Indian Army shows interest in locally-made jetpack on display at Aero India

An indigenously-developed jetpack has elicited interest of the defence forces, especially the Indian Army which has called for a demonstration, the device manufacturer said on Friday.

Absolute Composites Private Limited which manufactures Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) has come up with the jetpack propelled by turbojet engines.

"It is a working model. We have trained pilots also," Raghav Reddy, managing director of the company, told PTI.

He said the firm has not yet received orders but the Indian armed forces evinced interest.

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"Next week, there will be a demonstration in a hilly terrain where they will evaluate the configuration and its functionality. If we are able to tick their boxes of requirement, then they may look at buying but as of now it's a Request For Proposal (RFP)," Reddy explained.

Stating that the jetpack is a prototype, the company MD said he was confident that their product will qualify.

According to him, the jetpack has endurance of seven to eight minutes and it can fly up to nine kilometres with one fuel tank.

The diesel-based jetpack weighing 40 kg is a fuel guzzler, which consumes about five litres a minute.

There are many mechanisms to avoid any damage to the user in the event of eventuality.

The suit, according to Reddy, is heat-insulated and fire-resistant.