Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency was created with a national sense of urgency in February 1958 amidst one of the most dramatic moments in the history of the Cold War and the already-accelerating pace of technology.
In the months preceding the official authorization for the agency's creation, Department of Defense Directive Number 5105.15, the Soviet Union had launched an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM), the world's first satellite, Sputnik 1, and the world's second satellite, two months after Sputnik 1, resulted in a spectacular fiery failure. Finally, at the end of January 1958, a stunned United States became the second nation to place an object in orbit when it successfully launched the Explorer 1 satellite.
Out of this traumatic experience of technological surprise in the first moments of the Space Age, U.S. leadership created DARPA, initially with the shorter name Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA). In the nearly 60 years since it was established, DARPA has owned the critical mission of keeping the United States out front when it comes to cultivating breakthrough technologies for national security rather than in a position of catching up to strategically important innovations and achievements of others.
With no research and development facilities of its own, DARPA has become known as a laboratory and incubator of innovation by providing thought leadership, community-building frameworks, technology challenges, research management, funding, and other cultural and infrastructural support elements that it takes to usher transformative ideas toward consequential new realities.
1958 Rocket Development: Saturn V Moon Rocket and Centaur
In its first months, ARPA (at first without the D for “Defense”) managed and funded rocket development programs that would prove to be long lived and far-reaching. Among these was a launch-vehicle program under the auspices of Wernher von Braun’s engineering team that would transfer to America’s new civilian space program, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
1959 First Weather Satellite: Television and Infrared Observations Satellites (TIROS)
Initiated by ARPA in 1958 and transferred to NASA in 1959, the Television and Infrared Observations Satellites (TIROS) program became the prototype for the current global systems used for weather reporting, forecasting and research by the Defense Department, NASA and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
1959 Phased Arrays: Electronically Steered Array Radar
Before DARPA was established, a President’s Science Advisory Committee panel and other experts had concluded that reliable ballistic missile defense (BMD) and space surveillance technologies would require the ability to detect, track, and identify a large number of objects moving at very high speeds. Responding to these needs, DARPA in 1959 initiated a competition for the design and construction of a large, experimental two-dimensional phased array with beam steering under computer control rather than requiring mechanical motion of the antenna.
1960 Materials Science and Engineering
In the 1960s and early 1970s ARPA funded Interdisciplinary Laboratories (IDLs) at a dozen universities, helping to create a catalytic new research field known as materials science and engineering.
1960 Reconnaissance Satellite
One of the world’s earliest and most well-known spy satellite programs, the now declassified Corona photo-reconnaissance program, was jointly funded by DARPA and the Central Intelligence Agency.
1960 Transit Satellite: Precursor to Global Positioning System
ARPA launched the first satellite in what would become the world's first global satellite navigation system. Known as Transit, the system provided accurate, all-weather navigation to both military and commercial vessels, including most importantly the Navy’s ballistic missile submarine force.
1961 ARPA Midcourse Optical Station
With the goal of developing an astronomical-quality observatory to obtain precise measurements and images of satellites and payloads reentering the atmosphere from space and other space objects, the Agency initiated the ARPA Midcourse Optical Station (AMOS) program. By 1969, the quality and potential of AMOS had been demonstrated, and a second phase began to measure properties of reentry bodies at the facility under the Advanced Ballistic Reentry System Project. In the late 1970s, successful space object measurements continued in the infrared and visible ranges, and laser illumination and ranging were initiated.
1962 Founding of Information Processing Techniques Office
DARPA’s Information Processing Techniques Office (IPTO) was born in 1962 and for nearly 50 years was responsible for DARPA’s information technology programs. IPTO did not itself perform research, but rather invested in breakthrough technologies and seminal research projects that led to significant developments in computer hardware and software.
1962 oN-Line System & “The Mother of All Demos”
A groundbreaking computer framework known as oN-Line System (NLS) got off the ground thanks to funding from DARPA and the U.S. Air Force. Conceived by Douglas Engelbart and developed by him and colleagues at the Stanford Research Institute (SRI), the NLS system was the first to feature hypertext links, a mouse, raster-scan video monitors, information organized by relevance, screen windowing, presentation programs and other modern computing concepts. In what became known as "The Mother of All Demos," because it demonstrated the revolutionary features of NLS as well as never-before-seen video presentation technologies, Engelbart unveiled NLS in San Francisco on December 9, 1968, to a large audience at the Fall Joint Computer Conference.
1963 VELA
The agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union to ban atmospheric tests of nuclear weapons was abetted by the ARPA program called VELA for developing sensors that can detect nuclear explosions in space, the upper atmosphere, and underground. The first VELA sensors to be deployed, on a pair of satellites launched three days after the 1963 treaty was signed, were designed to monitor for optical and electromagnetic signatures of nuclear explosions in the atmosphere.
