The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is a research and development agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military.[3][4] Originally known as the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), the agency was created on February 7, 1958, by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in response to the Soviet's launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957. By collaborating with academia, industry, and government partners, DARPA formulates and executes research and development projects to expand the frontiers of technology and science, often beyond immediate U.S. military requirements.[5] The name of the organization first changed from its founding name, ARPA, to DARPA, in March 1972, changing back to ARPA in February 1993, then reverted to DARPA in March 1996.[6]
The Economist has called DARPA "the agency that shaped the modern world", with technologies such as "Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine ... weather satellites, GPS, drones, stealth technology, voice interfaces, the personal computer, and the internet on the list of innovations for which DARPA can claim at least partial credit".[7] Its track record of success has inspired governments around the world to launch similar research and development agencies.[7]
DARPA is independent of other military research and development and reports directly to senior Department of Defense management. DARPA comprises about 220 government employees in six technical offices, including nearly 100 program managers, who together oversee about 250 research and development programs.[8] Stephen Winchell is the current director.[9]
History
Early history (1958–1969)
The Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) was suggested by the President's Scientific Advisory Committee to President Dwight D. Eisenhower in a meeting called after the launch of Sputnik.[10] ARPA was formally authorized by President Eisenhower in 1958 for the purpose of forming and executing research and development projects to expand the frontiers of technology and science and be able to reach far beyond immediate military requirements.[5] The two relevant acts are the Supplemental Military Construction Authorization (Air Force)[11] (Public Law 85-325) and Department of Defense Directive 5105.15, in February 1958. It was placed within the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) and counted roughly 150 people.[12] Its creation was directly attributed to the launching of Sputnik and to U.S. realization that the Soviet Union
Organization
Current program offices
DARPA has six technical offices that manage the agency's research portfolio, and two additional offices that manage special projects.[48][49] All offices report to the DARPA director, including:
- The Defense Sciences Office (DSO): DSO identifies and pursues high-risk, high-payoff research initiatives across a broad spectrum of science and engineering disciplines and transforms them into important, new game-changing technologies for U.S. national security. Current DSO themes include novel materials and structures, sensing and measurement, computation and processing, enabling operations, collective intelligence, and global change.[50][51]
Projects
A list of DARPA's active and archived projects is available on the agency's website. Because of the agency's fast pace, programs constantly start and stop based on the needs of the U.S. government. Structured information about some of the DARPA's contracts and projects is publicly available.[73]
Active projects
- AdvaNced airCraft Infrastructure-Less Launch And RecoverY X-Plane (ANCILLARY) (2022): The program is to develop and demonstrate a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) plane that can launch without the supporting infrastructure, with low-weight, high-payload, and long-endurance capabilities.[74] In June 2023, DARPA selected nine companies to produce initial operational system and demonstration system conceptual designs for an uncrewed aerial system (UAS).[75]
- AI Cyber Challenge (AIxCC) (2023): It is a two-year competition to identify and fix software vulnerabilities using AI in partnership with Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI which will provide their expertise and their platforms for this competition.
Notable fiction
DARPA is well known as a high-tech government agency, and as such has many appearances in popular fiction. Some realistic references to DARPA in fiction are as "ARPA" in Tom Swift and the Visitor from Planet X (DARPA consults on a technical threat),[265] in episodes of television program The West Wing (the ARPA-DARPA distinction), the television program Numb3rs,[266] and the Netflix film Spectral.[267]
See also
- Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center (NWC)
- Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL)
- Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E)
- Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H)
- Advanced Research Projects Agency–Infrastructure (ARPA-I)
- Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC)
- Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency (HSARPA)
- Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA)
- Joint European Disruptive Initiative (JEDI)
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL or LBL)
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)
- Marine Corps Combat Development Command
Further reading
- The Advanced Research Projects Agency, 1958–1974;, Barber Associates, December 1975.
- DARPA Technical Accomplishments: 1958–1990;, Volumes 1–3, Richard H. Van Atta, Sidney G. Reed, Seymour J. Deitchman, et al., Institute for Defense Analyses, January 1990 – March 1991.
- William Saletan writes of Belfiore's book that "His tone is reverential and at times breathless, but he captures the agency's essential virtues: boldness, creativity, agility, practicality and speed."
- Castell, Manuel, The Network Society: A Cross-cultural Perspective, Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, Cheltenham, UK, 2004.
- Weinberger, Sharon, The Imagineers of War: The Untold Story of DARPA, the Pentagon Agency that Changed the World, New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 2017, ISBN 9780385351799.
External links
References
- About Us Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, n.d., retrieved September 29, 2019^
- Budget Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, n.d., retrieved July 12, 2024^
- Michael Aaron Dennis. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Encyclopædia Britannica, December 23, 2022, retrieved January 5, 2023