Editing DARPA (section)

==History==
[[File:DARPA through 50 years.ogv|thumb|DARPA achievements for the past 50 years]]

===Early history (1958–1969)===
[[File:DARPA headquarters.jpg|thumb|DARPA's former headquarters in the [[Virginia Square, Virginia|Virginia Square]] neighborhood of [[Arlington County, Virginia]]. The agency is currently located in a new building at 675 North Randolph St.]]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.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bethe |first1=Hans |title=Interview with Hans Bethe |url=https://www.eisenhowerlibrary.gov/sites/default/files/research/oral-histories/oral-history-transcripts/bethe-hans.pdf |website=Eisenhower Library |access-date=18 February 2024}}</ref>  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 able to reach far beyond immediate military requirements.<ref name="Commission2008"/> The two relevant acts are the Supplemental Military Construction Authorization ([[United States Department of the Air Force|Air Force]])<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N-IPAAAAIAAJ |title = Fiscal Year 1958 Supplemental Military Construction Authorization (Air Force): Hearings, Eighty-fifth Congress, Second Session, on H.R. 9739 |date=1958|last1 = Subcommittee On Military Construction |first1 = United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Armed Services }}</ref> (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 ([[Office of the Secretary of Defense|OSD]]) and counted approximately 150 people.<ref>{{cite mailing list| url=https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/irtf-discuss/I7gRirVOb4QX2sgBUDvcDfCJHUY/| author=Steve Crocker| date=15 March 2022| title=[Internet Policy] Why the World Must Resist Calls to Undermine the Internet| mailing-list=IETF-Discussion| quote=I was at (D)ARPA from mid 1971 to mid 1974}}</ref>  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. Initial funding of ARPA was $520 million.<ref name = Wizards20 >"$ 520 million appropriation and a $ 2 billion budget plan." Lyon, Matthew; Hafner, Katie (1999-08-19). ''Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins Of The Internet'' (p. 20). Simon & Schuster. Kindle Edition.</ref> ARPA's first director, Roy Johnson, left a $160,000 management job at [[General Electric]] for an $18,000 job at ARPA.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1958-07-15 |title=ROY JOHNSON CHOSEN UNITED STATES OUTER SPACE AGENCY HEAD. |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/270920463 |access-date=2025-04-05 |work=[[The Queanbeyan Age]]}}</ref><ref name = Wizards21 >"Roy Johnson, ARPA's first director, was, like his boss, a businessman. At age fifty-two, he had been personally recruited by McElroy, who convinced him to leave a $160,000 job with General Electric and take an $18,000 job in Washington." Lyon, Matthew; Hafner, Katie (1999-08-19). ''Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins Of The Internet'' (p. 21). Simon & Schuster. Kindle Edition.</ref> [[Herbert York]] from [[Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory]] was hired as his scientific assistant.<ref name = Wizards21a >"Herbert York, whom Killian had been keen on, was given the job and moved to ARPA from the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory." Lyon, Matthew; Hafner, Katie (1999-08-19). ''Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins Of The Internet'' (p. 21). Simon & Schuster. Kindle Edition.</ref>

Johnson and York were both keen on space projects, but when [[NASA]] was established later in 1958 all space projects and most of ARPA's funding were transferred to it. Johnson resigned and ARPA was repurposed to do "high-risk", "high-gain", "far out" basic research, a posture that was enthusiastically embraced by the nation's scientists and research universities.<ref name = Wizards21,22 >"The staff of ARPA saw an opportunity to redefine the agency as a group that would take on the really advanced "far-out" research....The scientific community, predictably, rallied to the call for a reinvention of ARPA as a "high-risk high-gain" research sponsor— the kind of R& D shop they had dreamed of all along" Lyon, Matthew; Hafner, Katie (1999-08-19). ''Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins Of The Internet'' (pp. 21,22). Simon & Schuster. Kindle Edition.</ref> ARPA's second director was Brigadier General Austin W. Betts, who resigned in early 1961 and was succeeded by [[Jack Ruina]] who served until 1963.<ref name = Wizards23,24 >"In early 1961 ARPA's second director, Brigadier General Austin W. Betts, resigned" Lyon, Matthew; Hafner, Katie (1999-08-19). ''Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins Of The Internet'' (pp. 23,24) Simon & Schuster. Kindle Edition.</ref> Ruina, the first scientist to administer ARPA, managed to raise its budget to $250 million.<ref name = Wizards23 >"Ruina raised ARPA's annual budget to $ 250 million." Lyon, Matthew; Hafner, Katie (1999-08-19). ''Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins Of The Internet'' (p. 23). Simon & Schuster. Kindle Edition.</ref> It was Ruina who hired [[J. C. R. Licklider]] as the first administrator of the [[Information Processing Techniques Office]], which played a vital role in creation of [[ARPANET]], the basis for the future Internet.<ref name = Wizards27-39  >"J. C. R. Licklider." Lyon, Matthew; Hafner, Katie (1999-08-19). ''Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins Of The Internet'' (pp. 27–39). Simon & Schuster. Kindle Edition.</ref>

