Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
Encyclopedia
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is an agency
of the United States Department of Defense
responsible for the development of new technology
for use by the military
. DARPA has been responsible for funding the development of many technologies which have had a major effect on the world, including computer networking, as well as NLS
, which was both the first hypertext
system, and an important precursor to the contemporary ubiquitous graphical user interface
.
Its original name was simply Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), but it was renamed to "DARPA" (for Defense) in March 1972, then renamed "ARPA
" again in February 1993, and then renamed "DARPA" again in March 1996.
DARPA was established during 1958 (as ARPA) in response to the Soviet launching of Sputnik during 1957, with the mission of keeping U.S. military technology more sophisticated than that of the nation's potential enemies. From DARPA's own introduction,
DARPA is independent from other more conventional military R&D and reports directly to senior Department of Defense management. DARPA has around 240 personnel (about 140 technical) directly managing a $3.2 billion budget. These figures are "on average" since DARPA focuses on short-term (two to four-year) projects run by small, purpose-built teams.
and W. B. Bonvillian (“Power Play,” W. B. Bonvillian, The American Interest
, Volume II, p 39, November–December 2006), DARPA's key characteristics to be replicated to reproduce DARPA's success are:
had developed the capacity to rapidly exploit military technology. Additionally, the political and defense communities recognized the need for a high-level Department of Defense 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. During 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 ARPA to concentrate its efforts on the Project Defender (defense against ballistic missiles), Project Vela
(nuclear test detection), and Project 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 radar
, infrared
sensing, and x-ray
/gamma ray
detection.
During 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 during the early 1970s, it emphasized direct energy programs, information processing, and tactical technologies.
Concerning information processing, DARPA made great progress, initially through its support of the development of time-sharing
(all modern operating systems rely on concepts invented for the Multics
system, developed by a cooperation between Bell Labs
, General Electric
and MIT, which DARPA supported by funding Project MAC at MIT with an initial two-million-dollar grant), and later through the evolution of the ARPANET
(the first wide-area packet switching network), Packet Radio Network, Packet Satellite Network and ultimately, the Internet
and research in the artificial intelligence (AI)
fields of speech recognition and signal processing. DARPA also funded the development of the Douglas Engelbart
's NLS computer system and the Aspen Movie Map
, which was probably the first hypermedia
system and an important precursor of virtual reality
.
The Mansfield Amendment of 1973 expressly limited appropriations for defense research (through ARPA/DARPA) to projects with direct military application. Some contend that the amendment devastated American science, since ARPA/DARPA was a major funding source for basic science projects of the time; the National Science Foundation
never made up the difference as expected. But the resulting "brain drain
" is also credited with boosting the development of the fledgling personal computer industry. Many young computer scientists fled from the universities to startups and private research labs like Xerox PARC
.
From 1976-1981, DARPA's major thrusts were dominated by air, land, sea, and space technology, 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, and defense applications of advanced computing. These large-scale technological program demonstrations were joined by integrated circuit research, which resulted in submicrometre 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 foundation technologies in automatic target recognition
, space based sensing, propulsion, and materials that were transferred to the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO), later known as the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO)
, now titled the Missile Defense Agency (MDA)
.
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.
On October 28, 2009 the agency broke ground on a new facility in Arlington, Virginia a few miles from the Pentagon.
A 1991 reorganization created several offices which existed throughout the early 1990s:
Reorganization in 2010 merged two offices:
and the Visitor from Planet X (DARPA consults on a technical threat), in episodes of television program The West Wing (the ARPA-DARPA distinction), the television program Numb3rs
(DARPA research into creating the first self-aware computer), and in the motion picture Executive Decision
(use of a one-of-a-kind experimental prototype in an emergency).
Other references often attribute to DARPA an operational or political role, in addition to its high-tech responsibilities. Examples are the Matthew Reilly
books Temple
and Hell Island
, the James Rollins
' books Sandstorm, Map of Bones, The Judas Strain, The Doomsday Key and Black Order
, and the video game series Metal Gear Solid
, as well as the video games Infamous and Vanquish
. DARPA also appears in two novels by Andy McDermott
, The Search for Excalibur and The Covenant of Genesis.
Government agency
A government or state agency is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an intelligence agency. There is a notable variety of agency types...
of the United States Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
responsible for the development of new technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
for use by the military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
. DARPA has been responsible for funding the development of many technologies which have had a major effect on the world, including computer networking, as well as NLS
NLS (computer system)
NLS, or the "oN-Line System", was a revolutionary computer collaboration system designed by Douglas Engelbart and implemented by researchers at the Augmentation Research Center at the Stanford Research Institute during the 1960s...
, which was both the first hypertext
Hypertext
Hypertext is text displayed on a computer or other electronic device with references to other text that the reader can immediately access, usually by a mouse click or keypress sequence. Apart from running text, hypertext may contain tables, images and other presentational devices. Hypertext is the...
system, and an important precursor to the contemporary ubiquitous graphical user interface
Graphical user interface
In computing, a graphical user interface is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands. GUIs can be used in computers, hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players or gaming devices, household appliances and...
.
Its original name was simply Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), but it was renamed to "DARPA" (for Defense) in March 1972, then renamed "ARPA
ARPA
Arpa and ARPA may refer to:Arpa* Arpa River in Armenia* Areni, Armenia - formerly called Arpa* Arpi, Armenia, also called Arpa* Turkish for Akhurian River in Turkey and Armenia* Italian for harp, sometimes used in scoresARPA...
" again in February 1993, and then renamed "DARPA" again in March 1996.
