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Air Force Research Laboratory

The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is a scientific research and development detachment of the United States Air Force Materiel Command dedicated to leading the discovery, development, and integration of direct-energy based aerospace warfighting technologies, planning and executing the Air Force science and technology program, and providing warfighting capabilities to United States air, space, and cyberspace forces.[1] It controls the entire Air Force science and technology research budget which was $2.4 billion in 2006.[2]

Air Force Research Laboratory

October 1997–present

United States

 United States Air Force
 United States Space Force

Research and development

4,200 civilian
1,200 military

Air Force Materiel Command

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
39°49′23″N 084°02′58″W / 39.82306°N 84.04944°W / 39.82306; -84.04944

AFOEA

www.afrl.af.mil

Brig. Gen. Scott A. Cain

Col. Paul Henderson

Mr. Jack Blackhurst

Dr. Timothy J. Bunning

The Laboratory was formed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, on 31 October 1997 as a consolidation of four Air Force laboratory facilities (Wright, Phillips, Rome, and Armstrong) and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research under a unified command. The Laboratory is composed of eight technical directorates, one wing, and the Office of Scientific Research. Each technical directorate emphasizes a particular area of research within the AFRL mission which it specializes in performing experiments in conjunction with universities and contractors.


Since the Laboratory's formation in 1997, it has conducted numerous experiments and technical demonstrations in conjunction with NASA, Department of Energy, National Laboratories, DARPA, and other research organizations within the Department of Defense. Notable projects include the X-37, X-40, X-53, HTV-3X, YAL-1A, Advanced Tactical Laser, and the Tactical Satellite Program.


The Laboratory may face problems in the future as 40 percent of its workers are slated to retire over the next two decades, and since 1980, the United States has not produced enough science and engineering degrees to keep up with demand.[3]

Maj Gen , February 2010 – May 2011.

Ellen M. Pawlikowski

Maj Gen , May 2011 – July 2013.[91]

William N. McCasland

Maj Gen , July 2013 – May 2016.[92]

Thomas J. Masiello

Maj Gen , May 2016 – May 2017.[93]

Robert D. McMurry Jr.

Maj Gen , May 2017 – January 2020.[94]

William T. Cooley

Brig Gen , January 2020 – June 2020.[95]

Evan Dertien

Maj Gen , June 2020 – June 2023[96]

Heather L. Pringle

Maj Gen , June 2023 – present

Scott A. Cain

DARPA

(MCCDC)

Marine Corps Combat Development Command

(ONR)

Office of Naval Research

(ARL)

United States Army Research Laboratory

(MCWL)

United States Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory

(NRL)

United States Naval Research Laboratory

Liebowitz, Ruth P. (PDF). Hanscom Air Force Base, Bedford, MA: Air Force Geophysics Laboratory. Archived from the original on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 18 December 2013.

"CHRONOLOGY From the Cambridge Field Stations to the Air Force Geophysics Laboratory 1945–1985"

Harrington, John V. (1983). "Radar Data Transmission". Annals of the History of Computing. 5 (4): 370–374. :10.1109/mahc.1983.10100. S2CID 7227862.

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Archived 22 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine (official)

Air Force Research Laboratory Homepage