DARPA

In September 2018, DARPA announced a multi-year investment of more than $2 billion on artificial intelligence research and development in a portfolio of some 50 new and existing programs collectively called the “AI Next” campaign.

DARPA Challenges are designed to accelerate the development of groundbreaking solutions for critical national defense and public safety needs, such as developing autonomous ground vehicles, self-driving cars, robots for dangerous environments, and automated cybersecurity systems.

DARPA’s 2020 Launch Challenge explored agile space launch methods, concluding with Astra’s scrubbed attempt despite progress toward launch-readiness.

DARPA has developed scalable tools based on formal mathematical methods (formal methods) to secure and prove the absence of exploitable vulnerabilities.

Ensuring warfighters survive the time between injury and definitive medical care.

DARPA manages over 250 research programs across diverse topics, focusing on breakthrough technologies for national security.

DARPA shares scientific results and advanced capabilities with media outlets and trade publications.

DARPA’s 2023 Demo Day showcased offices, initiatives, opportunities, and programs.

The history of technology is a rich story with individual, institutional, corporate, and governmental protagonists driven by necessity, the pursuit of fame and fortune, and visions of becoming more powerful actors in the world.

Find high-resolution images of selected DARPA initiatives.

DARPA program managers lead high-risk research, freeing creative minds to redefine technological possibilities.

Breakthrough R&D demands the highest caliber skills in science, engineering, communications, compliance, contracting, and more. Answer the call.

Lt. Col. Clark McGehee, Ph.D., has focus areas that include the defense industrial base, manufacturing technology, next-generation design and systems engineering tools, and advanced aerospace vehicle concepts.

Derek S. Bernsen's research interests focus on cyberspace operations, cybersecurity, program analysis, automation, and other defense mission areas.

Jeffrey Zaleski, Ph.D., has research interests in the fields of metals in medicine, bioinorganic chemistry, synthetic chemistry, and materials. His areas of interest include health, chemistry, materials science, environment, and organics.

Michael Mulqueen, Ph.D., has a broad engineering background including work in autonomy, sensors (RADAR, LiDAR, and infrared focal plane arrays), microelectronics advanced packaging, energy, and materials.

DARPA drives transformative innovations that address current challenges and position the United States as a leader in strategic technology.

DARPA’s congressional authorizers and appropriators sit on the Senate and House Armed Services Committees and the Appropriations Committees. Transcripts of testimony provided to these and other committees and subcommittees appear on this page.

DARPA invests in cutting-edge technologies for national security, collaborating with experts across disciplines to tackle emerging challenges.

Explore more than six decades of revolutionary technologies that benefited national security and became fixtures of modern civilian life.

DARPA offers speaker requests for events.

DARPA is a secure facility, and visitors will need to arrange an appointment with a program manager or other DARPA staff prior to visiting. There are no public tours of the facility.

Since 1958, DARPA has held to an enduring mission: To create technological surprise for U.S. national security.

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DARPA integrates privacy and civil liberties into all agency activities by maintaining comprehensive privacy and civil liberties programs that comply with applicable statutory, regulatory, and policy requirements, and developing and evaluating appropriate risk management policies.

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The Office of the Secretary of Defense’s Office of Freedom of Information is responsible for all DARPA Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.

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DARPA works—including images, audio, and video—may be used for educational or informational purposes with proper attribution.