Timeline
In what ended up being for the Agency an extremely rare practice of direct or near-direct support of active military operations, ARPA initiated Project Agile in 1961, which grew into a large and diverse portfolio of counterinsurgency research programs in Southeast Asia.
Along the way, subprojects included weapons (among them flamethrowers and what became known as the M-16 assault rifle), rations, mobility and logistics in remote areas, communications, surveillance and target acquisition, defoliation, and psychological warfare.
The project ran through 1974.
Redefining Possible
Since 1958, DARPA has been an engine of innovation serving national defense and the U.S. warfighter.