DARPA and Terrafugia To Create Flying Car

[Mr Gold]

It looks too far-fetched to be anything but a child’s toy.

But for front-line troops in Afghanistan, this revolutionary vehicle could soon be a reality.

The road-going army truck turns into a helicopter at the touch of a button, allowing it to fly above hazards such as roadside bombs.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1334757/The-flying-armoured-car-U-S-military-develops-futuristic-vehicle-destined-Afghanistan.html

I love how it's somewhat autonomous so that anybody can pilot the vehicle. Hopefully they start making these for civilians soon after!

Edited December 3, 2010 by Still Waters
Replaced broken source link

[Saru]

This has all the hallmarks of a seriously impressive machine and could save many lives on the battlefield however I imagine the price is likely to seriously limit its deployment, I can see it costing a lot more than the £132,000 mentioned in the article.

[Grandpa Greenman]

I agree Saru it is going to take a boat load of money to build it. On top of that it going to have to be too light weight to armored. Might end up being an easy target.

[Coffey]

This has all the hallmarks of a seriously impressive machine and could save many lives on the battlefield however I imagine the price is likely to seriously limit its deployment, I can see it costing a lot more than the £132,000 mentioned in the article.

Well they are saying that if ambushed they can just "take off" and fly away.... OK so I'm guessing it will be a bit more limited than a Chinook in terms of speed and maneuverability..... I'm guessing an RPG would take it out fairly easily? So am I right in thinking this might be a waste of money? I'm sure it would be cheaper to just use a Chinook to transport a Humvee around? lol

I love how it's somewhat autonomous so that anybody can pilot the vehicle. Hopefully they start making these for civilians soon after!

I heard about this before, it was posted on here a while back but they didn't have pictures etc then and it was more of an "idea" without as much thought, But what they did say was that it won't be made for civilians.

[David Yates]

Obviously, the plan is to be in Afghanistan for the long haul. We should start building flying saucers with particle beam weapons and warp drive soon before the 100 or so Taliban still in the country die of old age and we have to make war on goats and lizards. Actually, the way to "save many lives on the battlefield" is to bring those soldiers home. We're closer to insurrection here than terrorism from there.

[:PsYKoTiC:BeHAvIoR:]

It's like bringing San Francisco Rush 2049 to life! I always love how awesome original Hummmer looks like. Slapping some wings on this bad boy will make it epic. Yet another reason to get one.