Eponymously Yours, W. Skeffington Higgins

Thanks to rcking for this tip.

This is what watching too many cartoons (or maybe too much Supermarionation) as a child can do to a DARPA procurement official:

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). [...]

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.

Register now for the Proposers' Day Workshop if you want to see how this plays out.

Personally, I'd love to see how Proposers propose to create a vehicle which, unlike helicopters, is not limited in flight speed and availability.