Jet suits and jetpacks

Also known as Jet suit, Jetpack, Personal flight suit

Jet suits and jetpacks are wearable frames that carry small jet engines, letting a trained person fly for a few minutes. Trials by an air ambulance service and a navy show the idea can work, but short flight times, high cost, noise and unsettled rules keep use niche.

Pilot and early commercialDemonstratedReviewed 21 Oct 2026
AI illustration · Illustrative scene, not a photograph of the specific device or experiment.

In plain language

A jet suit is a wearable frame that carries several small jet engines, usually fuelled by kerosene. The engines push a stream of hot exhaust downwards, which lifts the wearer off the ground and lets them fly short distances over rough ground, water or steep hills.

The appeal is speed over difficult terrain. In 2020 a Gravity Industries pilot flew a suit from a valley floor in the Lake District to a simulated casualty site in about 90 seconds, a climb that the charity estimated would have taken around 25 minutes on foot. Flights are still short, though, and the suits need trained pilots, fuel and careful safety planning, so they remain a specialist tool rather than an everyday form of transport.

Technical explanation

Current suits use small kerosene-fuelled gas turbine engines. A 2018 NBC News report on a suit offered for sale described five small kerosene-fuelled turbine engines, two on each arm and one on the back, and reported flights of up to four minutes, citing Reuters. In 2022 the company's founder, Richard Browning, was quoted as saying the suit produces up to 144 kg of thrust. A 2021 Forces News report on the Royal Navy trial gives the suit's power as 1,050 brake horsepower and its speed as above 80 mph, and says it is technically capable of reaching 12,000 ft. These figures come from the company, the press and the trial partners, not from independent test reports.

Fuel use and endurance are the least well documented parts of the picture. A 2015 IEEE Spectrum article on the earlier JB-9 jetpack from Jetpack Aviation reported that it sucks down just under 4 litres of fuel a minute from a 38-litre tank and will fly for at least 10 minutes before running out of fuel. The same article said the JB-10 was then in test flights but gave no fuel or flight-time figures for it. Across the sources reviewed, quoted flight times range from about four minutes to about ten minutes, depending on the model and the report, and none of the sources gave an independent measurement of fuel burn for a jet suit.

Noise is also poorly measured in public sources. The 2018 NBC News report quoted the company founder comparing early jetpacks with early motor cars, which were noisy, but gave no decibel figure. No independent noise measurement was found in the sources reviewed, so any single decibel figure should be treated as unverified. On regulation, a CAA spokesman told the BBC in 2017 that a new category of regulation may be necessary, and that a pilot would almost certainly need some kind of training and a licence. The sources reviewed do not show a final UK rule for jet suits.

What the evidence says

Each statement is typed by the strength of its evidence and linked to the source that supports it.

Demonstrated Shown in a published experiment, test or shipping product.

In 2020 Gravity Industries founder Richard Browning flew a jet suit from a Lake District valley floor to a simulated casualty site in about 90 seconds; the charity estimated the same climb at about 25 minutes on foot.

Sources: [1] · Test account · medium confidence

Reported, unverified Stated by a company or team but not independently confirmed.

A Forces News report published on 4 May 2021 says Royal Marines from 42 and 47 Commando have trialled a jet suit that took off from a fast boat and landed on the deck of patrol ship HMS Tamar. The report gives no date for the trial.

Sources: [4] · Trial description · medium confidence

A March 2022 report by Great North Air Ambulance Service says one paramedic has completed a first free flight, operating a jet suit unassisted, in an onshore trial with Ørsted and Gravity Industries. The flight is not dated in the report.

Sources: [3], [2] · medium confidence

The company's founder states that the suit produces up to 144 kg of thrust; this is a manufacturer claim, and no independent test was found in the sources reviewed.

Sources: [3] · Quote from Richard Browning · medium confidence

A 2018 NBC News report described a suit with five small kerosene-fuelled turbine engines and gave flights of up to four minutes, citing Reuters.

Sources: [6] · medium confidence

The JB-9 jetpack from Jetpack Aviation reportedly burns just under 4 litres of fuel a minute from a 38-litre tank and can fly for at least 10 minutes.

Sources: [5] · Jetpack Aviation figures as reported by IEEE Spectrum · medium confidence

In 2017 a CAA spokesman told the BBC that a new category of regulation may be necessary for this technology and that a pilot would almost certainly need training and a licence.

Sources: [7] · medium confidence

A suit offered for sale in 2018 was reported at £340,000, with only nine for sale.

Sources: [6] · medium confidence

Proposed A design or plan that has not yet been built or tested.

