'Stealth' prototypes go on display

A couple of years ago we reported that the US military was throwing its considerable weight behind the development of a near-silent covert motorcycle with a hybrid power system — playing catch up to the technology it has already been using for a long time in air and sea applications.

The goal? To provide ground troops with the ability to navigate through tough terrain quickly and without detection. Such a bike could also air-dropped down to troops on the ground where they could use it and subsequently hide it “for later retrieval”.

At that juncture, in mid-2014, the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) gave an innovation research grant to Virginia-based Logos Technologies to develop the bike. Well, Logos has now developed a covert motorcycle called 'The Silent Hawk', while another company called LSA Autonomy has developed a machine it is calling 'Nightmare'.

Last week, at the National Defense Industrial Association’s Special Operations Forces Industry Conference, both prototype hybrids were on display.

The Silent Hawk weighs 159kg, has a range of 274km, can reach a top speed of 129km/h and can store 35kg of equipment. When it's in “quiet mode”, the noise it emits is less than 55 decibels, which is about as loud as a normal conversation.

The Nightmare (pictured) sports specs similar to the Silent Hawk, although its 23kg heavier with can just a bit more horsepower.

Both the Silent Hawk and the Nightmare can run on a number of different fuels, including gasoline, Jet-A1 fuel, propane and more.

“If it’s gasoline, tell it it’s gasoline, tell it it’s something else. It will figure it out,” said Alex Dzwill, and engineer with Logos.

Will these bikes make the transition from prototypes to full-fledged vehicles for combat operations? If so, it won't be far off.

Source: bgr.com