# Would a jetpack actually be useful in war? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 5, 2026, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-jetpack-actually-be-useful-in-war/1027380 "2026-02-05T00:35:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2026, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-jetpack-actually-be-useful-in-war/1027380/21 "2026-02-05T20:49:13Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > The biggest problem with jetpacks is that there is no cover in the air. It would be like skeet shooting for the enemy. except skeet shooting with an A-15 / AK-47 is by no means trivial or easy (well, the shooting part is, the hitting part is the tricky one). > [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > But the German fliegende Raketenrucksacktruppen (🙂 I made that up) _Raketenrucksackschnelleinsatztruppenfuehrer_ … hmmm … you foreigners will **never** learn it!!! ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2026, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-jetpack-actually-be-useful-in-war/1027380/22 "2026-02-05T21:03:52Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > A jetpack powered by magic Treknobabble would be a really useful, and perhaps revolutionary addition to leg infantry. > > A jetpack that could be built using 2026-era real world power sources is nigh to useless. Or problematic; I suspect we _could_ build a jet pack with similar performance…if we used a nuclear power source. But I expect a jet pack powered by a minimally shielded nuclear power supply would be both politically and personally unpopular. At least in the movie _wearing_ the thing didn’t kill you… ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2026, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-jetpack-actually-be-useful-in-war/1027380/23 "2026-02-06T01:42:19Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > A jetpack that could be built using 2026-era real world power sources is nigh to useless. Don’t introduce reality into this discussion!! The other aspect of the impossibility of the hypothetical is that if technology were available to make jet packs in WWII, the same technology would be used for other weapons and things would be so different that it’s impossible to even guess what would happen. But, if you magically had such devices, of course it would be fun. Well, if anything about war can be described as “fun.” You just can’t take it too seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2026, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-jetpack-actually-be-useful-in-war/1027380/24 "2026-02-06T02:01:17Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > But, if you magically had such devices, of course it would be fun. Well, if anything about war can be described as “fun.” “Surprise was not achieved in the assault due to multiple Rocket Troopers shouting _‘Wheeee!’_ as they flew overhead the sentries.” ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2026, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-jetpack-actually-be-useful-in-war/1027380/25 "2026-02-06T12:24:48Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > Don’t introduce reality into this discussion!! > > The other aspect of the impossibility of the hypothetical is that if technology were available to make jet packs in WWII, the same technology would be used for other weapons and things would be so different that it’s impossible to even guess what would happen. Well yes. But the OP’s title was “Would a jetpack actually be useful in war?”. Suggesting a serious real-world question even if prompted from a work of fiction. The OP’s body content did nothing to dispel the notion they were thinking real-world hardware. As you said, but I stopped short of, dropping any fictional (or time-inappropriate) tech into a setting can’t legitimately happen in a vacuum with _ceteris paribus_. E.g. you’re not going to have 2026 military quadcopter drones in WWII without also having all kinds of microelectronics, something equivalent to GPS, which implies satellites, advanced plastics, etc., etc. Dropping onesy changes into the stew of ~~warfare~~ human affairs isn’t just cheating. It’s fundamentally logically invalid. And so amounts to magic. The esteemed **Chronos** often comments in physics threads that once you drop one element of magick into your counterfactual, the whole of physics is upended and nothing useful can be predicted about anything. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2026, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-jetpack-actually-be-useful-in-war/1027380/26 "2026-02-06T13:43:05Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > “Surprise was not achieved in the assault due to multiple Rocket Troopers shouting _‘Wheeee!’_ as they flew overhead the sentries.” Jets of any sort are quite loud - I doubt jet packs could be used for any sort of stealth mission, more of a ‘shock and awe’ tool. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2026, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-jetpack-actually-be-useful-in-war/1027380/27 "2026-02-06T19:43:56Z")
It seems to me that the real value of the jet pack would be in mountainous terrain. It would allow easy “climbing” to the troops on the lower elevations. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2026, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-jetpack-actually-be-useful-in-war/1027380/28 "2026-02-06T19:58:16Z")
In that kind of terrain, landing could be challenging, even dangerous. If you climbed to a spot, you can probably stand there. If you fly to a spot, there’s no guarantee you’ll be able to put down without falling off. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2026, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-jetpack-actually-be-useful-in-war/1027380/29 "2026-02-06T23:38:29Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > It seems to me that the real value of the jet pack would be in mountainous terrain. It would allow easy “climbing” to the troops on the lower elevations. For that you need jet boots. [https://i.makeagif.com/media/10-13-2023/-MdDTu.mp4](https://i.makeagif.com/media/10-13-2023/-MdDTu.mp4) ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2026, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-jetpack-actually-be-useful-in-war/1027380/30 "2026-02-06T23:56:41Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > But the OP’s title was “Would a jetpack actually be useful in war?”. I mean, reality proves that it isn’t, otherwise we’d be using them. I had assumed that since he was talking about The Rocketeer and the plot of the movie is creating a jetpack for war, that he was asking if a jetpack like the movie would change warfare. Since we know they don’t work for military purposes in the real world, if he wanted to know why, he should’ve asked why they don’t work rather than “would a jetpack [like the movie]” work. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2026, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-jetpack-actually-be-useful-in-war/1027380/31 "2026-02-07T00:22:36Z")
