Air Force Wants Flying Car to Replace V-22 Osprey

The Air Force wants a flying car, and according to a report from Defense One, they want it to replace the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor.Agility Prime is the name of a new U.S. Air Force (USAF) project to replace the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft with a combat-ready flying car. According to Defense One, the program will begin this fall as the Air Force tries to tap into commercial flying car innovation.At the Air Force Association's Air, Space & Cyber Conference, USAF Assistant Secretary for Acquisition Will Roper announced that he had asked the Air Force Research Lab to look into a flying car "acquisition strategy" -- be it a competition or challenge. According to Roper, the competition would challenge teams to perform specific tasks, everything from transporting small cargo to moving heavy weaponry. Roper hopes the Agility Prime program will help identify potential commercial partners. While a flying car might not be able to do everything an Osprey can do, it remains a "compelling option."The idea seems torn for the DARPA playbook, which has held competitions in everything from subterranean robotics to drone swarms. The agency has used it as a way to identify investment targets and technology partners that have advanced national security since the 1950s.It will be interesting to see the field of competitors. It could be an opportunity to see which flying car designs are legitimate, and which ones are still rendering.