Highlights and takeaways from my internship at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in 2008

1. DARPA Director Outbrief
17 Dec 2008
LCDR Dan Sander
Project Officer
Navy Tactical Exploitation of National Capabilities (TENCAP)
OPNAV N6FTC, Washington DC
29 September – 19 December 2008
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2. Background
LCDR Sander
Professional Background: Information Warfare Officer/1610
Current Assignment: Navy TENCAP (OPNAV N6FTC)
2005-2007: ABRAHAM LINCOLN Strike Group (CCSG-9) CRC
2002-2005: USCENTCOM J2 Collection Management
1999-2002: NSGA Sugar Grove, WV Operations Officer
1996-1998: NSA Ft Meade, MD
1992-1995: USS MERRILL (DD 976)
Education Internship interest/Areas of focus
•U.S. Naval Academy class of 1992 •Language translation tools
•BS in Systems Engineering •Space and “Near Space” systems
•Troy University 2005 •ISR
•MS in Information Systems •Neuroscience
•Joint Forces Staff College •Energy Harvesting and Power generation
•Advanced Communications
•Electronic Warfare
•Biotechnology
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3. Performers and Partners visited
Seattle
•Fred Hutchinson Cancer 30 Performers
San Francisco Research Center Boston
•Lawrence Livermore •Boeing Phantom Works 12 Locations •I Robot
National Labs •University of Washington •BAE
•SRI •BBN
•Stanford
Austin
•University of Texas
•Cycorp
College Park, MD
•IARPA
DC/Northern VA
•NGA
•ONR
Los Angeles •Multi-Threaded
•Hamilton Sundstrand
•AeroVironment
San Diego
•General Atomics
•Neurosciences Institute Orlando
Carlsbad, CA Albuquerque St. Louis •Harris Corp.
•EMCORE Tampa
•Adv Brain Monitoring •Boeing Phantom Works •Phantom Products
•USCENTCOM
•Air Force Research •NGA St Louis
OSINT Cell •University of
Lab
Central Florida
•Honeywell
•L3 CyTerra
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4. Programs of Interest
• Language Translation
– Global Autonomous Language Exploitation (GALE)
– Content Detection from Speech (CODES)
• Space & “Near Space”
– F-6 (fractionalized spacecraft)
– Fast Access Spacecraft Testbed (FAST)
– Vulture
• ISR
– ARGUS (wide-area persistent FMV)
– NetTrack (vehicle tagging/tracking)
• Neuroscience
– Neurotechnology for Intel Analysis (NIA)
– Intelligent Machines
• Energy Harvesting and Power Generation
– Laser-induced fusion
– Very High-Efficiency Solar Cells
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5. Programs of Interest
• Advanced Communications
– Next Generation Communications (XG)
• Dynamic Spectrum Access
• Electronic Warfare
– Wolfpack
• Biotechnology
– Surviving Blood Loss
– Predicting Health and Disease
– Trauma pod
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6. Observations
• DARPA is resource-rich
– Leverage expertise in military, academia, manufacturing,
technology
– Contracting and legal people “best in the world”
– Key partnerships with systems integrators
– Constantly (informal) gathering of requirements as “needs” and
“possibilities”
– $3B
• DARPA employs efficient organization
– Centralized decision-making / decentralized execution
– No JCIDs / PPBE / JROC bureaucracy
– Super-flat organization
– Funding flexibility with Broad Agency Announcement (BAA)
process and stringent go / no-go requirements
– Offices are functionally aligned not constrained
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7. Observations
• DARPA has a culture of success
– Scientific method is king – every program is a forward thinking
dissertation process
– Freedom to fail; all ideas considered on equal merit
– Continually push the boundaries of time, technology; physics,
materials, chemistry
– No sacred cows--anything can be improved
– Divestiture of risk across multiple performers
– Return on Investment (ROI) not measured in dollars
– Enable performers to accept financial risk and grow
– No equities to protect
– “DARPA Brings out the best” in performers
– Focus on warfighting
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8. Technology and DoD Acquisition
Gartner’s Technology “Hype Cycle” DARPA development process
quickly proves concepts by
determining what is feasible.
