{"id":9268,"date":"2022-01-09T15:34:13","date_gmt":"2022-01-09T15:34:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/advwisdom.com\/a\/british-troops-are-testing-the-stealth-successor-to-flying-flea-which-can-be-parachuted-from-behind-enemy-lines-12\/"},"modified":"2022-01-09T15:34:13","modified_gmt":"2022-01-09T15:34:13","slug":"british-troops-are-testing-the-stealth-successor-to-flying-flea-which-can-be-parachuted-from-behind-enemy-lines-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/advwisdom.com\/a\/british-troops-are-testing-the-stealth-successor-to-flying-flea-which-can-be-parachuted-from-behind-enemy-lines-12\/","title":{"rendered":"British troops are testing the \u201cstealth\u201d successor to Flying Flea, which can be parachuted from behind enemy lines"},"content":{"rendered":"

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British forces trained to fall behind enemy lines are testing stealth electric motorcycles for battlefield missions.<\/p>\n

The virtually noiseless vehicles were tested in November at a secret location in rural France, where rugged dirt roads and hilly terrain became a substitute for desert and jungle combat areas.<\/p>\n

The \u00a3 4,495 electric off-road motorcycles known as Sur-Ron Fireflys were piloted by troops from the 16th Air Assault Brigade – the Army’s rapid reaction force recently deployed to evacuate British and personnel support from Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

This is the latest attempt by army chiefs to find a modern day successor to the legendary Royal Enfield \u201cFlying Flea\u201d motorcycles that parachuted into action during World War II.<\/p>\n

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The \u00a3 4,495 electric off-road motorcycles called Sur-Ron Fireflys were piloted by troops from the 16th Air Assault Brigade – the Army’s recently deployed rapid reaction force to evacuate the British and support personnel from Afghanistan.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Fireflies are light, weigh a little more than the 7th (45 kg) compared to the 43rd (272 kg) of a regular motorcycle, and have a top speed of 45 mph. They also leave behind a tiny “thermal signature”, making them much less likely to be detected by an enemy’s thermal sensors.<\/p>\n

Powered by lithium batteries that can be removed and carried separately when crossing water, the bikes have a range of 60 miles and are fully charged in just over three hours. <\/p>\n

Tests, which the motorcycles could be used in live action this year, will be overseen by Captain Dan Lauder, a former Royal Marine command who oversees the operations of the 16th Air Assault Brigade.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe good thing about such a small vehicle is that you can put it in the back of a helicopter,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could have several in the back of an airplane and then possibly drop it under a parachute from behind. They’re not loud, they don’t create much heat signature and can be used in a way that a gasoline engine would just tell your location. ‘<\/p>\n

Capt Lauder and colleagues believe that motorcycles could be ideal for reconnaissance missions and provide vital information through undiscovered areas of conflict.<\/p>\n

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The Department of Defense said last night, “Further testing will be needed before a decision to promote the procurement is made.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Brigadier General Nick Cowley, Commander of 16 Air Assault, said, “Since we must be able to fight on battlefields where there will be periods of non-communication, we must have the maximum capacity to send messages across the battlefield, to make sure we can still maneuver.<\/p>\n

But fireflies can be problematic under certain conditions. Lithium batteries can run out of charge in cold weather, and a range of 60 miles could lead bikers to search for charging points in a war zone.<\/p>\n

Capt Lauder also noted that the vehicle’s range dropped to 25 miles when a combat-ready soldier with a rifle, supplies, and protective gear drove the vehicle hard.<\/p>\n

Sur-Ron’s Fireflys are open to the public and have been linked in the past to accidents where pedestrians could not hear the approaching bicycles.<\/p>\n

The Department of Defense said last night, “Further testing will be needed before a decision to promote the procurement is made.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Share or comment on this article: <\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sent: 5:02 p.m. EST, January 8, 2022 | To update: 5:02 p.m. EST, January 8, 2022 British forces trained to fall behind enemy lines are testing stealth electric motorcycles for battlefield missions. The virtually noiseless vehicles were tested in November at a secret location in rural France, where rugged dirt roads and hilly terrain became […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/advwisdom.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/advwisdom.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/advwisdom.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advwisdom.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advwisdom.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/advwisdom.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9268\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/advwisdom.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advwisdom.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advwisdom.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}