DARPA was established during 1958 (as ARPA) in response to the Soviet launching of Sputnik during 1957, with the mission of keeping U.S. military technology more sophisticated than that of the nation's potential enemies. From DARPA's own introduction,
DARPA’s original mission, established in 1958, was to prevent technological surprise like the launch of Sputnik, which signaled that the Soviets had beaten the U.S. into space. The mission statement has evolved over time. Today, DARPA’s mission is still to prevent technological surprise to the US, but also to create technological surprise for its enemies.
DARPA is independent from other more conventional military R&D and reports directly to senior Department of Defense management. DARPA has around 240 personnel (about 140 technical) directly managing a $3.2 billion budget. These figures are "on average" since DARPA focuses on short-term (two to four-year) projects run by small, purpose-built teams.
DARPA's mission
DARPA's own introduction:
DARPA is a Defense Agency with a unique role within DoD. DARPA is not tied to a specific operational mission: DARPA supplies technological options for the entire Department, and is designed to be the “technological engine” for transforming DoDUnited States Department of DefenseThe United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
.
Near-term needs and requirements generally drive the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force to focus on those needs at the expense of major change. Consequently, a large organization like DoD needs a place like DARPA whose only charter is radical innovation.
DARPA looks beyond today’s known needs and requirements. As military historian John Chambers noted, “None of the most important weapons transforming warfare in the 20th century – the airplane, tankTankA tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...
, radarRadarRadar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
, jet engineJet engineA jet engine is a reaction engine that discharges a fast moving jet to generate thrust by jet propulsion and in accordance with Newton's laws of motion. This broad definition of jet engines includes turbojets, turbofans, rockets, ramjets, pulse jets...
, helicopterHelicopterA helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
, electronic computer, not even the atomic bomb – owed its initial development to a doctrinal requirement or request of the military.” And to this list, DARPA would add unmanned systems, Global Positioning SystemGlobal Positioning SystemThe Global Positioning System is a space-based global navigation satellite system that provides location and time information in all weather, anywhere on or near the Earth, where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites...
(GPS) and InternetInternetThe Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
technologies.
DARPA’s approach is to imagine what capabilities a military commander might want in the future and accelerate those capabilities into being through technology demonstrations. These not only provide options to the commander, but also change minds about what is technologically possible today.
DARPA as a model
According to former DARPA Director Tony TetherTony Tether
Anthony J. Tether served as director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency from June 18, 2001, until February 20, 2009. As of September 8, 2009, Tether is a member of the SSCI Scientific Advisory Board...
and W. B. Bonvillian (“Power Play,” W. B. Bonvillian, The American Interest
The American Interest
The American Interest is a non-partisan bimonthly magazine focusing primarily on foreign policy, international affairs, global economics, and matters related to the military...
, Volume II, p 39, November–December 2006), DARPA's key characteristics to be replicated to reproduce DARPA's success are:
- Small and flexible: DARPA has only about 140 technical professionals; DARPA presents itself as “100 geniuses connected by a travel agent.”
- Flat organization: DARPA avoids hierarchy, essentially operating at only two management levels to ensure the free and rapid flow of information and ideas, and rapid decision-making.
- Autonomy and freedom from bureaucratic impediments: DARPA has an exemption from Title V civilian personnel specifications, which provides for a direct authority to hire talents with the expediency not allowed by the standard civil service process.
- Eclectic, world-class technical staff and performers: DARPA seeks great talents and ideas from industry, universities, government laboratories, and individuals, mixing disciplines and theoretical and experimental strength. DARPA neither owns nor operates any laboratories or facilities, and the overwhelming majority of the research it sponsors is done in industry and universities. Very little of DARPA’s research is performed at government labs.
- Teams and networks: At its very best, DARPA creates and sustains great teams of researchers from different disciplines that collaborate and share in the teams’ advances.
- Hiring continuity and change: DARPA’s technical staff is hired or assigned for four to six years. Like any strong organization, DARPA mixes experience and change. It retains a base of experienced experts – its Office Directors and support staff – who are knowledgeable about DoD. The staff is rotated to ensure fresh thinking and perspectives, and to have room to bring technical staff from new areas into DARPA. It also allows the program managers to be bold and not fear failure.
- Project-based assignments organized around a challenge model: DARPA organizes a significant part of its portfolio around specific technology challenges. It foresees new innovation-based capabilities and then works back to the fundamental breakthroughs required to make them possible. Although individual projects typically last three to five years, major technological challenges may be addressed over longer time periods, ensuring patient investment on a series of focused steps and keeping teams together for ongoing collaboration. Continued funding for DARPA projects is based on passing specific milestones, sometimes called “go/no-go’s.”
- Outsourced support personnel: DARPA extensively leverages technical, contracting, and administrative services from other DoD agencies and branches of the military. This provides DARPA the flexibility to get into and out of an area without the burden of sustaining staff, while building cooperative alliances with its “agents.” These outside agents help create a constituency in their respective organizations for adopting the technology.
- Outstanding program managers: The best DARPA program managers have always been freewheeling zealots in pursuit of their goals. The Director’s most important task is to recruit and hire very creative people with big ideas, and empower them.
- Acceptance of failure: DARPA pursues breakthrough opportunities and is very tolerant of technical failure if the payoff from success will be great enough.
- Orientation to revolutionary breakthroughs in a connected approach: DARPA historically has focused not on incremental but radical innovation. It emphasizes high-risk investment, moves from fundamental technological advances to prototyping, and then hands off the system development and production to the military services or the commercial sector.
- Mix of connected collaborators: DARPA typically builds strong teams and networks of collaborators, bringing in a range of technical expertise and applicable disciplines, and involving university researchers and technology firms that are often not significant defense contractors or beltway consultants.
