DARPA was created as the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) in February 1958. Its creation was directly attributed to the launching of Sputnik and to U.S. realization that the Soviet Union had developed the capacity to rapidly exploit military technology. Additionally, the political and defense communities recognized the need for a high-level DoD organization to formulate and execute R&D projects that would expand the frontiers of technology beyond the immediate and specific requirements of the Military Services and their laboratories.
The Soviet Union’s launch of Sputnik showed that a fundamental change was needed in America’s defense science and technology programs. DARPA was formed to meet this need and rejuvenated our defense technological capabilities.
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DARPA’s (or ARPA’s) involvement in the creation of the Internet began with an idea to link time-sharing computers into a national system.
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For even more information, see our bibliography on the history of the Internet and ARPANET.
Early efforts by DARPA led to the development of the Air Force F-117 tactical fighter (Stealth Fighter). It was so successful that in Operation Desert Storm, it penetrated air defenses and delivered 2,000 tons of ordnance to account for some 40% of all targets with an 80%-85% hit rate, without losing any fighters.
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The M16 is based on the Colt AR-15 and through Project AGILE, DARPA purchased 1,000 AR-15s and issued them to combat troops in Southeast Asia for field trials. The subsequent report, documenting AR-15’s lethality, was instrumental in its modified version’s adoption as the U.S. military’s individual weapon of choice.
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DARPA General Timeline
- From 1958-1965, DARPA's emphasis centered on major national issues, including space, ballistic missile defense, and nuclear test detection.
- In 1960, all of its civilian space programs were transferred to NASA and the military space programs to the individual Services. This action has allowed DARPA to concentrate its efforts on the DEFENDER (defense against ballistic missiles), VELA (nuclear test detection), and AGILE (counterinsurgency R&D) Programs, and to begin work on computer processing, behavioral sciences, and materials sciences.
- In the late 1960s, with the transfer of these mature programs to the Services, ARPA redefined its role and concentrated on a diverse set of relatively small, essentially exploratory research programs.
- In 1972, the Agency was renamed the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and emphasized directed energy programs, information processing (the precursor to the Internet or ARPANET), research in artificial intelligence, speech recognition, signal processing and tactical technologies.
- From 1976-1981, DARPA's major thrusts were dominated by air, land, sea, and space technology, such as command, control, and communications; tactical armor and anti-armor programs; infrared sensing for space-based surveillance; high-energy laser technology for space-based missile defense; antisubmarine warfare; advanced cruise missiles; advanced aircraft; defense applications of advanced computing; and stealth technology. Integrated circuit research, which resulted in submicron electronic technology and electron devices that evolved into the Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) Program and the charged particle beam program were also started.
- During the 1980s, the focus was centered on information processing and aircraft-related programs, including the National Aerospace Plane or Hypersonic Research Program. The Strategic Computing Program exploited advanced processing and networking technologies. In addition, DARPA began to pursue new concepts for small, lightweight satellites and directed new programs regarding defense manufacturing, submarine technology, and armor/anti-armor.
- In the 1990s, the Agency developed revolutionary new technologies, both in products and processes. Starting with basic technologies such as electronics and materials processing, DARPA created new computers, sensors, and communications devices; developed new ways of manufacturing; and applied these creations using advanced technology demonstrators in operational environments to affect the total R&D process.
