Redefining Possible
Since 1958, DARPA has been an engine of innovation serving national defense and the U.S. warfighter.
From satellites and stealth aircraft to flat screens and Siri, our research challenges assumptions to prepare for the battlefield of tomorrow, while generating significant societal and economic advances.
DARPA has pushed, and will continue to push, the boundaries of technological possibility.
See the dreams we turned to reality.
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Newest
2023
ACE
2022
ALIAS
2021
Subterranean Challenge
2020
FETT
DARPA Launch Challenge
2019
Spectrum Collaboration Challenge
2018
AI Next
Sea Hunter transfers to Navy
2017
JUMP
Service Academies Swarm Challenge
Bay Area SDR Hackfest
Adept/P3
2016
Cyber Grand Challenge
SIGMA
SST Transition
2015
CHIKV Challenge
2014
Memex
Spectrum Challenge finals
EXACTO Live-fire testing
2013
Blast Gauge
STARnet established
LS3 Pack Mule
Debut of Atlas Robot
2012
Gallium nitride transitions
ICECool
2011
Radar for UAVs
Falcon HTV-2
2010
High-altitude LIDAR
2009
Red balloon challenge
2008
Massive DATA analysis
2007
DARPA Urban Challenge
Orbital Express
Autonomous high-altitude refueling
2006
MiTex
Revolutionizing prosthetics
2005
Chip-scale atomic clock
A-160
BigDog
2004
Quantum key distribution network
Grand Challenge
2002
Personal Assistant That Learns (PAL)
High-Productivity Computing
2000
PicoSAT
1999
Miniature Air-Launched Decoy
1997
Head-Mounted Displays
1996
ARPA Renamed DARPA, Again
Geographic Synthetic Aperture Radar
Schottky IR Imager
1995
X-31
1994
Sensor-Fuzed Weapon
Microelectromechanical Systems
1993
DARPA Becomes ARPA
Spintronics
1992
Non-Penetrating Periscope
Brilliant Anti-Tank Munition
DARPA and the U.S. Army’s Fort Belvoir Research, Development and Engineering Center ran a series of concept studies in the early 1970s to define requirements for an anti-tank weapon referred to as the Terminally Guided Anti-Armor Indirect Fire Weapon System. Under DARPA’s wing, that morphed into the Brilliant Anti-Tank Munition (BAT), a terminally guided anti-armor munition originally intended to be carried aboard the TriService Standoff Attack Missile. Its design featured dual seekers to minimize spoofing and a novel acoustic sensor that could cue on the sound of running tank engines. A decade after the program began, more than 1,100 pre-production and low-production units had been built.
1991
Radar Mapping
Short Takeoff Vertical Landing
Uncooled IR Detection
Cermet Body Armor
1989
Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers
High-Definition Systems
RF Wafer Scale Integration
Taurus Launch Vehicle
1988
UAVs
Unmanned Undersea Vehicle
1987
Tank Breaker/Javelin
MIMIC
SEMATECH
1985
GLOMR Satellite
1984
X-29
Sea Shadow
1983
Miniaturized GPS Receivers
1982
Tacit Blue
1981
No-Tail-Rotor Helicopter
MOSIS Semiconductor Service
JSTARS
1980
Aluminum-Lithium Alloys
MIRACL
Defense Sciences Office Founded
1978
Hubble Telescope Assist
Assault Breaker
Excimer Lasers
1977
Have Blue and Stealth Technology
1975
Ceramic Turbine
1973
TCP/IP
1972
Gallium Arsenide
Advanced Aircraft Materials
ARPA Becomes DARPA
1971
Glassy Carbon
Anti-Submarine Warfare
1970
Camp Sentinel Radar
Beryllium Mirror Research
1969
Torpedo Propulsion
Compact Turbofan Engines
ARPANET
1968
Explosive Forming
Mother of All Demos
1967
QT-2 Quiet Aircraft
1966
M16 Rifle
Shakey the Robot
1964
Project MAC
First Computer Mouse
1963
VELA: Nuclear Explosion Detection
Arecibo Observatory
1962
oN-Line System
Information Processing Techniques Office
1961
ARPA midcourse optical station
Project Agile
1960
Corona Reconnaissance Satellite
Materials Science
Transit Satellite: Space-Based Navigation
1959
First Weather Satellite (TIROS)
Phased Array Radar
1958
ARPA is Born
Saturn V and Centaur Rockets
1957