History
DARPA was created as the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), by Public Law 85-325 and Department of Defense Directive 5105.15, in February 1958. Its creation was directly attributed to the launching of Sputnik and to U.S. realization that the Soviet UnionSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
had developed the capacity to rapidly exploit military technology. Additionally, the political and defense communities recognized the need for a high-level Department of Defense 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. During 1960, all of its civilian space programs were transferred to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
(NASA) and the military space programs to the individual Services. This allowed ARPA to concentrate its efforts on the Project Defender (defense against ballistic missiles), Project Vela
Project Vela
Project Vela was a project by the United States to develop and implement methods to monitor compliance with the 1963 Partial Test Ban Treaty. The development work was primarily performed by the Advanced Research Projects Agency and was overseen by the United States Air Force.Project Vela consisted...
(nuclear test detection), and Project AGILE
Project AGILE
Project AGILE was an ARPA project in the 1960s that investigated means for engaging in remote, limited warfare of an asymmetric type. The research was intended for use in providing US support to countries engaged in fighting Communist insurgents, particularly in Vietnam and...
(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
Surveillance
Surveillance is the monitoring of the behavior, activities, or other changing information, usually of people. It is sometimes done in a surreptitious manner...
, and directed energy R&D, particularly in the study of radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
, infrared
Infrared
Infrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometres , and extending conventionally to 300 µm...
sensing, and x-ray
X-ray
X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...
/gamma ray
Gamma ray
Gamma radiation, also known as gamma rays or hyphenated as gamma-rays and denoted as γ, is electromagnetic radiation of high frequency . Gamma rays are usually naturally produced on Earth by decay of high energy states in atomic nuclei...
detection.
During 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 during the early 1970s, it emphasized direct energy programs, information processing, and tactical technologies.
Concerning information processing, DARPA made great progress, initially through its support of the development of time-sharing
Time-sharing
Time-sharing is the sharing of a computing resource among many users by means of multiprogramming and multi-tasking. Its introduction in the 1960s, and emergence as the prominent model of computing in the 1970s, represents a major technological shift in the history of computing.By allowing a large...
(all modern operating systems rely on concepts invented for the Multics
Multics
Multics was an influential early time-sharing operating system. The project was started in 1964 in Cambridge, Massachusetts...
system, developed by a cooperation between Bell Labs
Bell Labs
Bell Laboratories is the research and development subsidiary of the French-owned Alcatel-Lucent and previously of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company , half-owned through its Western Electric manufacturing subsidiary.Bell Laboratories operates its...
, General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
and MIT, which DARPA supported by funding Project MAC at MIT with an initial two-million-dollar grant), and later through the evolution of the ARPANET
ARPANET
The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network , was the world's first operational packet switching network and the core network of a set that came to compose the global Internet...
(the first wide-area packet switching network), Packet Radio Network, Packet Satellite Network and ultimately, the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
and research in the artificial intelligence (AI)
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
fields of speech recognition and signal processing. DARPA also funded the development of the Douglas Engelbart
Douglas Engelbart
Douglas Carl Engelbart is an American inventor, and an early computer and internet pioneer. He is best known for his work on the challenges of human-computer interaction, resulting in the invention of the computer mouse, and the development of hypertext, networked computers, and precursors to GUIs...
's NLS computer system and the Aspen Movie Map
Aspen Movie Map
The Aspen Movie Map was a revolutionary hypermedia system developed at MIT by a team working with Andrew Lippman in 1978 with funding from ARPA.-Features:...
, which was probably the first hypermedia
Hypermedia
Hypermedia is a computer-based information retrieval system that enables a user to gain or provide access to texts, audio and video recordings, photographs and computer graphics related to a particular subject.Hypermedia is a term created by Ted Nelson....
system and an important precursor of virtual reality
Virtual reality
Virtual reality , also known as virtuality, is a term that applies to computer-simulated environments that can simulate physical presence in places in the real world, as well as in imaginary worlds...
.
The Mansfield Amendment of 1973 expressly limited appropriations for defense research (through ARPA/DARPA) to projects with direct military application. Some contend that the amendment devastated American science, since ARPA/DARPA was a major funding source for basic science projects of the time; the National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
never made up the difference as expected. But the resulting "brain drain
Brain drain
Human capital flight, more commonly referred to as "brain drain", is the large-scale emigration of a large group of individuals with technical skills or knowledge. The reasons usually include two aspects which respectively come from countries and individuals...
" is also credited with boosting the development of the fledgling personal computer industry. Many young computer scientists fled from the universities to startups and private research labs like Xerox PARC
Xerox PARC
PARC , formerly Xerox PARC, is a research and co-development company in Palo Alto, California, with a distinguished reputation for its contributions to information technology and hardware systems....
.
From 1976-1981, DARPA's major thrusts were dominated by air, land, sea, and space technology, 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, and defense applications of advanced computing. These large-scale technological program demonstrations were joined by integrated circuit research, which resulted in submicrometre 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 foundation technologies in automatic target recognition
Automatic Target Recognition
Automatic target recognition , is the ability for an algorithm or device to recognize targets or objects based on data obtained from sensors....
, space based sensing, propulsion, and materials that were transferred to the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO), later known as the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO)
Ballistic Missile Defense Organization
The Ballistic Missile Defense Organization was an agency of the United States Department of Defense that began on 20 May 1974 with the responsibility for all U.S. ballistic missile defense efforts. It evolved from the SAFEGUARD System Organization. The original mission of BMDO was comparable to...
, now titled the Missile Defense Agency (MDA)
Missile Defense Agency
The Missile Defense Agency is the section of the United States government's Department of Defense responsible for developing a layered defense against ballistic missiles. The agency has its origins in the Strategic Defense Initiative, which was established in 1983 and was headed by Lt...
