DARPA's Military Mission & University Connections--Part 7

(See Parts 1-6 below)

In his March 25, 2004 statement before the House Committee on Armed Services’ Subcommittee on “Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities,” the Director of DARPA, Dr. Anthony Tether, also indicated some of the military applications of the DARPA-funded research work in computer technology and biology that is currently done on U.S. university campuses at places like Columbia:

“The High Productivity Computing Systems program…will maintain information superiority in areas such as weather and ocean forecasting, cryptanalysis, and computing the dispersal of airborne contaminants…

“DARPA’s strategic thrust in the life sciences, dubbed `Bio-Revolution,’ is a broad effort to harness the insights and power of biology to make U.S. warfighters and their equipment safer, stronger, and more effective…

“DARPA’s program in preventing cognitive degradation as a result of sleep deprivation illustrates how the Bio-Revolution will help maintain our troops’ combat performances…

“Many of the systems used today in Afghanistan and Iraq benefited from DARPA investments made many years ago. But there are a number of items in use that might be described as `direct from DARPA.’…

“Software from our Command Post of the Future program is being used by the command post of the Army’s First Cavalry Division to distribute itself across space, instead of being in one spot.

“One of the hardest things about sniper attacks on convoys is knowing you are being shot at—it is hard to hear over the road noise. Over the last few months, DARPA funded development of an acoustically-based, vehicle-mounted sniper detection system to help our convoys detect sniper fire and determine the direction it is coming from. Troops have tested and trained with these systems, and 50 are on their way to Iraq…”

Next: DARPA’s Military Mission & University Connections—Part 8