Flying cars have “the potential to be a game-changer” for military operations, a military official who oversees the development of strategy and operational concepts for the Air Force said.
Lt. Gen. S. Clinton Hinote divulged his vision as the Pentagon pursues the development of organic resupply buses, also referred to as flying cars, saying such technology could make the military more versatile in combat and other situations.
“I could see a time in the future where high-speed vertical takeoff and landing aircraft are very useful,” Hinote, who is the Air Force’s deputy chief of staff for strategy, integration, and requirements, told Military.com in an interview published Wednesday.
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The Air Force launched its Agility Prime initiative in April 2020 to encourage and work with companies to develop the technologies, saying that the vehicles could act “as an organic resupply bus for disaster relief teams, an operational readiness bus for improved aircraft availability, and an open requirements bus for a growing diversity of missions.”
Flying cars would be particularly useful for the evacuation of noncombatants and aeromedical evacuation purposes, Hinote suggested.
He also envisioned the vehicles as being made of composite material, which would help them avoid radar detection.
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In March, the Air Force successfully used one of its C-130 aircraft to transport the Hexa, a resupply bus candidate made by Lift Aircraft, from Ohio’s Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas.
