Technology Transition

The Adaptive Execution Office (AEO) was created to accelerate the transition of game-changing DARPA technologies to the Department of Defense, other Federal departments and agencies and private-sector partners. AEO maintains robust relationships with the full range of potential end users of DARPA-supported technologies, and assists DARPA program managers with the planning and execution of demonstrations and field trials to promote technology transition to warfighters and others.

In addition to the six technical offices that manage the Agency’s research portfolio, DARPA operates the Adaptive Execution Office , a support office chartered to accelerate the transition of game-changing DARPA technologies into Department of Defense capabilities. AEO provides DARPA with robust connections to the warfighter community and assists the Agency with the planning and execution of technology demonstrations and field trials to promote adoption by the Services.

The Adaptive Execution Office sponsors operational immersion events to assist DARPA program managers early in their tenure. “PM Boot Camp,” as it is known, is intended to build program managers’ confidence in reaching out to relevant Service partners. The events place program managers in a ride-along role during live military exercises or operations, providing a forum for discussion and networking that can build enduring relationships with DARPA customers.

In the early days of DARPA’s work on stealth technology, Have Blue, a prototype of what would become the F-117A, first flew successfully in 1977. The success of the F-117A program marked the beginning of the stealth revolution, which has had enormous benefits for national security.

DARPA launched the Revolutionizing Prosthetics program with a radical goal: gain U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for an advanced electromechanical prosthetic upper limb with near-natural control that enhances independence and improves quality of life for amputees. Today, less than eight years after the effort was launched, that dream is a reality; the FDA approved the DEKA Arm System.