.
During the 1980s, the attention of the Agency was centered on information processing and aircraft-related programs, including the National Aerospace Plane (NASP)
Rockwell X-30
-See also:-References: 2. -External links:*...
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
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. 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.
On October 28, 2009 the agency broke ground on a new facility in Arlington, Virginia a few miles from the Pentagon.
| Name | Tenure |
|---|---|
| Roy W. Johnson | 1958–1959 |
| Austin W. Betts | 1960–1961 |
| Jack P. Ruina Jack Ruina Jack P. Ruina was professor of electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1963 until 1997 and currently is a professor emeritus at MIT... |
1961–1963 |
| Robert L. Sproull Robert Sproull Robert Lamb Sproull is a retired American educator, physicist, and US Department of Defense official.Sproull was born in Lacon, Illinois. A graduate of Deep Springs College, Sproull studied English literature at Cornell University before taking a Ph.D. at the same university in physics... |
1963–1965 |
| Charles M. Herzfeld Charles M. Herzfeld Charles M. Herzfeld is an American scientist and scientific manager, particularly for the US Government. He is best known for his time as Director of DARPA, during which, among other things, he personally took the decision to authorize the creation of the ARPANET, the predecessor of the Internet.-... |
1965–1967 |
| Eberhardt Rechtin Eberhardt Rechtin Eberhardt Rechtin was an American systems engineer and respected authority in aerospace systems and systems architecture.- Biography :... |
1967–1970 |
| Steve J. Lukasik | 1970–1975 |
| George H. Heilmeier George H. Heilmeier George Harry Heilmeier is an American engineer and businessman, who was a pioneering contributor to liquid crystal displays.-Biography:... |
1975–1977 |
| Robert R. Fossum | 1977–1981 |
| Robert S. Cooper | 1981–1985 |
| Robert C. Duncan Robert C. Duncan (engineer) Robert C. Duncan was an American engineer and engineering manager, particularly for the US Government. He is best known for two of the programs he directed to a successful completion - guidance and control for Apollo program, and the Polaroid SX-70 camera.- Biography :He received BS degrees from... |
1985–1988 |
| Ray S. Colladay | 1988–1989 |
| Craig I. Fields | 1989–1990 |
| Victor H. Reis Victor H. Reis Victor H. Reis is a technologist and former U.S. government official, best known as the architect and original sponsor of the U.S. nuclear Stockpile Stewardship Program and its associated Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative , which resulted in the creation of several new generations of... |
1990–1992 |
| Gary L. Denman | 1992–1995 |
| Verne L. "Larry" Lynn | 1995–1998 |
| Fernando L. "Frank" Fernandez | 1998–2001 |
| Anthony J. Tether | 2001–2009 |
| Regina E. Dugan Regina E. Dugan Regina E. Dugan is the 19th Director of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency . She was appointed to that position on July 20, 2009. She is the first female director of DARPA, having risen through the ranks as a program manager in 1996... |
2009 – present |
Current program offices
DARPA has six program offices, all of which report to the DARPA director.- The Adaptive Execution Office (AEO) is one of two new DARPA offices created in 2009 by the current DARPA Director, Regina Dugan. Four thrust areas that have been identified, but not verified in DARPA publications: technology transition, assessment, rapid productivityProductivityProductivity is a measure of the efficiency of production. Productivity is a ratio of what is produced to what is required to produce it. Usually this ratio is in the form of an average, expressing the total output divided by the total input...
and adaptive systemAdaptive systemThe term adaptation arises mainly in the biological scope as a trial to study the relationship between the characteristics of living beings and their environments...
s. On the DARPA website the AEO mission is defined as follows:
Conceive and execute novel technology and system developments that are adaptive both in end function and in the process by which they are developed. Improve the transition worthiness of DARPA programs across the enterprise.
- The Defense Sciences Office (DSO) vigorously pursues the most promising technologies within a broad spectrum of the science and engineering research communities and develops those technologies into important, radically new military capabilities.
- The Information Innovation Office (I2O) aims to ensure U.S. technological superiority in all areas where information can provide a decisive military advantage.
- The Microsystems Technology Office (MTO) mission focuses on the heterogeneous microchip-scale integration of electronics, photonics, and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). Their high risk/high payoff technology is aimed at solving the national level problems of protection from biological, chemical and information attack and to provide operational dominance for mobile distributed command and control, combined manned/unmanned warfare, and dynamic, adaptive military planning and execution.
- The Strategic Technology Office (STO) mission is to focus on technologies that have a global theater-wide impact and that involve multiple Services.
- The Tactical Technology Office (TTO) engages in high-risk, high-payoff advanced military research, emphasizing the "system" and "subsystem" approach to the development of aeronautic, space, and land systems as well as embedded processors and control systems. This research includes an effort within the TTO to develop a small satellite launch vehicleLaunch vehicleIn spaceflight, a launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket used to carry a payload from the Earth's surface into outer space. A launch system includes the launch vehicle, the launch pad and other infrastructure....
. This vehicle is under development by AirLaunch LLCAirLaunch LLCAirLaunch LLC was an aerospace design and development company headquartered in Kirkland, Washington. They hope to provide launch services for launching payloads into orbits around the Earth. This is to be realized through a method called air launch where a rocket is carried within an aircraft and...
. This is part of the Force Application and Launch from Continental United StatesForce Application and Launch from Continental United StatesThe DARPA Falcon Project is a two-part joint project between the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the United States Air Force and is part of Prompt Global Strike...
(FALCON) effort.
