CRAZIEST DARPA Military Projects

"From artificial immune systems, to hypersonic aircraft, these are the CRAZIEST DARPA Military Projects.

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10. WHAT IS DARPA?

DARPA stands for “Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency,” and yes, it really is as cool as it sounds. Essentially, it is a giant think tank where some of the smartest people in the world get together and come up with new ideas for technology advancement. It is the U.S. Department of Defense agency responsible for improving national security through technology. DARPA has six offices, each with its own director and purpose. Nearly all of the people in leadership positions hold Doctorates in Philosophy and Science. Without a doubt, this agency is home to some of the most brilliant minds on the planet.

In 1957, the United States and the Soviet Union were in the thick of the “space race”: a series of “one-upping” between the two countries to see who can make it to space first. The Soviets won. They launched the first satellite in space ever, the Sputnik, and the whole world was shocked. The most shocked, however, was the United States. Lyndon B. Johnson was President at the time. He famously commented on “[t]he profound shock of realizing that it might be possible for another nation to achieve technological superiority over this great country of ours."" Clearly, the U.S. took it pretty hard. But what came out of the shock was the beginning of DARPA. Literally. It was officially established only four months after the Sputnik was launched into space.

In a sense, the U.S. vowed to never again be second in technological advances. DARPA’s whole purpose was to be the first to create the most advanced technology on the planet, even if it means surpassing the U.S.’s needs. In other words, even if the U.S. is still the most advanced in technology, scientists at DARPA will never stop creating to avoid falling behind. Not that it’s a real competition, but there’s definitely an unspoken contest between the U.S. and other countries. DARPA exists to keep this country in first place.

8. MIND’S EYE

7. FALCON

6. VLSI

VLSI literally stands for very-large-scale-integration and it has everything to do with computer science in the ‘70s. It was a research project dedicated to advancing the microprocessor. A microprocessor is basically the heart of any normal computer. Several important computer advances came out of the VLSI Project, and it is revered as the most influential research project in the history of computers.

The VLSI project was kickstarted by the California Institute of Technology professor Carver Mead and computer programmer Lynn Conway. DARPA was involved because they funded Mead’s and Conway’s research. In fact, that’s what the whole project started out as. DARPA provided funding for several universities to research and develop a more advanced version of a computer microprocessor.

Not long into the project, Mead and Conway noticed that they didn’t have tools strong enough to handle the advanced technology they were developing. The only thing that could handle that amount of information and power was a supercomputer. Their goal was to make a supercomputer’s capabilities fit into any general computer. So, Mead and Conway used VLSI to fund other universities to create the equipment they needed.

This decision was a catalyst for computer programming to take off. Each university involved kept developing new and improved concepts. In turn, it had a ripple effect on the computer world and ultimately led to the companies that are still active today, like Sun Microsystems.

5. ARPANET

ARPANET, or “ARPA Network,” was the precursor to the Internet that we all know today. ARPA is the title of the umbrella research project, and it stands for Advanced Research Projects Agency. It is basically DARPA without the “D”.

Ideas and research on a worldwide computer network started in the ‘60s. Back then, communicating with people across the country was still possible, it was just complicated and tedious. Computers used to be very large, and only one of them could be used for each location. For example, if someone was talking to two people at once over the computer network, but they were in two geographically different locations, two machines would have to be used. ARPANET sought to make communication to several locations possible on one machine.

Bob Taylor, who is known as a pioneer that paved the way for the Internet, came to DARPA first. He convinced the Director to give him a budget so that he can develop the ARPANET. It took two years for Taylor to solidify a plan and get it signed off by the Director. Not many people were on board with it, and the ARPANET had a very small number of supporters. But by 1969, a seven-person team got to work on building the Internet, and it was completed in nine months.

4. BOEING X-45

3. LRASM

2. F-X PROGRAM

1. HELLADS"