1964 First Computer Mouse
As part of a ARPA-funded experiment to find better ways for computer users to interact with computers, Douglas Engelbart of SRI, who would later work on the DARPA-sponsored ARPANET project (the Internet’s precursor), invented the computer mouse The first mouse was carved out of wood and had just one button.
1964 Project MAC
One of the first major efforts supported by ARPA's Information Processing Techniques Office (IPTO) was Project MAC, the world’s first large-scale experiment in personal computing, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Orchestrated within the general context of broad-based command and control research suggested by the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and based on the vision of the founding IPTO Director, J.C.R. Licklider, MAC was oriented toward achieving a new level of human-computer interaction.
1965 Arecibo Observatory
Located in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, the Arecibo Observatory houses the world’s largest single-dish radio telescope. The giant telescope "dish" is 1,000 feet (305 meters) in diameter, 167 feet (51 meters) deep and covers an area of approximately 20 acres (0.08 square kilometers).
1965 Compact Turbofan Engines
Building on the momentum of jet engine research, ARPA joined with the Army to fund development by Williams Research of a compact turbofan engine whose progeny would power the AGM-86B air-launched cruise missile ship- or submarine-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles.
1965 Project AGILE & the M16 Rifle
The M16 Assault Rifle is the standard-issue shoulder weapon in the U.S. military. Designed to fire small, high-velocity rounds (5.56 mm caliber vs. 7.62 mm), the weapon is relatively small and light, thereby significantly decreasing combat load. The M16 is based on a design (the Colt AR-15) that had already been rejected by the Chief of Staff of the Army in favor of the heavier 7.62 mm M14. Colt brought the weapon to DARPA in 1962. Through Project AGILE, DARPA purchased 1,000 AR-15s and issued them to combat troops in Southeast Asia for field trials, to prove that the high-velocity 5.56 mm round had satisfactory performance.
1969 ARPANET and the Origins of the Internet
ARPA research played a central role in launching the “information revolution,” including developing or furthering much of the conceptual basis for ARPANET, a pioneering network for sharing digital resources among geographically separated computers. Its initial demonstration in 1969 led to the Internet, whose world-changing consequences unfold on a daily basis today. A seminal step in this sequence took place in 1968 when ARPA contracted BBN Technologies to build the first routers, which one year later enabled ARPANET to become operational.
1971 LAMBDA and Anti-Submarine Warfare
With the blue water threat of free-ranging, nuclear-armed Soviet submarines coming to a head in 1971, the DoD assigned DARPA a singular mission: Revamp the U.S. military’s antisubmarine warfare (ASW) capabilities to track enemy subs under the open ocean where the U.S. Navy’s existing Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS) was falling short.
1972 ARPA Changes Names
The Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) gained a “D” when it was renamed the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), a moniker that reverts to ARPA in 1993, only to have its “D” added back again in 1996.
1972 New Materials and Rare-Earth Magnets
New materials that perform better than previous ones or with unprecedented properties open pathways to new and improved technologies. F-15 and F-16 fighter aircraft, still in use by the Air Force today, owe much of their performance advancements to materials technologies that emerged from DARPA materials development programs conducted in the 1970s and early 1980s.
1973 Foundation of TCP/IP
In a seminal moment in the emergence of today’s Internet, DARPA’s Robert Kahn (who joined the Information Processing Techniques Office as a program manager in 1972) asked Vinton Cerf of Stanford University to collaborate on a project to develop new communications protocols for sending packets of data across the ARPAnet. That query resulted in the creation of the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and the Internet Protocol (IP), most often seen together as TCP/IP. These protocols remain a mainstay of the Internet’s unseen technical foundation.
1977 HAVE BLUE and the Origin of Stealth Technology
In the early 1970s, a DARPA study brought to light the extent of vulnerabilities of U.S. aircraft and their on-board equipment to detection and attack by adversaries, who were deploying new advanced air-defense missile systems. These systems integrated radar-guided surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) and air-launched radar-guided missiles, all networked with early-warning, acquisition, and targeting radars, and coordinated within sophisticated command and control frameworks.
1978 Parts for the Hubble Space Telescope
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Hubble Telescope takes the clearest images of the universe and transmits these to Earth via its antennas. From 1978 to 1980 DARPA funded the design, fabrication, delivery and installation of two antenna booms for the Hubble Space Telescope to demonstrate the advantages of metal matrix composites.
1980 Foundation of DARPA’s Defense Sciences Office
DARPA established the Defense Sciences Office (DSO) in 1980, combining the Nuclear Monitoring Research Office, materials science research, and cybernetic technology efforts into a single office. Since its inception, DSO has spawned two additional technology offices at DARPA: the Microsystems Technology Office (MTO) in 1992 and the Biological Technologies Office (BTO) in 2014.