Former offices
- Information Awareness OfficeInformation Awareness OfficeThe Information Awareness Office was established by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in January 2002 to bring together several DARPA projects focused on applying surveillance and information technology to track and monitor terrorists and other asymmetric threats to national security,...
- 2002-2003 - The Advanced Technology Office (ATO) researched, demonstrated, and developed high payoff projects in maritime, communications, special operations, command and control, and information assurance and survivability mission areas.
- The Special Projects Office (SPO) researched, developed, demonstrated, and transitioned technologies focused on addressing present and emerging national challenges. SPO investments ranged from the development of enabling technologies to the demonstration of large prototype systems. SPO developed technologies to counter the emerging threat of underground facilities used for purposes ranging from command-and-control, to weapons storage and staging, to the manufacture of weapons of mass destruction. SPO developed significantly more cost-effective ways to counter proliferated, inexpensive cruise missiles, UAVs, and other platforms used for weapon delivery, jamming, and surveillance. SPO invested in novel space technologies across the spectrum of space control applications including rapid access, space situational awareness, counterspace, and persistent tactical grade sensing approaches including extremely large space apertures and structures.
- The Information Systems Office (ISO) in the 1990s developed system applications of advanced information technologies. It was a predecessor to the Information Exploitation Office.
A 1991 reorganization created several offices which existed throughout the early 1990s:
- The Electronic Systems Technology Office combined areas of the Defense Sciences Office and the Defense Manufacturing Office. This new office will focus on the boundary between general-purpose computers and the physical world, such as sensors, displays and the first few layers of specialized signal-processing that couple these modules to standard computer interfaces."
- The Computing Systems Technology Office combined functions of the old Information Sciences and Tactical Technology office. The office "will work scalable parallel and distributed heterogeneous computing systems technologies," DoD said.
- The Software and Intelligent Systems Technology Office and the Computing Systems office will have responsibility associated with the Presidential High-Performance Computing Initiative. The Software office will also be responsible for "software systems technology, machine intelligence and software engineering."
- The Land Systems Office was created to develop advanced land vehicle and anti-armor systems, once the domain of the Tactical Technology Office
- The Undersea Warfare Office combined areas of the Advanced Vehicle Systems and Tactical Technology offices to develop and demonstrate submarine stealth and counterstealth and automation.
Reorganization in 2010 merged two offices:
- The Transformational Convergence Technology Office (TCTO) mission was to advance new crosscutting capabilities derived from a broad range of emerging technological and social trends, particularly in areas related to computing and computing-reliant subareas of the life sciences, social sciences, manufacturing, and commerce. The TCTO was folded into the I2O in 2010.
- The Information Processing Techniques Office (IPTO) focused on inventing the networking, computing, and software technologies vital to ensuring DOD military superiority. The IPTO was combined with TCTO in 2010 to form the I2O.
Active projects
- ACTUVACTUVThe ASW Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel is a DARPA funded project launched in early 2010 to develop an unmanned ship for Anti-submarine warfare .- Overview :...
- A project to build an unmanned Anti-submarine warfareAnti-submarine warfareAnti-submarine warfare is a branch of naval warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, or other submarines to find, track and deter, damage or destroy enemy submarines....
vessel. - ArcLight (missile)ArcLight (Missile)The ArcLight program is a missile development program of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency with the goal of equipping ships like Aegis cruisers with a weapon system that is capable of striking targets nearly anywhere on the globe, thereby increasing the power of surface ships to a level...
- Ship based weapon system that is capable of striking targets nearly anywhere on the globe. It is based on the Standard Missile 3. - Boeing X-37Boeing X-37The Boeing X-37 is an American unmanned vertical-takeoff, horizontal-landing spaceplane. The X-37 is operated by the United States Air Force for orbital spaceflight missions intended to demonstrate reusable space technologies...
- Integrated Sensor is StructureIntegrated Sensor is StructureThe Integrated Sensor is Structure, sometimes called Integrated Sensor is the Structure, , is a program managed by the United States Air Force to research the feasibility of using an unmanned airship as a high-altitude reconnaissance and surveillence platform...
- Boomerang (mobile shooter detection system)Boomerang (mobile shooter detection system)Boomerang is a gunfire locator developed by DARPA and BBN Technologies primarily for use against snipers on mobile vehicles such as the Humvee, Stryker, and MRAP combat vehicles. There were future plans to integrate it into the Land Warrior system....
- an acoustic Gunshot Location Detection System developed by BBN TechnologiesBBN TechnologiesBBN Technologies is a high-technology company which provides research and development services. BBN is based next to Fresh Pond in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA...
for detecting snipers on military combat vehicles. - CALOCALOCALO was an artificial intelligence project that attempted to integrate numerous AI technologies into a cognitive assistant. CALO is an acronym for "Cognitive Assistant that Learns and Organizes". The name was inspired by the Latin word "calonis," which means "soldier’s servant"...
or "Cognitive Assistant that Learns and Organizes" - software - Combat Zones That SeeCombat Zones That SeeCombat Zones That See, or CTS, is a project of the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency whose goal is to "track everything that moves" in a city by linking up a massive network of surveillance cameras to a centralized computer system...
- "track everything that moves" in a city by linking up a massive network of surveillance cameras - DARPA XGDARPA XGThe neXt Generation program or XG is a technology development project sponsored by DARPA's Strategic Technology Office, with the goals to "develop both the enabling technologies and system concepts to dynamically redistribute allocated spectrum along with novel waveforms in order to provide...
- technology for Dynamic Spectrum Access for assured military communications - EATREnergetically Autonomous Tactical RobotThe Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot is a project by Robotic Technology Inc. and Cyclone Power Technologies Inc. to develop a robotic vehicle that could forage for plant biomass to fuel itself, theoretically operating indefinitely...
