Dubai Police to Patrol With ‘Star Wars’-Inspired Hoverbikes

Hoversurf part of a futuristic upgrade for cops in the emirate.

October 16, 2017 5:00 am
An Emiratee police officer stands next to a drone motorcycle at the Gitex 2017 exhibition at the Dubai World Trade Center in Dubai on October 8, 2017.  / AFP PHOTO / GIUSEPPE CACACE        (Photo credit should read GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP/Getty Images)
An Emiratee police officer stands next to a drone motorcycle at the Gitex 2017 exhibition at the Dubai World Trade Center in Dubai on October 8, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / GIUSEPPE CACACE (Photo credit should read GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP/Getty Images)
AFP/Getty Images

The Force is strong with Dubai’s police force.

On Sunday, the department unveiled a batch of high-tech gadgets added to their arsenal during the emirate’s Gitex Technology Week conference.

Among them is a new flying hover-bike, the Hoversurf, which bears a striking resemblance to the fictional vehicles used in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.

“It works on electricity and can fly at five meters height and carry a policeman during emergency situations and heavy traffic,” a spokesman for the Dubai Police told the United Arab Emirates’ Gulf News.

The hoverbike can fly at an altitude of up to six kilometers and reach a speed of 70 kilometers an hour.

Star Wars
Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) rides a hoverbike in ‘Return of the Jedi’ (Lucasfilm)

As Dubai positions itself as the “City of the Future,” police in the Middle Eastern metropolis will also get self-driving cars that can use facial recognition software to scan for criminals, according to the report.

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