GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The future of surveillance aircraft will take off next Saturday from a small hayfield in northern Florida, but observers will have to look hard to see it. The next generation of spy planes will be small--perhaps less than 6 inches in diameter--and agile as a hummingbird.

Seeking to capitalize on the ability to put a TV camera on a chip and other shrinking components, university and Navy researchers will try their wings near here during a micro-aerial-vehicles (MAV) competition sponsored by the International Society for Structural and Multidisciplinary Organization (ISSMO).

Variously referred to as MAVs or "micro-flyers," the birdlike aircraft are seen by their promoters as a cheap way to track terrorists, fight urban guerrillas or monitor hazardous-waste spills.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) has released several small-business solicitations for the technology and plans a four-year, $35 million program later this year, said spokeswoman Jan Walker.

Darpa said that MAVs eliminate "the latency associated with reconnaissance from higher-altitude assets. Emerging technological advances in miniature, highly integrated electronic and electromechanical systems provide an opportunity to create a new class of air vehicles with overall size and mobility approaching that of hummingbirds."

The Naval Research Laboratory, which will take part unofficially in the Florida meet with an MAV built of off-the-shelf parts, will launch two MAV research projects this year. Its five-year development program will focus on all aspects of MAV design, from aerodynamics to energy storage and propulsion. Rick Foch of NRL's vehicle-research section said the effort will culminate in construction of a prototype and a flight demonstration. The NRL declines to say how much it is spending.

Government interest in MAVs has taken off in the last 18 months since engineers at MIT's Lincoln Labs developed a TV camera on a chip. "The MIT guys thought it would be neat if there was a little tiny airplane that this TV could be put on that could fly around and look in windows and look behind trees," said David Jenkins, an associate engineer in the University of Florida's engineering department, who conceived the MAV competition with Raphael Haftka of the Department of Aerospace Engineering, Mechanics and Engineering Science. Haftka heads the ISSMO.

"They came up with this design that wouldn't fly in a million years,'' said Jenkins, "but they got enough attention that Darpa started talking about funding a host of commercial, government and university programs."

Model-airplane designs entered in the competition will be judged by officials from NRL and NASA's Langley (Va.) Research Center.

"The mission is to fly one of these MAVs out a considerable distance to a target [600 meters away] and make a photograph of a hidden symbol from a list made up of alphanumerics and Greek symbols," Jenkins said. At that distance, the craft will be tough to control. And, adding a transmitter exacts a weight penalty that will stress the narrow wingspan.

MAV designers trim payloads to reduce wingspan, generally the largest aircraft component. For example, the University of Florida team will cut battery power to the bare minimum by running their engine wide open throughout the 600-meter flight, eliminating the need for a servo to operate the throttle.

Jenkins expects wingspans from 6 inches to a foot and a half. But he doubts that designers can get down to a half-foot using off-the-shelf components. Most participants are expected to mount cameras and transmitters in front of the plane, and a monitor and VCR at their control stations to videotape the symbol. The Jenkins team's $400 MAV uses a camera that weighs only 7/10 of an ounce.

The winners will receive $1,250, but the real prize is Darpa funding over four years.

Darpa's technical goals include developing new flight-control technologies and building MAVs that can perform military missions without breaking the bank.

Military experts believe MAVs could provide unprecedented surveillance capabilities for "small-unit operations."

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