An autonomous tactical robotic system - FALCON
- High Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense SystemHigh Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense SystemThe High Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense System , is a Counter-RAM system under development that will use a powerful laser to shoot down missiles, rockets, and artillery shells...
- High Productivity Computing SystemsHigh Productivity Computing SystemsHigh Productivity Computing Systems is a DARPA project for developing a new generation of economically viable high productivity computing systems for national security and industry in the 2002-2010 timeframe....
- Human Universal Load Carrier battery-powered human exoskeleton
- MAHEMMAHEMThe Magneto Hydrodynamic Explosive Munition is a weapon being developed by DARPA that would utilize molten metal to penetrate enemy armor. The molten metal would be propelled by electromagnetic fields from explosions...
Molten penetrating munition - MEMS Exchange MEMS Implementation Environment
- Mind's EyeMind's Eye (US Military)The Mind's Eye is a video analysis research project using artificial intelligence. It is funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency....
- A visual intelligence system capable of detecting and analysing activity from video feeds. - Northrop Grumman Switchblade - an unmanned oblique-wing flying aircraft for high speed, long range and long endurance flight
- Persistent Close Air SupportPersistent Close Air SupportPersistent Close Air Support is a DARPA program that seeks to demonstrate dramatic capability improvements in close air support capabilities by developing a system to allow continuous CAS availability and lethality to Joint Terminal Attack Controllers .The program will give JTACs the ability to...
- Protein DesignProtein designProtein design is the design of new protein molecules, either from scratch or by making calculated variations on a known structure. The use of rational design techniques for proteins is a major aspect of protein engineering....
Processes - Proto 2Proto 2Proto 2 is the name of the $55 million initiative of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, to create a thought-controlled prosthetic arm. Its predecessor was called Proto 1 and was capable of reasonably complicated movements like rolling the shoulders, wrists, flexing the...
- a thought-controlled prosthetic arm - Remote-controlled insects
- DARPA Shredder Challenge - Reconstruction of shredded documents
- DARPA Silent Talk - A planned program attempting to identify EEG patterns for words and transmit these for covert communications.
- SyNAPSESyNAPSESyNAPSE is a DARPA program that aims to develop electronic neuromorphic machine technology that scales to biological levels. More simply stated, it is an attempt to build a new kind of computer with similar form, function, and architecture to the mammalian brain...
- Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics - System F6 - Fractionated SpacecraftFractionated SpacecraftA fractionated spacecraft is a satellite architecture where the functional capabilities of a conventional monolithic spacecraft are distributed across multiple modules which interact through wireless links...
demonstrator - XOS - powered military exoskeleton
- TransformerTransformer (flying car)The Transformer or TX is a 5-year, 3-phase flying car effort coordinated by DARPA for the United States Military.The objective of the Transformer program is to demonstrate a four person vehicle that provides enhanced logistics and mobility though hybrid flyable/roadable capabilities...
- flying armoured car - UAVForge
- WolfPackWolfpackWolfpack or wolf pack may refer to:* Pack , a group of wolves that live, feed, and travel as a family groupIn entertainment:* Wolfpack, a Battletech novel written by Robert N...
Past Projects
- Project AGILEProject AGILEProject AGILE was an ARPA project in the 1960s that investigated means for engaging in remote, limited warfare of an asymmetric type. The research was intended for use in providing US support to countries engaged in fighting Communist insurgents, particularly in Vietnam and...
- ARPANETARPANETThe Advanced Research Projects Agency Network , was the world's first operational packet switching network and the core network of a set that came to compose the global Internet...
, the predecessor of the InternetInternetThe Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide... - Aspen Movie MapAspen Movie MapThe Aspen Movie Map was a revolutionary hypermedia system developed at MIT by a team working with Andrew Lippman in 1978 with funding from ARPA.-Features:...
- ASTOVL, precursor of the Joint Strike Fighter ProgramJoint Strike Fighter ProgramJoint Strike Fighter is a development and acquisition program intended to replace a wide range of existing fighter, strike, and ground attack aircraft for the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and their allies. After a competition between the Boeing X-32 and the Lockheed Martin X-35, a...
- Boeing X-45Boeing X-45The Boeing X-45 unmanned combat air vehicle is a concept demonstrator for a next generation of completely autonomous military aircraft, developed by Boeing's Phantom Works. Manufactured by Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, the X-45 was a part of DARPA's J-UCAS project.-Development:Boeing developed...
- CPOF - the command post of the future - networked information system for Command control.
- DAML
- DARPA Grand ChallengeDARPA Grand ChallengeThe DARPA Grand Challenge is a prize competition for driverless vehicles, funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the most prominent research organization of the United States Department of Defense...
- driverless carDriverless carAn autonomous car, also known as robotic or informally as driverless, is an autonomous vehicle capable of fulfilling the human transportation capabilities of a traditional car. As an autonomous vehicle, it is capable of sensing its environment and navigating on its own...
competition - DARPA Network ChallengeDARPA Network ChallengeThe 2009 DARPA Network Challenge was a prize competition for exploring the roles the Internet and social networking play in the real-time communications, wide-area collaborations, and practical actions required to solve broad-scope, time-critical problems...
- DEFENDER
- High Performance Knowledge BasesHigh Performance Knowledge BasesThe High Performance Knowledge Bases was a DARPA research program to advance the technology of how computers acquire, represent and manipulate knowledge...
