Stealth motorcycles for DARPA with hybrid engines, working on almost any fuel

Nightmare

At the Special Forces Industry Conference ( SOFIC 2016 ), two companies presented custom-made (and with financial support) DARPA motorcycles with hybrid engines for military use.

These prototypes are called “stealth motorcycles”, but not from the fact that they are not visible on the radar. Two years ago, DARPA placed an order for the manufacture of a motorcycle that would move as quietly as an electric motorcycle, but at the same time could cover a noticeably longer distance. Two companies took up this matter seriously.

Logos produced the Silent Hawk (“silent hawk”), and LSA Autonomy produced the Nightmare (“nightmare”). Enduro-like off-road hybrids are similar to each other, and demonstrate a hybrid system fit in the frame, in which the internal combustion engine can work on almost everything that burns - JP-8 aviation kerosene, Jet A-1, propane, gasoline ...

Logos company engineer Alex Dzwill [Alex Dzwill] claims that their bike, theoretically, can go on olive oil, while he will understand that he poured into the tank. The company's goal is a hybrid motorcycle, capable of delivering up to 55 miles per hour over rough terrain, and have the engine removed from the frame .


Silent Hawk

Such requirements are clear from the point of view of the use of this vehicle - during hostilities, it is rarely possible to meet working gas stations, so ideally motorcycles should move on any kind of fuel. During the operation of the engine, the bike produces a lot of noise, about 80 db. But in the "quiet" mode of a trip on batteries, the noise is reduced to 55 db - and this is comparable with the volume of the conversation in the room.

The Silent Hawk uses an electrical system from the company Alta Motors , which has long been producing electric motorcycles. Lithium-ion batteries are known for their tendency to explode in the event of overheating, and to install a powerful battery in a motorcycle, it has to be compactified. Engineers claim that a well-designed active cooling system will protect the rider from harm, even if some of the cells fail. A very similar system is used in cars Tesla.

Both motorcycles have all-wheel drive connection, but the Nightmare will be bigger and more powerful than his brother. It weighs 200 kg, and the engines produce 17 hp. on the front wheel and 135 in the rear, while the power of its system is 13 KW. Silent Hawk weighs 170 kg and generates 7.5 kW. Both motorcycles can be used as electric generators for connecting external consumers. Whether we will see hybrid motorcycles on the roads is still unknown.