by John Davis
Guam - The Pentagon's mad scientists are developing a flying car that will eventually be used in combat theatres. No, really.
Thanks to advances in technology, it seems like that flying car in the The Jetsons will become a reality in the next few years. DARPA is working on a prototype for Transformer (TX), a flying vehicle which it hopes to have up and ready for testing by 2015. There have been commercial designs of flying cars before, namely the Terrafugia Transition. However, the military's car will go way beyond the Terrafugia's "roadable aircraft" which was a lightweight aircraft that had foldable wings upon landing, then it would speed off down the road.
The TX will not only be able to navigate through bad weather, it'll be sturdier and not just be able to take off and land vertically. In their proposal, they state: "The TX should be both a robust ground and air vehicle, enabling soldiers to avoid water, difficult terrain, and road obstructions-to say nothing of IEDs and ambush threats. It should be no bigger than 30'-x-8.5' and 9' high in ground configuration - on the order of two hummers nose-to-tail - and should have wheels and suspension giving road performance similar to an SUV and capable of handling light off-road travel."
Obviously, this type of vehicle would be useful to civilians, as well as military personnel. Hopefully DARPA's dream will come true in the next five years and everyone can eventually take to the skies in a vehicle akin to the shiny, sleek one in Bladerunner.
Friendly skies, indeed.