Defense Advanced Research Projects AgencyNews

News

With more than 200 different programs across the spectrum of science and engineering, DARPA frequently has news to share. We regularly announce the launch of new programs, contract awards and—most exciting—compelling results from our ongoing research. We strive to report on our work and activities in language that can be understood and appreciated by the full range of individuals in military and civilian positions interested in our work—from technical experts with a need to know, to people who simply find our mission important and our accomplishments fascinating.

Feel free to search the list of web features below and visit DARPA on Facebook and Twitter. To learn more about DARPA news, visit the DARPA Public Affairs page. If you would like to use our news content, please follow our usage policy.

 

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1/9/2018

Configuration Security Program to Make Network-Connected Systems Less Vulnerable

The rise of network-connected systems that are becoming embedded seemingly everywhere–from industrial control systems to aircraft avionics–is opening up a host of rich technical capabilities in deployed systems. Even so, as the collective technology project underlying this massive deployment of connectivity unfolds, more consumer, industrial, and military players are turning to inexpensive, commodity off-the-shelf (COTS) devices with general-purpose designs applicable for a range of functionalities and deployment options. While less costly and more flexible, commodity components are inherently less secure than the single-purpose, custom devices they are replacing.
| Automation | Cyber | Security | Systems |

Image Caption: DARPA’s Hallmark program seeks to develop revolutionary tools and technologies to plan, assess, and execute U.S. military operations in space. In its pursuit of these breakthrough capabilities, the program has completed initial research demonstrations and awarded Phase 1 contracts to 11 organizations. Hallmark has also released a Broad Agency Announcement seeking additional technologies for potential inclusion. Click below for high-resolution image.
1/9/2018

Hallmark Seeks to Revolutionize U.S. Space Enterprise Command and Control

The growing complexity of space operations coupled with an increased need for timely decisions demands innovative approaches to battle management command and control (BMC2) technologies. To help ensure future U.S. technological and strategic superiority, DARPA’s Hallmark program seeks to develop revolutionary tools and technologies to plan, assess, and execute U.S. military operations in space. The program has completed initial research and awarded Phase 1 contracts to 11 organizations, which both augment existing commercial technologies and pursue entirely new capabilities. Hallmark has released a Broad Agency Announcement seeking additional technologies for potential inclusion.
| Data | Integration | Space | Visualization |

Image Caption: DARPA’s Collaborative Operations in Denied Environment (CODE) program conducted successful Phase 2 flight tests with teams led by Lockheed Martin Corporation (Orlando, Fla.) and the Raytheon Company (Tucson, Ariz.). The Agency has also awarded Phase 3 of the program to Raytheon to further develop CODE capabilities and validate them through a series of planned flight tests. Click below for high-resolution image.
1/8/2018

CODE Makes Headway on Collaborative Autonomy for Unmanned Aerial Systems

DARPA’s Collaborative Operations in Denied Environment (CODE) program aims to extend the capability of the U.S. military’s existing unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) to conduct dynamic, long-distance engagements of highly mobile ground and maritime targets in contested or denied battlespaces. Multiple CODE-equipped unmanned aircraft would navigate to their destinations and find, track, identify, and engage targets under established rules of engagement—all under the supervision of a single human mission commander.
| Air | Autonomy | BMC2 | Networking | Unmanned |

Peter Highnam Appointed DARPA Deputy Director
1/8/2018

Peter Highnam Appointed DARPA Deputy Director

The director of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Dr. Steven Walker, today announced the appointment of Dr. Peter Highnam as deputy director of the Agency. Highnam, a former DARPA program manager, is expected to help advance critical research in several fields including artificial intelligence, data analytics, communications, reconnaissance, electronic warfare, biosecurity, and warfighter health.
| AI | Communications | EW | Leadership |

Image caption: Viral infectious diseases often arise in animals. Over time, as the virus multiplies and mutates, variants can gain the ability to jump between species. Transmission can be direct from animal to human, from animal to “bridge” animal to human, or animal to vector to human. DARPA’s Preventing Emerging Pathogenic Threats program seeks to prevent these cross-species jumps by predicting viral evolution and transmission pathways and proactively intervening to prevent the jump to humans.
1/4/2018

Going to the Source to Prevent Viral Disease Outbreaks

Avian influenza (H7N9). MERS coronavirus. Ebola. Hepatitis E. Yellow Fever. Lassa. Zika. When you consider the viral infectious diseases that emerged and reemerged around the world in 2017 alone, what many of them have in common is that they originated in animals and spilled over into humans after a series of mutations that enable the pathogens to jump species.
| Disease | Therapy |

2017 Top 10 stories
12/27/2017

The Ten Most Popular DARPA Stories of 2017

DARPA’s pivotal investments in breakthrough technologies and capabilities for national security take place in about 250 possibility-redefining programs across dozens of fields, from quantum metamaterials and machine learning to neurotechnology and unmanned system autonomy. Throughout the year, the Agency produces updates about newly launched efforts, promising results, and major program accomplishments. We post them all on the DARPA news page, which in 2017 received 35 million page views—a 30 percent increase over last year.
| Agency | History |

2017 Top 10 Videos
12/27/2017

The Ten Most Popular DARPA Videos of 2017

The DARPA YouTube channel is home to hundreds of videos showing the depth and breadth of DARPA’s research and the amazing people behind it. All told in 2017, our videos were watched more than two million times, and viewers cumulatively spent almost eight years looking at our footage.
| Agency | History |

The Most Popular DARPA Tweets and Facebook Posts of 2017
12/27/2017

The Most Popular DARPA Tweets and Facebook Posts of 2017

DARPA’s Twitter and Facebook feeds are two of the primary ways the Agency shares its diverse research with the world, and engages communities interested in our pivotal investments in breakthrough technologies and capabilities for national security. Our posts on Facebook and Twitter reached nearly 20 million people in 2017. Progress in the fields of autonomy, artificial intelligence, and neuroelectronics—along with anniversaries of past DARPA accomplishments in the development of robotics and communications—were among the most popular topics.
| Agency | History |