Kalashnikov show off their first ever hoverbike
Kalashnikovs new hoverbike has civilian and military use cases but most people will just want one to commute in
Cite or link to this article
Griffin, M. (2017) 'Kalashnikov show off their first ever hoverbike', 311 Institute, 7 October. Available at: https://www.311institute.com/kalashnikov-show-off-their-first-ever-hoverbike/ (Accessed: 1 October 2026).
Last week Kalashnikov, makers of the famous AK-47 and part of the Russian defence giant Rostec, announced that it’s branching out into what it calls “Rideables,” and for their first act they’ve produced an actual, working hoverbike that, admittedly, looks like a giant quadcopter.
Officially though the company is calling their new hoverbike a flying car, which, frankly doesn’t make any sense, and at the moment it’s unclear why they would want to dumb down such a magnificent sci-fi vehicle.
As you can see in the above video, there’s not much to it at the moment - just eight rotors joined together by a skeletal frame, a couple of joysticks, and what appears to be a couple of batteries located under the driver, and at the end of the video, you can see a shell or chassis superimposed over the vehicle, which gives you a better sense of how Kalashnikov might commercialise it.
After decades of being out of vogue and being labelled “crazy” or “stupid” or both it looks like flying cars, albeit mainly in the form of flying passenger drones, like the ones that are about to enter service in Dubai, are making a comeback with companies like Airbus, who recently showed off their concept, Chinese company EHang, and Uber, among many others all racing to build the first flying cars, taxis or whatever you want to call them, and create the first flying taxi networks.
So, finally, for those of you who are willing to loose an appendage or two, your day in the sun is arriving. Time to get those orders in.
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Kalashnikovs new hoverbike has civilian and military use cases but most people will just want one to commute in
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Matthew Griffin Founder, 311 Institute
Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath."
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Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath." 15-time best selling author of the "Codex of the Future" series, Matthew is the Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm working with royal households, world leaders, G7, G20, and G77 governments, NGOs, and multi-national mid and mega cap firms to help them explore, shape, and lead the next 50 years of business and society.
An award-winning YouTube creator with over a million followers, with an unrivalled global reach and impact, Matthew is a highly sought-after international keynote speaker, lecturer, and mentor who collaborates with global leaders through the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to shape pivotal initiatives such as the UN’s AI for Humanity program, the United Nations Conference of the Parties (UN COP), and the World Economic Forum in Davos.
As the former Global Head of Cloud, National Security, and Enterprise Sales for companies including Atos, Dell-EMC, and IBM, Matthew has a proven track record of building multi-billion dollar business units and turning failing divisions into market leaders. His ability to identify, analyse, and communicate the implications of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends is unparalleled, and his insights are trusted by many of the world’s most respected organisations, including ABB, Accenture, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi, Coca-Cola, Dentons, Deloitte, Dow Jones, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, Siemens AG and Siemens Energy, T-Mobile, UBS, VISA, Walmart, Workday, Worldpay and many others.
Regularly featured in the global media including the AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, Forbes, Khaleej Times, Telegraph, TIME, ViacomCBS, WIRED, and the WSJ, Matthews mission is to help organisations create a fair and sustainable future whose benefits are shared by everyone irrespective of their ability, background, or circumstances.
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Sources and further reading
- Kalashnikov kalashnikov.com
- Rostec rostec.ru
Source: first published by the 311 Institute on 7 October 2017. Cite as: Griffin, M. (2017). Kalashnikov show off their first ever hoverbike. 311 Institute. https://www.311institute.com/kalashnikov-show-off-their-first-ever-hoverbike/
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