Secure Point Technologies Inc (fka IMSCQ)

[Clachi Mach]

What does Prox Dynamics...

The difference is, Prox Dynamics micro drone is a good idea. Small nimble, stealth, low cost, does not risk a soldier, cost is negligible, expendable, fault tolerant, good return for investors.

Want to deliver small ordinances simultaneously from eight different directions at a target? Try the next size up drone, a real defense player is no doubt already making that also. War machinery is not for dilettants to play at. Nice Z jet bike video though. ScFr, Nice work on the bad guy faces, do two of them have a thin wire cable?

Note the quote in the middle of the article below "after years of frustration". And it was 1989, drone stone age.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2000/sep/14/technology2

The military liked the idea and funded a second project, the Bell Aerospace Jet Belt. This was based around a small turbojet engine with thrust nozzles directed downwards from the operator's shoulders. By 1969, the prototype was flying at up to 30mph for four minutes at a time. The makers reckoned that it would eventually be capable of over 80mph for 20 minutes.

Unfortunately, some design weaknesses became apparent, especially during landing when pilots had to cope with 100 kilos of jet on their backs. Falling over with a jet engine running is hazardous, with the risk of ingesting foreign objects. After years of frustration, Bell sold the rights to Williams Research Corporation.

Williams built the next model to take to the skies, the Wasp, sometimes described as a flying pulpit. The pilot stood astride the engine, with a 63,000 revs-per-minute jet between his legs. "What if it tossed a rotor blade?" asked writer Terry Metzgar. The designers covered the engine with Kevlar shielding to lessen the risk of damage if the worst happened. Landing wasn't a problem, but the military decided that it lacked the endurance for a mission and turned it down in 1982.

Undaunted, Williams went on to produce the X-Jet. Similar to the Wasp but with a highly efficient turbofan engine from a cruise missile, it could fly for 30 minutes at a top speed of 60mph. The X-Jet was highly manoeuvrable and much more stable than it looked. By 1989 the US Army had turned it down; the reasons are given in official reports which are still classified. Perhaps it was the cost, which was described as being "more than a Jeep, less than a helicopter" depending on the size of the production run. A more basic issue was that the X-Jet was competing with helicopters which were faster, had longer range and were capable of carrying more than just a single soldier. The one area where it might have had an advantage was reconnaissance, where small size and agility are an advantage. Unfortunately, this niche was already being taken up by small unmanned aircraft. There was no killer application to persuade the Army that the X-Jet was an unmissable opportunity.