In Great Britain, the Royal Navy has begun testing using jet suits to board shipping vessels. In this new video released by UK-based Gravity Industries, a man is seen flying from a raft to the HMS Tamar, a Royal Navy Batch 2 River-class offshore patrol ship.
Royal Marines used Gravity Industries’ Jet Suit to conduct a “visit, board, search, and seizure” operation or VBSS. Essentially, a marine launched from a fast boat tailing behind the HMS Tamar, flew through the air using a pack on his back and two handheld devices, and landed on the larger ship, all while dropping a rope below so his comrades could climb up and “visit” the simulated enemy vessel.
This highly sophisticated technology seems like something out of a Science-Fiction film, rather than a quickly approaching reality. It has served as an ad for both Gravity Industries as well as the Royal Navy.
Gravity Industries has been making similar technology for several years now, and while this isn’t their first demo being launched with the assistance of the Royal Navy Marines, usually, it’s shown by Gravity Industries CEO Richard Browning himself. In fact, an earlier version of the Jet Suit was test run with Browning piloting in 2019, through the Royal Navy’s assault course. Gravity Industries has also collaborated with the Dutch Maritime Special Operations Force (SOF) to see how the suit holds up.
While the suit is highly impressive as a military operative, it also has been tested with other groups. Namely, the Great North Air Ambulance, a UK charity group that retrieves people from mountain ranges for medical reasons or other emergency situations in Northern England. The suit seen in this video seems to have been slimmed down from it’s previous iterations, including smaller arm rockets and a sleeker backpack.