Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, also known as DARPA or ARPA
is an agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the
development of new technology for use by the military. DARPA was established
in 1958 in response to the Soviet launching of Sputnik, with the mission of
keeping the US's military technology ahead of its enemies. DARPA is
independent from other more conventional military R&D and reports directly
to senior DoD management. DARPA has around 240 personnel (about 140
technical) directly managing a $2,000,000,000 budget. These figures are "on
average" since DARPA focusses on short (two to four-year) projects run by
small, purpose-built teams.
ARPA was its original name, then it was renamed DARPA (for Defense) in 1972,
then back to ARPA [When?], and then back to DARPA again on March 11, 1996.
ARPA was responsible for funding development of ARPANET (which grew into the
Internet), as well as the Berkeley version of Unix (BSD) and TCP/IP.
DARPA received media attention in 2002 and 2003 after its creation of
projects like the Information Awareness Office and CTS, which civil
liberties activists on both the left wing and right wing claim are
unacceptably Orwellian.
History
DARPA was created as the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), by Public
Law 85-325 and DoD Directive 5105.41, in February 1958. Its creation was
directly attributed to the launching of Sputnik and to U.S. realization that
the Soviet Union had developed the capacity to rapidly exploit military
technology. Additionally, the political and defense communities recognized
the need for a high-level DoD organization to formulate and execute R&D
projects that would expand the frontiers of technology beyond the immediate
and specific requirements of the Military Services and their laboratories.
In pursuit of this mission, DARPA has developed and transferred technology
programs encompassing a wide range of scientific disciplines which address
the full spectrum of national security needs.
From 1958-1965, ARPA's emphasis centered on major national issues, including
space, ballistic missile defense, and nuclear test detection. In 1960, all
of its civilian space programs were transferred to the [[National
Aeronautics and Space Administration]] (NASA) and the military space
programs to the individual Services. This allowed DARPA to concentrate its
efforts on the DEFENDER (defense against ballistic missiles), VELA (nuclear
test detection), and AGILE (counterinsurgency R&D) Programs, and to begin
work on computer processing, behavioral sciences, and materials sciences.
The DEFENDER and AGILE Programs formed the foundation of DARPA sensor,
surveillance, and directed energy R&D, particularly in the study of radars,
infrared sensing, and x-ray/gamma ray detection.
In the late 1960s, with the transfer of these mature programs to the
Services, ARPA redefined its role and concentrated on a diverse set of
relatively small, essentially exploratory research programs. The Agency was
renamed the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in 1972, and
in the early 1970s, it emphasized direct energy programs, information
processing, and tactical technologies. In the area of information
processing, DARPA made great strides through the evolution of ARPANET
(telecommunications network and precursor to the Internet) and research in
the artificial intelligence (AI) fields of speech recognition and signal processing.
From 1976-1981, DARPA's major thrusts were dominated by air, land, sea, and
space technology, such as follow-on forces attack with standoff weapons and
associated Command, Control, and Communications; tactical armor and
anti-armor programs; infrared sensing for space-based surveillance;
high-energy laser technology for space-based missile defense; antisubmarine
warfare; advanced cruise missiles; advanced aircraft; defense applications
of advanced computing; and STEALTH technology. These large-scale
technological program demonstrations were joined by integrated circuit
research, which resulted in submicron electronic technology and electron
devices that evolved into the Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) Program
and the Congressionally-mandated charged particle beam program. Many of the
successful programs were transitioned to the Services, such as the HAVE BLUE
which culminated in the F-117A Black Jet, and the foundation technologies in
automatic target recognition, space based sensing, propulsion, and materials
that were transferred to the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization
(SDIO), now known as the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO).
During the 1980s, the attention of the Agency was centered on information
processing and aircraft-related programs, including the National Aerospace
Plane (NASP) or Hypersonic Research Program. The Strategic Computing Program
enabled DARPA to exploit advanced processing and networking technologies and
to rebuild and strengthen relationships with universities after the Vietnam
War. In addition, DARPA began to pursue new concepts for small, lightweight
satellites (LIGHTSAT) and directed new programs regarding defense
manufacturing, submarine technology, and armor/anti-armor.
In the 1990s, the Agency is energized to develop revolutionary new
technologies, both in products and processes, that will form the basis for
new defense and civilian capabilities in the next century. Starting with
basic technologies such as electronics and materials processing, DARPA will
create new computers, sensors, and communications devices; develop new ways
of manufacturing; and apply these creations using advanced technology
demonstrators in operational environments to affect the total R&D process
from concept development through lifecycle logistics support technologies.
Current program descriptions and program manager contact information is
posted within each of the Tech Offices' webpages, which can be accessed
from: http://www.darpa.mil/org2.html.
Additionally, there is a page for the DARPA Grand Challenge
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