DARPA’s flat organization is much
more agile and decisive than
typical DoD acquisition processes.
Sometime, technology drives the
requirements, not vice-versa
(example: Boomerang)
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9. Programs of Interest
• High Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense
System (HELLADS)
– Potential to be integrated onto tactical
aircraft and UAVs
– Facilitates new concepts of fire
support
• MAgneto Hydrodynamic Explosive
Munition (MAHEM)
– Improved capability against armor and
reinforced structures
– Increased lethality in existing systems
• Hardwire
– Increased armor protection at lighter
weight
– Enables new possibilities in vehicle
design
• Boomerang
– Acoustic gun shot detection and
localization
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– Swifter target acquisition

10. Programs of Interest
• Multispectral Adaptive Networked Tactical
Imaging System (MANTIS)
– Fused SWIR, LWIR, VNIR image & video
sharing capability
– Improved night vision and shared
situational awareness
• Global Autonomous Language Exploitation
(GALE)
– Automated translation of foreign speech
and text
– Significant benefits to Open Source
Intelligence & Information Operations
• Wasp
– Micro air vehicle front-line
reconnaissance and surveillance
– Increases organic collection capabilities
• Visibuilding
– Detect personnel within buildings &
determine building layout
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– Increased situational awareness

11. Programs of Interest
• Surviving Blood Loss
– Intends to delay the onset hemorrhagic shock
due to blood loss by reducing cellular oxygen
demand
– Extend the golden hour
• Trauma Pod
– Deployable system allowing for remote, tele-
operative surgery
– Potential for distributed medical operations
• RealWorld
– Potential to develop a simulation of the
operating area from intelligence
– Mission rehearsal applications
• Accelerated Learning
– Advances in understanding of human
physiology to aid in learning
– Real-time feedback could assist in determining
causes of error and provide means for
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correction

12. Takeaways
• High risk/high payoff R&D
– Evolutionary acquisition vs. the revolutionary or disruptive
• DARPA not driven by requirements, but on overcoming technical
barriers.
– Different mentality than services.
• Internship re-invigorates scientific interests
– It’s best to generalize and see all programs across all scientific
disciplines
• DARPA has a short, highly-effective decision chain
• Need to move away from “not invented here”
• Transition requires service commitments
– Some programs trying to “find a home”
– Commitment includes accepting some risk
– Some programs transition to industry, with 2nd and 3rd order technology
breakthroughs transparent to the user
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13. Takeaways
• Many performers are small companies and refer to DARPA as “the
nation’s venture capitalist”
• DARPA funding keeps basic research alive and focused at a number of
universities.
• Especially enjoyed the perspective on S&T in 20th century America by
Dan Goldin (Former NASA administrator and CEO of Intellisis/NSI)
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14. Lessons Learned
• DARPA as a networking resource
– Focal point of industry, university, government research, and services
– Organizational culture draws wide range of diverse talent
• Advocacy
– Technical merit still needs to be sold
– Key component of successful transition, internally and externally
• Production capacity and timelines
– Prototype does not equate to production ready
– Ramp up and achieving economies of scale requires time and money
• Testing paradigms and technological advancement
– New technical approaches require new metrics
– Existing test methodologies may impede advances
• Technical synergy
– Combined impact of multiple technologies exceeds the sum of the parts
– Combined, increased power density, lighter armor, autonomous vehicles,
and more effective training are greater than any single improvement area
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15. Lessons Learned
• Merits of a balanced portfolio
– DARPA “easy” yields quick victory and establishes pattern of success
– DARPA “hard” sets conditions for the future
• Compatibility of traditional PPBS with R&D
– R&D is difficult to program given attendant risk
– Greater flexibility is required to exploit success and terminate failure
• Old is new
– Breakthroughs in one arena may renew the feasibility of discarded concepts
– Hiller Flying Platform (1955) => Micro Air Vehicle (2007)
• Sustained U.S. technical advantage
– Technical superiority is fleeting and never a given
– Multi-national partnering and foreign talent offers both gain and loss
• Exigency of war
– Active conflict presents focused challenges and collective sense of urgency
– Urgency yields resources, enabling swifter transition
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16. Recommendations
Sustain
• Maintain internship program tours for three months; enough time to
gain insight into a wide variety of program areas.
