Russia unveils flying vehicle concept, the IF-9

The Filatov design bureau presented the concept of the IF-9 flying vehicle.

"The development of this type of transport has been highly relevant recently. Many automakers have already presented their vision in this direction. We decided to keep up with them and design our own project of the flying vehicle," representatives for the design bureau said.

The IF-9 is a synergy of a car and a quadcopter. It has wheels for driving on the ground, and four retractable propellers at the corners of the body for flying. When traveling on the ground, the beams with propellers fold into special compartments to improve aerodynamics. The IF-9 will be an environmentally friendly vehicle as it will run on electricity or hydrogen.

For safety, the driver's cabin can separate from the vehicle and land independently on two parachutes. In an emergency, the two-seater capsule will be ejected and the speed damping system will be activated for landing.

The design bureau plans to start first unmanned flight tests of the IF-9 prototype in the near future. External investment will be required to complete the project.