- HISSS
- Hypersonic Research Program
- I3 (Intelligent Integration of Information), supported the Digital LibraryDigital libraryA digital library is a library in which collections are stored in digital formats and accessible by computers. The digital content may be stored locally, or accessed remotely via computer networks...
research effort through NSFNational Science FoundationThe National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health... - InternetHistory of the InternetThe history of the Internet starts in the 1950s and 1960s with the development of computers. This began with point-to-point communication between mainframe computers and terminals, expanded to point-to-point connections between computers and then early research into packet switching...
- Project MAC
- Luke Arm, a DEKADEKADEKA Research and Development Corporation is a company based in New Hampshire, founded in 1982 by Dean Kamen, consisting of nearly 200 engineers, technicians, and support staff...
creation - MOSISMOSISMOSIS is probably the oldest integrated circuit foundry service and one of the first Internet services other than supercomputing services and basic infrastructure such as E-mail or FTP....
- MQ-1 Predator
- MulticsMulticsMultics was an influential early time-sharing operating system. The project was started in 1964 in Cambridge, Massachusetts...
- NLS/AugmentNLS (computer system)NLS, or the "oN-Line System", was a revolutionary computer collaboration system designed by Douglas Engelbart and implemented by researchers at the Augmentation Research Center at the Stanford Research Institute during the 1960s...
, the origin of the canonical contemporary computer user interface - Onion routingOnion routingOnion routing is a technique for anonymous communication over a computer network. Messages are repeatedly encrypted and then sent through several network nodes called onion routers. Like someone unpeeling an onion, each onion router removes a layer of encryption to uncover routing instructions, and...
- Passive radarPassive radarPassive radar systems encompass a class of radar systems that detect and track objects by processing reflections from non-cooperative sources of illumination in the environment, such as commercial broadcast and communications signals...
- Policy Analysis MarketPolicy Analysis MarketThe Policy Analysis Market , part of the FutureMAP project, was a proposed futures exchange developed by the United States' Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and based on an idea first proposed by Net Exchange, a San Diego research firm specializing in the development of online prediction...
- POSSEPOSSE projectThe Portable Open Source Security Elements, or POSSE project, was a co-operative venture between the University of Pennsylvania Distributed Systems Laboratory, the OpenBSD project and others. It received funding through a grant from the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or...
- Rapid Knowledge Formation
- Sea Shadow
- Strategic Computing Program
- Synthetic Aperture Ladar for Tactical Applications (SALTI)
- SURANSURANThe Survivable Radio Network project was sponsored by DARPA in the 1980s to develop a set of mobile ad-hoc network radio-routers, then known as "packet radios"...
(1983–87) - Project VelaProject VelaProject Vela was a project by the United States to develop and implement methods to monitor compliance with the 1963 Partial Test Ban Treaty. The development work was primarily performed by the Advanced Research Projects Agency and was overseen by the United States Air Force.Project Vela consisted...
(1963)
Notable fiction
ARPA/DARPA is well known as a high-tech government agency, and as such has many appearances in popular fiction. Some realistic references to ARPA in fiction are in Tom SwiftTom Swift
Tom Swift is the name of the central character in five series of books, first appearing in 1910, totaling over 100 volumes, of American juvenile science fiction and adventure novels that emphasize science, invention and technology. The character was created by Edward Stratemeyer, the founder of...
and the Visitor from Planet X (DARPA consults on a technical threat), in episodes of television program The West Wing (the ARPA-DARPA distinction), the television program Numb3rs
NUMB3RS
Numb3rs is an American television drama which premiered on CBS on January 23, 2005, and concluded on March 12, 2010. The series was created by Nicolas Falacci and Cheryl Heuton, and follows FBI Special Agent Don Eppes and his mathematical genius brother, Charlie Eppes , who helps Don solve crimes...
(DARPA research into creating the first self-aware computer), and in the motion picture Executive Decision
Executive Decision
Executive Decision is a 1996 action film, directed by Stuart Baird and starring Kurt Russell, Halle Berry and Steven Seagal. The original music was composed by Jerry Goldsmith...
(use of a one-of-a-kind experimental prototype in an emergency).
Other references often attribute to DARPA an operational or political role, in addition to its high-tech responsibilities. Examples are the Matthew Reilly
Matthew Reilly
Matthew John Reilly is an Australian action thriller writer. His novels are noted for their fast pace, twisting plots and intense action.- Biography :...
books Temple
Temple (novel)
Temple is a thriller novel written by Australian author Matthew Reilly and first published in 1999. Like Reilly's other books, Temple's major attractions are the fast pace and the complexity of the action scenes....
and Hell Island
Hell Island (novella)
Hell Island is a horror/adventure novella written in conjunction with the Australian Books Alive promotion, by thriller writer Matthew Reilly. While it is the fourth book released in the Shane Schofield series, it is stand alone novella in the Shane Schofield universe, supplementing the storylines...
, the James Rollins
James Rollins
* For the American baseball pitcher, see Jim Czajkowski* For the American baseball shortstop, see Jimmy Rollins* For the 19th century American politician from Missouri, see James S. Rollins...
' books Sandstorm, Map of Bones, The Judas Strain, The Doomsday Key and Black Order
Black Order (James Rollins)
Black Order is a 2006 novel by James Rollins. The novel centers on Nazi mysticism and features the Schwarze Sonne and Wewelsburg.-Plot summary:...
, and the video game series Metal Gear Solid
Metal Gear Solid
is a videogame by Hideo Kojima. The game was developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan and first published by Konami in 1998 for the PlayStation video game console. It is the sequel to Kojimas early MSX2 computer games Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake...
, as well as the video games Infamous and Vanquish
Vanquish (video game)
is a third-person shooter video game developed by Platinum Games and published by Sega for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 video game consoles. The game was released in October 2010, after having been in development since 2007....
