DARPA: Where Are the Flying Cars?!

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) will host a Proposers' Day Workshop in support of a planned Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for the Transformer (TX) program. The workshop will occur at 0700-1500 EST on January 14, 2010, at Westin Arlington Gateway, 801 North Glebe Road, Arlington, VA 22203.

This Special Notice is issued solely for information and program planning purposes. The Proposers' Day Workshop is intended to introduce to the research community the TX program vision, goals and objectives, and opportunities associated with the development of interdisciplinary teams to respond to an anticipated Broad Agency Announcement (BAA). The workshop does not constitute a formal solicitation for proposals or proposal abstracts. Attendance at the workshop is voluntary and is not required to propose to any potential related Broad Agency Announcements or potential research solicitations on this topic. DARPA will not provide reimbursement for any costs incurred to participate in this workshop.

The objective of the Transformer (TX) program is to demonstrate a 1 to 4 person transportation vehicle that can drive and fly, thus enabling the warfighter to avoid water, difficult terrain, and road obstructions as well as IED 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). In addition, range and speed efficiencies will allow for tactically relevant missions to be performed on a single tank of fuel. The ability to provide the warfighter a platform that enables terrain-independent mobility would significantly affect how distributed operations are performed today. Current transport systems present operational limitations where the warfighter is either anchored to the ground with HMMWVs and thus vulnerable to ambush, or reliant on helicopters, which are limited in flight speed and availability. TX provides the flexibility to adapt to traditional and asymmetric threats by providing the operator unimpeded movement over difficult terrain. In addition, transportation is no longer restricted to trafficable terrain that tends to makes movement predictable. This enables the warfighter to approach targets from directions opportune to them and not the enemy.

Within the TX program, DARPA seeks to: 1) Develop a robust vehicle design that maximizes military utility at a reasonable cost, 2) Identify and mature the critical enabling technologies necessary to vehicle development, and 3) Build a single prototype vehicle that demonstrates the program goals through ground and flight tests. Technologies relevant to the objectives of the TX program can be found in numerous disciplines and areas of research including: adaptive wing structures, ducted fan propulsion, lightweight composite materials, advanced flight control technology for stable transition from vertical to horizontal flight, hybrid electric drive, advanced batteries, and others.

To facilitate maximum participation DARPA will host a TX Proposers' Day Workshop. The workshop will: (a) Introduce the research community (industry, academia, and Government) to the TX program vision and objectives; (b) Explain the mechanics of a DARPA program and the milestones and metrics of this potential effort; and (c) Promote teaming arrangements among organizations having relevant expertise, facilities, and capabilities to execute an interdisciplinary research program responsive to the TX program goals. The workshop will include overview presentations by Government personnel and a poster session to facilitate interaction and team building among the session participants. Potential participants should note that formation of teams with sufficient expertise to address all technical areas is critical. Workshop participants are strongly encouraged to prepare posters describing areas of capabilities in order to facilitate discussions during the poster session.

There is no fee to attend the TX Proposers' Day Workshop. Registration for the workshop is limited by the venue capacity. To maximize the number of organizations participating, there is a limit of three persons per organization. Early registration is strongly recommended. The poster session will be limited to 1 poster per organization with a cut-off of 100 posters total. The registration cutoff date is 4:00PM ET, January 7, 2010.

Dude. We'll fscking make the flying cars. If you want something done right...