Logos Developing Special Missions Motorcycle

Logos Technologies, Fairfax, Virginia, has received a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to continue development of the SilentHawk military motorcycle in partnership with Alta Motors.

Among other missions, the bike is being designed to support intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions by extending the reach of special forces, enabling them to travel further, over rough terrain, running either in silent electric mode or using an internal combustion engine that runs on whatever fuel can be scavenged over the course of their mission. The battery also is designed to be a source of electric power for auxiliary devices.

The motorcycle will include a quiet, all-wheel drive capability in a lightweight, rugged, single-track vehicle; a hybrid power system capable of running on a variety of fuels, or on an all-electric motor; and a first-of its-kind customizability due to a hybrid-electric unit capable of being quickly detached from the rest of the bike in 30 minutes, allowing field-swapping from electric-only version to hybrid-electric version.

When fully matured, SilentHawk will allow small, distributed military teams to move long distances quickly and stealthily across harsh enemy terrain, meeting DARPA’s expectations for high performance, efficiency and military utility. The prototype will combine Alta’s existing RedShift MX electric motocross bike with Logos Technologies’ quiet, multifueled hybrid-electric power system, developed for a separate unmanned aerial vehicle program.

During Phase I, which began in February 2014, Logos and Alta conducted extensive performance testing on the RedShift MX in multiple terrains and riding conditions to help understand the requirements for an off-road military motorcycle. Using this data, Logos demonstrated the suitability of its hybrid-electric system to meeting actual off-road power requirements.

The result of Phase I was a preliminary design, backed by testing and modeling, which Logos intends to turn into a prototype during Phase II. With most critical requirements of the system already demonstrated, the Logos-Alta team plans to develop and test the first operational prototype in 18 months.