Amid France’s Bastille Day celebrations, a former jet-skiing champion showed off a new flying device that has potential military applications.
Franky Zapata, 40, was seen zipping through the air and holding a rifle as French President Emmanuel Macron and other European Union leaders looked on Sunday.
The device, dubbed the Flyboard Air, has the power to reach speeds up to 118 mph and can run for up to 10 minutes at a time.
French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly said ahead of the parade that the technology “can allow tests for different kinds of uses, for example as a flying logistical platform or, indeed, as an assault platform.”
Zapata, a former jet-skiing champion, said his next goal is to cross the English Channel on the device, a feat that would require mid-flight refueling. He said he aims to make the journey on July 25, 110 years after aviator Louis Bleriot made the first airplane flight across the body of water.
