MESA, Ariz., June 03, 1998 -- The next generation high-speed, vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) is about to lift off, thanks to a $24 million agreement signed recently between the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and The Boeing Company. Over the next 37 months, the Boeing Phantom Works will design, build and fly two technology demonstrators to assess and validate an advanced rotorcraft concept known as the canard rotor/wing (CRW). The versatile CRW aircraft, which features a unique reaction drive rotor system, combines the speed of a fixed-wing aircraft with the flexibility of rotary-wing flight. Possible manned and unmanned missions for such a vehicle include reconnaissance, communications and data relay, logistics re-supply, urban operations and delivery of both lethal and non-lethal munitions.