Flying Humvee in Development

The race to build the world's first flying military jeep just moved a step closer to the finish line.

The Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has selected two companies to proceed with the next stage of its Transformer, known as TX - a fully automated four-person vehicle that can drive like a car and then take off and fly like an aircraft to avoid roadside bombs.

Lockheed Martin and AAI Corp are currently in negotiations with DARPA for the first stage of the Transformer project, several industry sources told Popular Mechanics at a robotics conference here in Denver. DARPA has not announced the official winners yet.

The two companies are still a ways away from building flying Humvees; the first stage of the DARPA project is merely working on conceptual designs. The total funding available for Transformer is about $40 million.