Getting DARPA’s scientific and technological achievements into the hands of the warfighters and peacekeepers who will use them is an exceptional challenge, but a fundamental part of the Agency’s mission and the program manager’s role.

"Transitioning technology — getting technology from research and into use — is a contact sport. Many different types of organizations may need to be involved, i.e., S&T organizations like DARPA, the acquisition community, the warfighting/requirements community, and the firms that actually produce the product. This involvement requires personal contact between the people developing the technology and those destined to receive it." Dr. Anthony "Tony" Tether, Director, DARPA

The transition challenge is exacerbated for DARPA because its focus is on high-risk, revolutionary technologies and systems, which may have no clear home in a Service, are Joint, or threaten to displace current equipment or doctrine. Such factors tend to create resistance, or at least barriers to the use and adoption of a radical new technology.

Learn about what happens to a DARPA program when it is ready to move beyond the "far side" of research and development by following the links to the right.