Jetpack itself might not be doable yet, but I’ve seen people fly on quadcopters as a 1-person transportation device. So if we substitute quadcopters for jetpack, then yes, maybe we are already at the point where infantry could use it to leapfrog enemy positions in wartime? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2026, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-jetpack-actually-be-useful-in-war/1027380/32 "2026-02-07T00:53:42Z")
Kinda. The Army has been researching individual flying machines since shortly after flying machines became possible. There really are some neato quadcopter “flying motorcycles” out there. Or at least vids of prototypes flying with cool looking dudes on them. Which machines run out of batteries in a very few minutes. And would be ~~very hard~~ impossible to recharge out in the field even if you’re not being shot at by anyone. And are too heavy to carry except on a trailer towed by a vehicle. All sorts of amazing things will become possible when we can store 100x as much energy in a battery as we can today. But I probably won’t live to see those inventions. You might, but I kinda doubt even that. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2026, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-jetpack-actually-be-useful-in-war/1027380/33 "2026-02-07T01:39:53Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > All sorts of amazing things will become possible when we can store 100x as much energy in a battery as we can today. Including some really amazing explosions when they fail. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2026, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-jetpack-actually-be-useful-in-war/1027380/34 "2026-02-07T06:06:07Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > It seems to me that the real value of the jet pack would be in mountainous terrain. For WWII, the Korean War and the war in Ukraine, the value would be in getting over rather than through the lines. The enemy’s defense is facing one way and extremely vulnerable to attacks from the rear. With unlimited range, you could go in and capture bridges, do a better job of destroying supplies, etc. The problem with anything we could build now, is that they wouldn’t have the range to go too deep inside enemy territory. I suspect that with the share number of drones that combatants are using now, any Jetpack troops would be too vulnerable. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2026, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-jetpack-actually-be-useful-in-war/1027380/35 "2026-02-07T09:09:17Z")
Seems one problem though is that the number of jetpack-equipped infantry would be so small in numbers that even if they did successfully leapfrog the trenches and get behind Russian lines, for instance, they’d be so outnumbered that these soldiers wouldn’t live long. They’d be in territory where they are facing 1-to-30 unfavorable odds, or something of that sort. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2026, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-jetpack-actually-be-useful-in-war/1027380/36 "2026-02-07T09:40:34Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > . I had assumed that since he was talking about The Rocketeer and the plot of the movie is creating a jetpack for war, that he was asking if a jetpack like the movie would change warfare. Yes, that was what I was asking. Or a jetpack with no apparent fuel issues, etc similar to the movie version anyway. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2026, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-jetpack-actually-be-useful-in-war/1027380/37 "2026-02-07T11:22:41Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Seems one problem though is that the number of jetpack-equipped infantry would be so small in numbers that even if they did successfully leapfrog the trenches and get behind Russian lines, for instance, they’d be so outnumbered that these soldiers wouldn’t live long. Yeah, this is the problem is that we’ve broken the laws of physics so who knows what kind of limitations there would be. If we can do the impossible, why couldn’t we do it cheaply. The other thing is that we can’t assume that the good guys have this. The Russians could have it and win the war. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2026, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-jetpack-actually-be-useful-in-war/1027380/38 "2026-02-07T12:38:35Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > > [@SenorBeef](#): > > > > . I had assumed that since he was talking about The Rocketeer and the plot of the movie is creating a jetpack for war, that he was asking if a jetpack like the movie would change warfare. > > Yes, that was what I was asking. Or a jetpack with no apparent fuel issues, etc similar to the movie version anyway. It might have been useful to include some description of that idea for those of us who have not seen that movie. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2026, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-jetpack-actually-be-useful-in-war/1027380/39 "2026-02-07T12:43:54Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Seems one problem though is that the number of jetpack-equipped infantry would be so small in numbers that even if they did successfully leapfrog the trenches and get behind Russian lines, for instance, they’d be so outnumbered that these soldiers wouldn’t live long. They’d be in territory where they are facing 1-to-30 unfavorable odds, or something of that sort. They’d be much more useful for more special forces type missions. A small force can create a lot of mayhem behind the lines in areas the enemy views as “safe”. Then they sneak back out. Directly confronting any part of the enemy’s main force means the mission has failed and you’re likely to lose your entire team. So try real hard not to do that. If jetpacks (or flying motorcycles) were available in larger numbers, then they’re essentially equivalent to self-delivering paratroops. Who can (when everything goes well) consolidate in the enemy read and create a temporary strong point the enemy cannot promptly overwhelm. From where they can do enough damage, and move quickly enough towards the front lines that they, working with their fellows on the other side, can create a breakthrough and allow the bulk of their friendly forces in to reinforce them before the enemy can do the same from whatever reserve forces they may have. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2026, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-jetpack-actually-be-useful-in-war/1027380/40 "2026-02-07T14:07:24Z")
Jetpacks are ALWAYS useful. [![](https://www.the-whiteboard.com/autotwb4426.png) ](https://www.the-whiteboard.com/autotwb4426.png) [![](https://www.the-whiteboard.com/autotwb4435.png) ](https://www.the-whiteboard.com/autotwb4435.png) [![](https://www.the-whiteboard.com/autotwb4431.png) ](https://www.the-whiteboard.com/autotwb4431.png) But not always easy to stop. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-jetpack-actually-be-useful-in-war/1027380.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-jetpack-actually-be-useful-in-war/1027380.md?page=3)