1981 No-Tail-Rotor Helicopter (NOTAR)
In the early 1980s, DARPA nurtured the development of no-tail-rotor (NOTAR) technologies, resulting in significantly quieter helicopters that could operate with a lower chance for detection. DARPA’s support to show the operational advantages of the NOTAR flying demonstrator led to a NOTAR series of helicopters used by government agencies and the commercial sector.
1983 Miniaturized Global Positioning System Receivers
With roots extending to the DARPA-supported Transit program—a Navy submarine-geopositioning system originating in the early years of the Space Age at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory—what became today’s world-changing GPS technology began to take modern form in 1973. That is when the Department of Defense called for the creation of a joint program office to develop the NAVSTAR Global Positioning System.
1984 X-29: The Most Aerodynamically Unstable Aircraft Ever Built
The December 1984 test flight of the X-29—the most aerodynamically unstable aircraft ever built—demonstrated forward-swept wing technology for supersonic fighter aircraft for the first time.
1987 “Tank Breaker” / Javelin Anti-Tank Weapon System
Beginning in the 1970s, DARPA began the “Tank Breaker” program in response to deficiencies identified by the Army and Marine Corps in their existing infantry anti-tank weapon. The Army evaluated two Tank Breaker designs by industry participants against alternatives in a shoot-off conducted in 1987-1988.
1992 Non-Penetrating Periscope
In response to a call by Congress to establish a program to develop and efficiently transfer new hull, mechanical and electrical technologies outside of normal Navy research and development channels, the Agency answered with the DARPA Advanced Submarine Technology (SUBTECH) program. Among ten technology demonstrations that successfully transitioned from the program to the Department of the Navy between 1989 and 1994 was the Non-Penetrating Periscope (NPP).
1997 Head-Mounted Displays
With an eye on the future of wearable computers and other technologies that can assist warfighters in daunting acts of multi-tasking, DARPA initiated programs to develop head-mounted displays to enable soldiers to view information with unprecedented ease and efficiency.
2002 High-Productivity Computing Systems
DARPA established its High-Productivity Computing Systems (HPCS) program, with a goal of revitalizing supercomputer research and markets, and incubating a new breed of fast, efficient, easier-to-use and affordable machines. DARPA made initial grants to five key players: IBM, Cray, Hewlett-Packard, Silicon Graphics, and Sun Microsystems.
2004 Quantum Key Distribution Network
As part of the then three-year-old Quantum Information Science and Technology (QuIST) program, DARPA-funded researchers established the first so-called quantum key distribution network, which is a data encryption framework for protecting a fiber-optic loop that connects facilities at Harvard University, Boston University, and the office of BBN Technologies in Cambridge, Mass.
2007 Autonomous High-Altitude Refueling
In an in-air demonstration in 2007, DARPA teamed up with NASA to show that high-performance aircraft can easily perform automated refueling from conventional tankers. The 2007 demonstration was not entirely automated, however: a pilot was on board to set conditions and monitor safety during autonomous refueling operations.
2010 High-Altitude LIDAR Operations Experiment
Leveraging past DARPA developments in laser-based versions of RADAR—known as LIDAR, short for light detection and ranging—the High-Altitude LIDAR Operations Experiment (HALOE) provided unprecedented access to high-resolution 3D geospatial data.
2011 Vehicle and Dismount Exploitation Radar
In collaboration with the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization, DARPA initiated the Vehicle and Dismount Exploitation Radar (VADER) program to design and then deploy a radar system for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or small manned aircraft.
2013 Blast Gauge
Under a DARPA contract, the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) developed the Blast Gauge, a small device worn by warfighters to measure blast exposure and cue medics for initial response.
2013 Debut of Atlas Robot
The Atlas disaster-response robot made its public debut on July 11, 2013. In its original form, the 6’2”, 330-lb. humanoid robot—developed for DARPA by Boston Dynamics of Waltham, Mass.—was capable of a range of natural movements. A tether connected the robot to both an off-board power supply and computer through which a human operator issued commands.
2014 EXACTO Live-Fire Testing
DARPA’s Extreme Accuracy Tasked Ordnance (EXACTO) program conducted the first successful live-fire tests demonstrating in-flight guidance of .50-caliber bullets. EXACTO rounds maneuvered in flight to hit targets that were offset from where the sniper rifle was aimed.
2014 Spectrum Challenge Finals
On March 19-20, 2014, 15 teams from around the United States participated in the final event of the DARPA Spectrum Challenge, a competition designed to encourage development of programmable radios that can deliver high-priority transmissions in congested and contested spectrum environments.
(Link: http://www.darpa.mil/about-us/timeline/where-the-future-becomes-now)