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.

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Image Caption: DARPA’s Towed Airborne Lift of Naval Systems (TALONS) research effort recently demonstrated its prototype of a low-cost, elevated sensor mast aboard a commissioned U.S. Navy vessel for the first time. The crew of USS Zephyr, a Cyclone-class patrol coastal ship, evaluated the technology demonstration system over three days near Naval Station Mayport, Florida. Click below for high-resolution image.
8/15/2017

TALONS Tested on Commissioned U.S. Navy Vessel for First Time

DARPA’s Towed Airborne Lift of Naval Systems (TALONS) research effort recently demonstrated its prototype of a low-cost, elevated sensor mast aboard a commissioned U.S. Navy vessel for the first time. The crew of USS Zephyr, a 174-foot (53-meter) Cyclone-class patrol coastal ship, evaluated the technology demonstration system over three days near Naval Station Mayport, Florida.
| Air | Algorithms | Autonomy | Countermeasures | ISR | Maritime | Sensors | Transition | Unmanned |

DSO
8/11/2017

Disruptioneering: Streamlining the Process of Scientific Discovery

DARPA’s Defense Sciences office (DSO)—whose mission is to identify and pursue high-risk, high-payoff research initiatives across a broad spectrum of science and engineering disciplines—today announced the first programs under its new Disruptioneering effort, which pushes for faster identification and exploration of bold and risky ideas with the goal of accelerating scientific discovery.
| Agency | Autonomy | Complexity | Fundamentals | Materials | Math | Sensors |

Conceptual depiction of the intersection of radio communication and artificial intelligence. Click on image below for high-resolution.
8/11/2017

The Radio Frequency Spectrum + Machine Learning = A New Wave in Radio Technology

The current wave of artificial intelligence, driven by machine learning (ML) techniques, is all the rage, and for good reason. With sufficient training on digitized writing, spoken words, images, video streams, and other digital content, ML has become the basis of voice recognition, self-driving cars, and other previously only-imagined capabilities.
| AI | Communications | Spectrum |

STO outlines vision for “Mosaic Warfare”
8/4/2017

Strategic Technology Office Outlines Vision for “Mosaic Warfare”

DARPA’s Strategic Technology Office (STO) this week unveiled its updated approach to winning or deterring future conflicts during Sync with STO Day, held in Arlington, Virginia. At the event—which attracted about 300 innovators and entrepreneurs, more than half of whom had never worked with DARPA before—STO program managers outlined new areas of interest and held discussions with attendees to explore innovative technology solutions for strategic national security challenges.
| Air | BMC2 | Communications | Complexity | Countermeasures | EW | ISR | Mobile | PNT | Spectrum | Systems | Tech-Foundations |

Safe Gene
7/19/2017

Building the Safe Genes Toolkit

DARPA created the Safe Genes program to gain a fundamental understanding of how gene editing technologies function; devise means to safely, responsibly, and predictably harness them for beneficial ends; and address potential health and security concerns related to their accidental or intentional misuse.
| Bio-complexity | Bio-systems | Countermeasures | Syn-Bio |

Neural Engineering System Design (NESD)
7/10/2017

Towards a High-Resolution, Implantable Neural Interface

DARPA has awarded contracts to five research organizations and one company that will support the Neural Engineering System Design (NESD) program: Brown University; Columbia University; Fondation Voir et Entendre (The Seeing and Hearing Foundation); John B. Pierce Laboratory; Paradromics, Inc.; and the University of California, Berkeley. These organizations have formed teams to develop the fundamental research and component technologies required to pursue the NESD vision of a high-resolution neural interface and integrate them to create and demonstrate working systems able to support potential future therapies for sensory restoration. Four of the teams will focus on vision and two will focus on aspects of hearing and speech.
| Health | Med-Devices | Neuroscience | Restoration |

LUKE Arm
6/30/2017

Giving the Gift of Independence on Fourth of July: Veterans Receive DARPA’s LUKE Arm

At a ceremony in New York today, two veterans living with arm amputations became the first recipients of a new generation of prosthetic limb that promises them unprecedented, near-natural arm and hand motion. The modular, battery-powered arms, designed and developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), represent the most significant advance in upper extremity prosthetics in more than a century.
| Health | Med-Devices | Restoration |

Fast Lightweight Autonomy (FLA)
6/28/2017

Smart Quadcopters Find their Way without Human Help or GPS

Phase 1 of DARPA’s Fast Lightweight Autonomy (FLA) program concluded recently following a series of obstacle-course flight tests in central Florida. Over four days, three teams of DARPA-supported researchers huddled under shade tents in the sweltering Florida sun, fine-tuning their sensor-laden quadcopter unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) during the intervals between increasingly difficult runs.
| Air | Autonomy | Unmanned |