• All-access pass to DARPA and meetings/briefs to director
• Access to industry performers, universities, and national labs
• Good balance between program technical details and business
aspects
Improve
• AF has one-year fellowship program which includes PME – similar
program for Navy in the future?
• Assignment of interns/fellows to specific programs to guide
transition
• Make comprehensive database of DARPA programs available to
alumni of the intern program
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17. Recommendations
Sustain
• Maintain internship program tours for three months; enough time to
gain insight into a wide variety of program areas.
• All-access pass to DARPA and meetings/briefs to director
• Access to industry performers, universities, and national labs
• Good balance between program technical details and business
aspects
Improve
• AF has one-year fellowship program which includes PME – similar
program for Navy in the future?
• Assignment of interns/fellows to specific programs to guide
transition
• Make comprehensive database of DARPA programs available to
alumni of the intern program
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18. Recommendations
• Expand outreach program
– DARPA online design studio
• Provide virtual components and challenges to fledgling designers
• Cash incentives for adopted designs
– Persistent web presence
– Access to broader and more diverse talent pool
• Develop countermeasures concurrent with new technology
– Gap between defense and commercial technology appears to be
shrinking
• Reduces cost, but provides broader access
• Consider adversarial use of internet, cell phones, GPS, etc.
– Engineer the exploitation mechanism concurrently
• Expand into non-traditional DARPA domains
– National security is not founded solely on hard science
– Psychology, Anthropology, Political Science, Economics etc. may
warrant additional emphasis to facilitate shaping and deterrence
operations
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19. Recommendations
• Expanding the Intern Experience
– Intern planning and coordination for trips is important to gain an
understanding of the Director, PM, SETA, Performer relationship
– Allowing interns to continue to visit DARPA and receive DARPA updates
critical to maintaining and growing the DARPA to Service link
– Consider expanding the program or design another opportunity for key
civilian Government Service employees to learn about DARPA (T&E,
Acquisition, Logistics)
– Consider a discussion on how the transition of technology, program or
system from DARPA to respective Service(s) works and its integration as a
program of record through JCIDS
• Other
– Expanding the Executive Branch (DoD’s, DHS, DOJ, DOE etc) scientific
and technology efforts and coordinating those efforts among and with the
services is critical to DoD and our country’s future
• Attract more hard science into the services (ROTC, GI Bill)
• Technology collaboration and leverage
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20. Summary
• Internship provides access to both a multi-disciplinary talent
pool and technologies that cannot readily be gained elsewhere
• Opportunity to conduct site visits and engage with performers
provides insight into the views of industry, university, and
government researchers
• The depth and breadth of DARPA’s programs address all
warfighting functions in some capacity
• Research and development presents unique challenges
requiring flexible solutions
• Technical superiority cannot be retained without commensurate
investment in facilities and personnel
• Active conflict is a strong impetus for change
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21. Summary
• DARPA Internship is a great career-broadening experience
– More officers need to understand DARPA and its role in S&T
– Each service benefits from exposure to the other branches and
varying career fields
– Great place to learn about R&D competitive sourcing process
• DARPA benefits from operator perspectives
– Opportunities for partnership down the road
– Focusing development efforts
• Looking forward to working with DARPA in the future! Thank you
for this opportunity.
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