities, Hoversurf CEO Alexander Atamanov wrote on his Facebook page.
Scorpion is an electric-powered, single-seat vessel which combines a motorcycle seat design with quadcopter drone technology. The flying machine is intended for both amateur and professional pilots, “bringing them the speed, agility and stability” of aircrafts just five meters above the surface.
With a pilot, the hoverbike can fly during up to 25 minutes, move up to 70 km (43 miles) per hour, and carry up to 300kg of weight. Without a pilot, it can cover up to 6km, a police officer told Gulf News.
The device seems to be the world’s first fully rideable hoverbike, noted Mashable’s Brett William, comparing it to Return of the Jedi’s famous vehicles IRL.
“There are other hoverbike prototypes in the works, but none of them have performed as well as the Scorpion-3 on camera — especially not with a human pilot along for the ride,” wrote William.
While the vessel was initially regarded by its creators as an extreme sports instrument, the agreement with the Dubai police is opening the way to a much larger range of use.
Hoversurf is a resident of Skolkovo, the international tech hub under completion on the outskirts of Moscow. Fourteen other Skolkovo residents were exhibited their products and solutions at GITEX. Several of those companies met with Matar Al Humairi, Assistant Chief Executive Officer of the Smart Infrastructure Sector at the Smart Dubai Government initiative, the Skolkovo Foundation has reported.
