For those who always wanted to be a firefighter and ended up in some boring office job, this could be your great motivation to ditch it. Firefighters in the commercial city of Dubai just became cooler than you could ever think when they were handed GTA style jetpacks to fight fires in the countless skyscrapers of the city that currently stand at 916. A startup named Martin Jetpack has been consulted by the city administration to provide both manned and remotely piloted jetpacks for rescue and fire mitigation in the event of a disaster and now they have been delivered to the department.
Officer Ali Multawa of the Civil Defense Unit said that 20 jetpacks had been purchased, and they would be used to improve fire services and save people’s lives in the future. He also shed light on the rapid response system and said that at the moment only the first response team of the fire unit will be given the packs as they have difficulty reaching top floors of a tall building due to the extraordinary distance involved. For example, Burh Khalifa itself has 163 floors, and if the elevator system is blocked or affected by the fire, it will be nearly impossible for the team to get them on time. The department already uses helicopters and other aircraft to monitor and rescue if needed, but these fast jetpacks will give an added dimension to the administration.
This Jetpack is powered by a V4 engine and can reach speeds of 74 Kph and can rise to 1,000 meters with controls fit enough for convenient quarter navigation. The city administration also wants to equip them with thermal imaging sensors so that people can be located and evacuated within no time. Martin Jetpack has also hinted at the possibility of jetpacks for other purposes as well including military use. Why does the military get to have it first?