Transformer: The US military wants flying cars!

Who would have thought the US Army also wants flying cars, just like the rest of us...

The US military has announced a new program which it's calling ‘Transformer,’ which will be handled by the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). And get this – the objective of this program is to develop cars that can fly, for military use.

‘The objective of the Transformer program is to demonstrate a one-to-four-person transportation vehicle that can drive and fly, thus enabling the war fighter to avoid water, difficult terrain, road obstructions and ambush threats. The vehicle will be capable of driving on prepared surface and light off-road conditions, while flight functionality will require Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL),’ says DARPA, which will organise a workshop on the 14th of this month, where companies interested in working on the project will be given more detailed information on the project.

While people have fantasised about flying cars for decades, DARPA is being quite realistic about the whole thing, with the aim being to develop a robust military-use vehicle that maximises utility at low/reasonable costs. DARPA is considering the usage of adaptive wing structure, ducted fan propulsion, composite material, hybrid electric drive and advanced battery technologies for its flying car.

Various flying cars already exist, though these are at varying stages of development and have rather limited capabilities and may not really be very practical for the vast majority of those who may be interested in such a vehicle. For more information on these existing flying cars, visit the Moller and Terrafugia websites. Don’t, however, expect to be able to trade in your Maruti 800 for one of these flying cars anytime soon…

Via The Inside Line