Bell Rocket Jet Pack (Individual Lift Device)

Background

Bell Rocket Belt

In the early 1960s, Bell Aerosystems built a rocket pack which it called the “Bell Rocket Belt” or “man-rocket” for the US Army, using hydrogen peroxide as fuel. This concept was revived in the 1990s and today these packs can provide powerful, manageable thrust. This rocket belt’s propulsion works with superheated water vapor. A gas cylinder contains nitrogen gas, and two cylinders containing highly concentrated hydrogen peroxide. The nitrogen presses the hydrogen peroxide onto a catalyst, which decomposes the hydrogen peroxide into a mixture of superheated steam and oxygen with a temperature of about 740 °C. This was led by two insulated curved tubes to two nozzles where it blasted out, supplying the recoil. The pilot can vector the thrust by altering the direction of the nozzles through hand-operated controls. To protect from resulting burns the pilot had to wear insulating clothes.

One Bell Rocket Belt is on display at the Smithsonian Institution’s, National Air and Space Museum annex, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, located near Dulles Airport.

Document Archive

 Small Rocket Lift Device, November 1961 [ 186 Pages, 4.54MB ]

Continue scrolling for more...

Individual Lift Device Records from the U.S. Army, 15 October 1967 [ 93 Pages, 4.54MB ]

 

Video Gallery

 

Follow The Black Vault on Social Media:

This post was published on February 20, 2015 10:39 pm

John Greenewald

Recent Posts

The “UFO Whistleblower”, Congress, and Classified Briefings: New DoD OIG Emails And What They Reveal

A series of internal Department of Defense Office of Inspector General (DoD OIG) emails referencing…

April 1, 2025

J.F.K. Assassination Records Archive – Previously Withheld JFK Assassination Documents Database

Background The assassination of John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, is…

March 27, 2025

DoD Report Says Aguadilla UFO Was Just Sky Lanterns; Previous Scientific Studies Claim Otherwise

The Department of Defense’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) has released a new assessment of…

March 20, 2025

The DoD Inspector General Complaint of Luis Elizondo: A Document Archive

In May 2021, Luis Elizondo, a former Department of Defense (DoD) intelligence officer who has…

March 18, 2025

FBI Files: Terrorism

The FBI is tasked with keeping tabs on potential terrorists and their activities.  The following…

March 18, 2025

Attorney General Pamela Bondi Releases First Phase of Declassified Epstein Files

On February 27, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice released their 'First Phase' of Jeffrey…

February 28, 2025