Wren't they once called airplanes ?

Hmmm.... reminds of this Kevin Smith short!

Actually, it would pretty much eliminate the IED as a tactic. Being just 15 feet over the road and in the air would eliminate most of the damage.

Nah. Then they'll just make IEDs with a small radar unit and an upwards aimed claymore effect.

Or reinvent the Bouncing Betty.

I cannot quite see this as a priority item in defeating Islamic terror, somehow.

Is Islamic terror the only threat in the threat assessments?

The US has got more to worry about and consider then just Osama and his hairy mates.

Maybe they figure Osama will stumble out of his cave, see a flying car and declare "Shit, forget this jihad stuff, there's something to be said for the modern world. That's much cooler than any of Mohammed's nonsense!"

I mean, it's a flying car. How can anyone, even a cave dwelling terrorist loon, not want one?

Nah, the flying car is so you can 'run over' Osama if you see him on a flying carpet!

Obviously not many of you have worked with DARPA projects. They are a low bureaucracy, fast turn around, well managed source of funding for cutting edge ideas that might, at some future time, have military applications. In some cases the same company that develops the idea turns it into a real tool: like the little hoverbots for urban warfare. Pretty much everything cool and military has DARPA research behind them.

I will complain much about government spending, but for a national defense payback (one of the things the State should do) DARPA is a bargain.

What I do not understand is how they have managed to stay small and agile and have not become a bloated form infested bureaucracy like every other agency of their age or older.

Oh and note that we are at this instant communicating on the grown up of the original arpanet (not GoreNet!). Another bit of DARPA tech.

Well Glenn Reynolds has been demanding his flying car...

First puppy blending, now this...