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 that address the full spectrum of national security needs.

From 1958 to 1965, ARPA's emphasis centered on major national issues, including space, [[ballistic missile defense]], and [[nuclear test]] detection.<ref name = Wizards23a >projects in ballistic missile defense and nuclear test detection, couched in terms of basic research, were the top priorities." Lyon, Matthew; Hafner, Katie (1999-08-19). ''Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins of the Internet'' (p. 23). Simon & Schuster. Kindle edition.</ref>  During 1960, all of its civilian space programs were transferred to the [[NASA|National Aeronautics and Space Administration]] ([[NASA]]) and the military space programs to the individual services.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency {{!}} United States government|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Defense-Advanced-Research-Projects-Agency|access-date=2021-05-19|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref>

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.

ARPA at this point (1959) played an early role in [[Transit (satellite)|Transit]] (also called NavSat) a predecessor to the [[Global Positioning System]] (GPS).<ref>{{cite book | title=Transit to Tomorrow. Fifty Years of Space Research at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory | author1=Helen E. Worth | author2=Mame Warren | year=2009 | url=http://space50.jhuapl.edu/pdfs/book.pdf | access-date=2013-03-03 | archive-date=2020-12-26 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201226045330/http://space50.jhuapl.edu/pdfs/book.pdf | url-status=dead }}</ref>  "Fast-forward to 1959 when a joint effort between DARPA and the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory began to fine-tune the early explorers' discoveries. TRANSIT, sponsored by the Navy and developed under the leadership of Richard Kirschner at Johns Hopkins, was the first satellite positioning system."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.darpa.mil/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=2565 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629003311/http://www.darpa.mil/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=2565 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2011-06-29 |title=The Story of GPS |author=Catherine Alexandrow |date=Apr 2008 }}</ref><ref name=gap>{{cite book|url=http://www.darpa.mil/about/history/first_50_years.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110506103713/http://www.darpa.mil/About/History/First_50_Years.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-date=2011-05-06 |title=DARPA: 50 Years of Bridging the Gap |date=Apr 2008 }}</ref>

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.{{Citation needed|date=April 2020}}

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 among [[Bell Labs]], [[General Electric]] and [[MIT]], which DARPA supported by funding [[Project MAC]] at [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]] with an initial two-million-dollar grant.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mit.edu/6.933/www/Fall2001/AILab.pdf |author1=Stefanie Chiou |author2=Craig Music |author3=Kara Sprague |author4=Rebekah Wahba |date=5 Dec 2001 |title=A Marriage of Convenience: The Founding of the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514101306/http://mit.edu/6.933/www/Fall2001/AILab.pdf |archive-date=2011-05-14 }}</ref>

DARPA supported 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]] fields of speech recognition and signal processing, including parts of [[Shakey the robot]].<ref name="ieee">{{cite web |url=http://ghn.ieee.org/wiki/index.php/Oral-History:Bertram_Raphael |title=Oral History: Bertram Raphael |work=IEEE Global History Network |publisher=[[Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers]] |access-date=2012-02-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130516195054/http://ghn.ieee.org/wiki/index.php/Oral-History%3ABertram_Raphael |archive-date=2013-05-16 }}</ref> DARPA also supported the early development of both [[hypertext]] and [[hypermedia]]. DARPA funded one of the first two hypertext systems, [[Douglas Engelbart]]'s [[NLS (computer system)|NLS]] computer system, as well as [[The Mother of All Demos]].  DARPA later funded the development of the [[Aspen Movie Map]], which is generally seen as the first hypermedia system and an important precursor of [[virtual reality]].