Ørsted describes offshore wind uses, such as on-site triage and moving technicians to and from structures, as potential applications rather than proven ones; its 2022 trial was onshore.

Sources: [3]

Limitations and open problems

  • Flight times are short. The sources quote roughly four to ten minutes, which limits range and the time a suit can spend on a task.
  • Fuel use, endurance and payload for current jet suits have not been published as independently tested figures. Figures in the press come from manufacturers, trial partners and reporters.
  • Noise has not been measured in any independent public source reviewed, so its effect on pilots, bystanders and neighbours is not established.
  • Regulation is unsettled. In 2017 a UK aviation regulator spokesman said a new category may be needed, and the sources reviewed show no final rule.
  • Cost is high. NBC News reported a price of £340,000 in 2018 for a suit that was one of nine for sale. No later price data was verified.
  • The trials are early stage. The 2020 air ambulance test used a simulated casualty, and the 2022 programme described itself as being at an early stage, with no published figures or outcome data.

Possible future uses

Speculative

Ideas, not predictions. None of these has been demonstrated.

  • Rapid vertical access for ship boarding, if military trials show the suit is quiet, reliable and safe enough for operations.
  • Offshore wind technicians moving between turbines and platforms, which Ørsted describes as a potential use rather than a proven one.
  • Emergency first response in mountain and flood areas where roads are blocked, once flight times and pilot training routes are proven.

Timeline

  1. Nov 2015IEEE Spectrum reports that the JB-9 jetpack from Jetpack Aviation can fly for at least 10 minutes on a 38-litre fuel tank, and that the JB-10 is in test flights. Sources: [5]
  2. 28 Apr 2017A CAA spokesman tells the BBC that a new category of regulation may be necessary for jet-powered personal flight devices. Sources: [7]
  3. 23 Jul 2018NBC News reports a suit on sale for £340,000, with only nine available, and flights of up to four minutes. Sources: [6]
  4. Sept 2020Gravity Industries founder Richard Browning flies a suit from a Lake District valley floor to a simulated casualty site in about 90 seconds, against an estimated 25 minutes on foot. Sources: [1], [2]
  5. 4 May 2021Forces News reports that Royal Marines from 42 and 47 Commando have tested a suit that takes off from a fast boat and lands on the deck of patrol ship HMS Tamar. The report quotes the First Sea Lord describing the kit as 'game-changing kit'. Sources: [4]
  6. 22 Mar 2022Ørsted and Great North Air Ambulance Service report an onshore trial of jet suit paramedics, and the charity says one paramedic has completed a first free flight, operating the suit unassisted. Sources: [3], [2]

Futures this could help bring about

AI illustration
How far away?

Flying to work in a jet suit

Engineering prototypes · 3 of 7 steps done

Glossary

Gas turbine
An engine that burns fuel in a stream of air to produce a fast jet of exhaust gas, used here to create lift and thrust.
Kerosene
A jet fuel, similar to paraffin, used to power many aircraft turbine engines.
Brake horsepower
A measure of engine power at the output shaft, used in engine specifications.
Thrust
The push that an engine or jet produces to move or lift an object.

Sources

  1. other
    Jet Suit Paramedic
    Great North Air Ambulance Service, Sept 2020. Accessed 21 Oct 2026.
  2. other
    GNAAS partners with renewable energy leader for Jet Suit paramedic trials
    Megan Sharkey. Great North Air Ambulance Service, 22 Mar 2022. Accessed 21 Oct 2026.
  3. company announcement
    Ørsted trials worlds first Jet Suit paramedic
    Ørsted, 22 Mar 2022. Accessed 21 Oct 2026.
  4. news
    Navy and Marines test 'game-changing' ship-boarding jet suit
    Forces News, 4 May 2021. Accessed 21 Oct 2026.
  5. news
    Finally, the Jetpack We've Always Wanted
    Evan Ackerman. IEEE Spectrum, 10 Nov 2015. Accessed 21 Oct 2026.
  6. news
    This jet pack lets you live your 'Iron Man' fantasies, but you'll need Tony Stark money
    Ella Koscher. NBC News, 23 Jul 2018. Accessed 21 Oct 2026.
  7. news
    TED 2017: UK 'Iron Man' demonstrates flying suit
    Ada Derana (reprinting BBC Technology), 28 Apr 2017. Accessed 21 Oct 2026.

Revision history

3 changes since this profile was created.

Changes on 21 Oct 2026
Published on owner instruction (content loop iteration 10)d8d21cd
Sources and claims re-checked against originalsfbb434c
Initial profile drafted from primary sources7e66249