. DARPA also appears in two novels by Andy McDermott
Andy McDermott
Andy McDermott is a British thriller author, and former journalist, magazine editor and film critic.-Characters:To date, McDermott's books have all featured the same two lead characters: Dr Nina Wilde, a young American archaeologist, the later founder of Atlantis, El Dorado and many more...
, The Search for Excalibur and The Covenant of Genesis.
See also
- ARPA-EARPA-EARPA-E, or Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy is a United States government agency to promote and fund research and development of advanced energy technologies...
- a similar organization within the Department of EnergyUnited States Department of EnergyThe United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
. - DSTLDstlThe Defence Science and Technology Laboratory is a trading fund of the Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom. Responsibility for Dstl lies with the Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology, currently Peter Luff....
- UK equivalent - Defence Science and Technology OrganisationDefence Science and Technology OrganisationThe Defence Science and Technology Organisation is a branch of the Australian Department of Defence which researches and develops technologies for use in the Australian defence industry....
- Australian Equivalent - HSARPAHSARPAHomeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency is a part of the Science and Technology Directorate at the United States Department of Homeland Security. Much like DARPA in the Department of Defense, HSARPA is tasked with advanced projects to advance the technology needed to protect the US...
- a similar organization within the Department of Homeland Security - Intelligence Advanced Research Projects ActivityIntelligence Advanced Research Projects ActivityThe Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity is a United States research agency under the Director of National Intelligence's responsibility...
(IARPA) - Defence Research and Development CanadaDefence Research and Development CanadaDefence Research and Development Canada, also Defence R&D Canada or DRDC , is an agency of the Department of National Defence , whose purpose is to respond to the scientific and technological needs of the Canadian Forces...
- Similar organization in CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean... - People: Barry BoehmBarry BoehmBarry W. Boehm is an American software engineer, TRW Emeritus Professor of Software Engineering at the Computer Science Department of the University of Southern California, and known for his many contributions to software engineering.- Biography :...
, Vint CerfVint CerfVinton Gray "Vint" Cerf is an American computer scientist, who is recognized as one of "the fathers of the Internet", sharing this title with American computer scientist Bob Kahn...
, Douglas EngelbartDouglas EngelbartDouglas Carl Engelbart is an American inventor, and an early computer and internet pioneer. He is best known for his work on the challenges of human-computer interaction, resulting in the invention of the computer mouse, and the development of hypertext, networked computers, and precursors to GUIs...
, Robert FanoRobert FanoRobert Mario Fano is an Italian-American computer scientist, currently professor emeritus of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Fano is known principally for his work on information theory, inventing Shannon-Fano coding...
, Anup K. GhoshAnup K. GhoshDr. Anup K. Ghosh has served as a Senior Scientist and Program Manager in the Advanced Technology Office of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency where he creates and manages programs in information assurance and information operations. Dr...
, James HendlerJames HendlerJames Hendler is an artificial intelligence researcher at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA, and one of the originators of the Semantic Web.-Background and research:...
, Bob KahnBob KahnRobert Elliot Kahn is an American Internet pioneer, engineer and computer scientist, who, along with Vinton G. Cerf, invented the Transmission Control Protocol and the Internet Protocol , the fundamental communication protocols at the heart of the Internet.-Career:After receiving a B.E.E...
, JCR Licklider, John PoindexterJohn PoindexterJohn Marlan Poindexter is a retired United States naval officer and Department of Defense official. He was Deputy National Security Advisor and National Security Advisor for the Reagan administration. He was convicted in April 1990 of multiple felonies as a result of his actions in the Iran-Contra...
, Larry RobertsLawrence Roberts (scientist)Lawrence G. Roberts received the Draper Prize in 2001 and the Principe de Asturias Award in 2002 "for the development of the Internet" along with Leonard Kleinrock, Robert Kahn, and Vinton Cerf....
, Robert SproullRobert SproullRobert Lamb Sproull is a retired American educator, physicist, and US Department of Defense official.Sproull was born in Lacon, Illinois. A graduate of Deep Springs College, Sproull studied English literature at Cornell University before taking a Ph.D. at the same university in physics...
, Ivan SutherlandIvan SutherlandIvan Edward Sutherland is an American computer scientist and Internet pioneer. He received the Turing Award from the Association for Computing Machinery in 1988 for the invention of Sketchpad, an early predecessor to the sort of graphical user interface that has become ubiquitous in personal...
, Bob TaylorRobert Taylor (computer scientist)Robert William Taylor , known as Bob Taylor, is an Internet pioneer, who led teams that made major contributions to the personal computer, and other related technologies....
, Gio WiederholdGio WiederholdGio Wiederhold is an Italian-born computer scientist who spent most of his career at Stanford University. His research focuses on the design of large-scale database management systems, the protection of their content, often using knowledge-based techniques.-Biography:Gio Wiederhold was born June...
. - History of the InternetHistory of the InternetThe history of the Internet starts in the 1950s and 1960s with the development of computers. This began with point-to-point communication between mainframe computers and terminals, expanded to point-to-point connections between computers and then early research into packet switching...
External links
- DARPA Home Page
- DARPA TransTac speech-to-speech translation project
- Ongoing Research Programs
- Defense Sciences Office
- Information Processing Techniques Office
- Microsystems Technology Office
- Strategic Technology Office
- Tactical Technology Office
- Hybrid Insect MEMS
- Surveillance Dust, DARPA website
- Surveillance Dust, Conversation with C. Keers and N. Marano, U.S. Marine Corps. Background information provided by Dr. Bill Howard, Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office., Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyThe Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
- DARPA Network Challenge 2009
- UAVForge