===Later history (1970–1980)===
The [[Mike Mansfield#Mansfield Amendments|Mansfield Amendment]] of 1973 expressly limited appropriations for defense research (through ARPA/DARPA) only to projects with direct military application.

The resulting "[[Human capital flight|brain drain]]" is credited with boosting the development of the fledgling personal computer industry. Some young computer scientists left the universities to startups and private research laboratories such as [[PARC (company)|Xerox PARC]].

Between 1976 and 1981, DARPA's major projects 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.

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|Strategic Defense Initiative Organization]] (SDIO), later known as the [[Ballistic Missile Defense Organization]] (BMDO), now titled the [[Missile Defense Agency]] (MDA).

===Recent history (1981–present)===
During the 1980s, the attention of the Agency was centered on information processing and aircraft-related programs, including the [[Rockwell X-30|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 (DARPA)|LIGHTSAT]]) and directed new programs regarding defense manufacturing, submarine technology, and armor/anti-armor.

In 1981, two engineers, Robert McGhee and Kenneth Waldron, started to develop the Adaptive Suspension Vehicle (ASV) nicknamed the "Walker" at the [[Ohio State University]], under a research contract from DARPA.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Kenneth J. Waldron |author2=Vincent J. Vohnout |author3=Arrie Pery |author4=Robert B. McGhee |title=Configuration Design of the Adaptive Suspension Vehicle |journal=The International Journal of Robotics Research |date=1 June 1984 |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=37–48 |doi=10.1177/027836498400300204 |s2cid=110409452 }}</ref> The vehicle was 17 feet long, 8 feet wide, and 10.5 feet high, and had six legs to support its three-ton aluminum body, in which it was designed to carry cargo over difficult terrains. However, DARPA lost interest in the ASV, after problems with cold-weather tests.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://library.osu.edu/site/archives/2012/11/30/not-so-long-ago-in-an-osu-engineering-lab-nearby/ |title=Not so long ago, in an OSU engineering lab nearby… |website=The Ohio State University |date=30 November 2012 }}</ref>

On February 4, 2004, the agency shut down its so called "LifeLog Project". The project's aim would have been, "to gather in a single place just about everything an individual says, sees or does".<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/2004/02/pentagon-kills-lifelog-project/|title=Pentagon Kills LifeLog Project|first=Wired|last=Staff|magazine=Wired|date=2004-02-04|access-date=2019-03-06}}</ref>

On October 28, 2009, the agency broke ground on a new facility in [[Arlington County, Virginia]] a few miles from [[The Pentagon]].<ref>''[[The Washington Times]]'', "Pentagon Agency Breaks Ground", October 29, 2009.</ref>

In fall 2011, DARPA hosted the [[100 Year Starship|100-Year Starship]] Symposium with the aim of getting the public to start thinking seriously about interstellar travel.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://cleantechnica.com/2012/01/28/fmoon-colony-newt-darpa-has-100-year-starship/|title=Forget the Moon Colony, Newt: DARPA Aims for 100 Year Starship|first=Tina|last=Casey|website=[[CleanTechnica]]|date=2012-01-28|access-date=2012-08-25}}</ref>

On June 5, 2016, [[NASA]] and DARPA announced that it planned to build new [[List of X-planes|X-planes]] with [[NASA]]'s plan setting to create a whole series of X planes over the next 10 years.<ref name="Building X Planes">{{cite web|url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/nasa-darpa-reveal-radical-future-160000121.html |title=NASA and DARPA plan to release new X-Planes |last=Grady |first=Mary |date=June 5, 2016 |website=[[Yahoo Tech]] |access-date=June 8, 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160611120846/http://finance.yahoo.com/news/nasa-darpa-reveal-radical-future-160000121.html |archive-date=June 11, 2016 }}</ref>

