DARPA
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is a research and development agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military.[3][4]
This article is about the US military research agency. For other uses, see DARPA (disambiguation).Agency overview
February 7, 1958
(as ARPA)- Advanced Research Projects Agency
675 North Randolph St., Ballston, Virginia, U.S.
220[1]
$3.868 billion (FY2022)[2]
- Stefanie Tompkins, Director
Originally known as the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), the agency was created on February 7, 1958, by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in response to the Soviet launching of Sputnik 1 in 1957. By collaborating with academia, industry, and government partners, DARPA formulates and executes research and development projects to expand the frontiers of technology and science, often beyond immediate U.S. military requirements.[5]
The Economist has called DARPA the agency that shaped the modern world, with technologies like "weather satellites, GPS, drones, stealth technology, voice interfaces, the personal computer and the internet on the list of innovations for which DARPA can claim at least partial credit."[6] Its track record of success has inspired governments around the world to launch similar research and development agencies.[6]
DARPA is independent of other military research and development and reports directly to senior Department of Defense management. DARPA comprises approximately 220 government employees in six technical offices, including nearly 100 program managers, who together oversee about 250 research and development programs.[7]
The name of the organization first changed from its founding name, ARPA, to DARPA, in March 1972, changing back to ARPA in February 1993, then reverted to DARPA in March 1996.[8]
The agency's current director, appointed in March 2021, is Stefanie Tompkins.[9]
Notable fiction[edit]
DARPA is well known as a high-tech government agency, and as such has many appearances in popular fiction. Some realistic references to DARPA in fiction are as "ARPA" in Tom Swift and the Visitor from Planet X (DARPA consults on a technical threat),[252] in episodes of television program The West Wing (the ARPA-DARPA distinction), the television program Numb3rs,[253] and the Netflix film Spectral.[254]