Between 2014 and 2016, DARPA shepherded the first [[Intelligent agent|machine-to-machine]] computer security competition, the [[Cyber Grand Challenge]] (CGC),
bringing a group of top-notch computer security experts to search for security [[Vulnerability (computing)|vulnerabilities]], [[Exploit (computer security)|exploit]] them, and create fixes that patch those vulnerabilities in a fully automated fashion.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.yahoo.com/tech/darpa-grand-cyber-challenge-hacking-000000417.html |title=Darpa to create Cyber Grand Challenge to fight security vulnerabilities |last=Howley |first=Daniel |date=17 July 2016 |access-date=17 July 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160718190614/https://www.yahoo.com/tech/darpa-grand-cyber-challenge-hacking-000000417.html |archive-date=18 July 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.darpa.mil/program/cyber-grand-challenge|title=Cyber Grand Challenge (CGC)|publisher=DARPA|access-date=26 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190610210818/https://www.darpa.mil/program/cyber-grand-challenge|archive-date=10 June 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref> It is one of [[DARPA Prize Competitions|DARPA prize competitions]] to spur innovations.

In June 2018, DARPA leaders demonstrated a number of new technologies that were developed within the framework of the [[DARPA GXV-T|GXV-T]] program. The goal of this program is to create a lightly armored combat vehicle of not very large dimensions, which, due to maneuverability and other tricks, can successfully resist modern [[anti-tank weapon]] systems.<ref>[https://newatlas.com/darpa-gxv-t-demonstration-military-vehicle-technology/55198/ "DARPA demonstrates 6 new technologies behind the agile combat vehicles of tomorrow"] New Atlas, June 26, 2018</ref>

In September 2020, DARPA and the [[United States Department of the Air Force|US Air Force]] announced that the [[Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept]] (HAWC) are ready for free-flight tests within the next year.<ref>{{cite web |author=David Szondy |url=https://newatlas.com/military/darpa-us-air-force-hypersonic-weapon-captive-carry-flight-test/ |title=DARPA/US Air Force hypersonic air-breathing weapon ready for free flight |website=New Atlas |date=8 September 2020 }}</ref>

[[Victoria Coleman]] became the director of DARPA in November 2020.<ref name="Cohen">{{cite web |last1=Cohen |first1=Rachel S. |title=Meet New DARPA Director Victoria Coleman |url=https://www.airforcemag.com/meet-new-darpa-director-victoria-coleman/ |website=Air Force Magazine |access-date=21 November 2020 |date=20 November 2020}}</ref>

In recent years, DARPA officials have contracted out core functions to corporations. For example, during fiscal year 2020, Chenega ran physical security on DARPA's premises,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Contracts for September 30, 2020|url=https://www.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract/Article/2367105/|access-date=2021-02-06|website=U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE|language=en-US}}</ref> System High Corp. carried out program security,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Contracts for March 10, 2020|url=https://www.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract/Article/2107920/|access-date=2021-02-06|website=U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE|language=en-US}}</ref> and Agile Defense ran unclassified IT services.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Contracts for June 2, 2020|url=https://www.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract/Article/2205772/|access-date=2021-02-06|website=U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE|language=en-US}}</ref> General Dynamics runs classified IT services.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Contracts for October 22, 2020|url=https://www.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract/Article/2391498/|access-date=2021-02-06|website=U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE|language=en-US}}</ref> Strategic Analysis Inc. provided support services regarding engineering, science, mathematics, and front office and administrative work.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Contracts for September 17, 2020|url=https://www.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract/Article/2352082/|access-date=2021-02-06|website=U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE|language=en-US}}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" widths="350px" caption="DARPA history">
File:01 The Formative Years 1958 - 1975 (DARPA history).ogv|The formative years<br />(1958–1975)
File:02 - The Cold War Era 1975 - 1989 (DARPA history).ogv|The Cold War era<br />(1975–1989)
File:03 - The Post-Soviet Years 1989 - Present 2008 (DARPA history).ogv|The Post-Soviet years<br />(1989–present)
</gallery>