Strategy
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Strategic Technology Office (STO) develops technology to give national security leaders trusted, disruptive capabilities to win in all physical domains (air, space, sea, and land) and across the spectrum of competition, from deterrence to high-end peer combat.
Leveraging advancements in technologies such as advanced microelectronics, increased computing capacity, and applied machine learning/artificial intelligence, STO pursues solutions in the areas of advanced active and passive sensing; battlefield effects; command, control and communications; new paradigm of systems warfare; and critical capabilities to promote national resilience. STO develops and delivers solutions at a speed and scale to be operationally relevant, moving from the initiation of the project to proof of concept in just a few years.
STO’s broad span of research domains allows the office to rethink competition. The Department of Defense has primarily focused on competition related to battlefield activities and to create asymmetries advantageous for U.S. forces. Recent world events have demonstrated the impact of other dimensions of competition such as economic, environmental, marketplace, and manufacturing. Therefore, STO develops technologies to create opportunities for asymmetries in these broad areas of competition.
Strategy is a two-player game and requires consideration of relative strengths and appropriate actions where national instruments of power are exercised: Diplomatic, Information, Military, Economic, Financial, Intelligence, Legal, Environmental and Technology (DIMEFILET). In cases where your adversary is strong and you are weak, the appropriate strategy is to blunt your adversary’s relative advantage through cost-imposing counters.
In cases where your opponent is weak and you are strong, the appropriate strategy is to build upon your relative advantages in order to maintain or advance the edge over your adversary. In new or emerging areas when you and your adversary are both weak with neither having a relative advantage, a potentially volatile condition persists, leading to a race between both players seeking to achieve a relative advantage over the other. This strategic lens frames the STO thrusts.
Effects
STO develops technologies and systems to achieve and counter kinetic and non-kinetic effects in all physical domains (air, space, sea, and land). A simple example would be the application of directed energy from sea to air. Example areas of STO interest include acoustic systems, combat identification, directed energy systems, effects chain functions (disaggregated find, fix, finish, target, engage, and assess), novel kinetic effects, non-kinetic effects (electronic warfare, directed energy, cyber), photonics, strategy analysis with modeling and simulation technologies and systems to achieve and counter effects, and any other innovative counters to these technologies and systems as well as other potential threat effects.
Sensing
STO develops novel technology for active and passive sensing across all phenomenology (radio frequency, acoustic, electro-optic/infrared), in all physical domains (air, space, sea, and land). STO develops new, innovative methods and technologies to find difficult, elusive objects of interest. Finding and prosecuting objects with effects chains requires the ability to detect, track, and maintain custody of those objects across widely disparate sensors residing in various domains. STO develops processing technologies that can ensure chain of custody between these sensors to ensure confidence and accuracy as objects of interest are passed across cross-domain effects chains. STO also envisions a future of sensing and networking that, without any countermeasures, leaves an adversary military with “nowhere left to hide.”
Command
STO develops technologies and concepts that empower human decision making at the tactical edge, up through operational to strategic decision support for all domains and across the entire spectrum of conflict, specifically end-to-end kill chains. Novel approaches should consider the minimum communication necessary to efficiently and effectively execute command and control in a highly dynamic threat environment. Features include adaptability, resilience and reliability. STO’s interest includes complexity management, decision aids and C2 technology, distributed autonomy and teaming (machine-machine, human-machine), effects chain functions (disaggregated find, fix, track, target, engage, and assess), human behavior modeling, human-machine symbiosis, modeling and simulation, strategy analysis technology, tactics development technology, testing, and data collection. STO develops command, control and communications for highly distributed crewed, uncrewed, and human machine teams in all domains and across the entire spectrum of conflict. Novel approaches consider the minimum communication necessary to efficiently and effectively execute command and control in a highly dynamic threat environment. The proper level of communications must be balanced between level of trust in autonomous systems, training and experience with battle-management command and control systems, and the capacity and resilience of our communication networks.
Hardware and software efforts have created a robust eco-system of software-defined radios across many of the RF frequency bands including highly directional radios. Other efforts have created adaptive gateways to bridge between highly disparate networks. STO develops new approaches to communication networks that are scalable for highly directional and widely disparate radio systems. STO understands that communications will be fleeting, at best, and thus a mission-level or information-centric approach for routing is needed. The potential for moving from end-point control to using intermediate gateways, routers, or endpoints that can adapt to system/mission needs is of interest.
New paradigm
Protracted War, Partners and Allies, Create Competitive Hedge
STO develops systems of autonomous systems technologies and concepts leading to system-level demonstrations for highly distributed crewed, uncrewed, and human-machine teams in all domains and across the entire spectrum of conflict. Advances in autonomy for mobility and signal processing have enabled the advent of distributed systems for operations, sensing, and attack. STO advances technologies for enabling higher levels of autonomy, the means to build trust in the autonomous systems, and the mechanisms to scale such autonomy and associated platforms.
Features of STO’s systems include the ability to address system failures and problems encountered by autonomous systems in an environment with limited communications, as well as capabilities that when stitched together in new ways lead to emergent behaviors. STO reduces the size, weight, power, or cost of systems; allows for adaptability and/or rapid refresh; and offers significant advances in system-level performance. STO seeks to reduce the tyranny of range by developing new systems concepts with applied technology to enable mobility and endurance. Additionally, STO provides novel ways to provide sustained capability enabling protracted engagements in contested environments.
Critical capabilites
Lunar/Cislunar, Financial/Economic Security, Sustain National Will, Prevent Monopoly
STO develops critical capabilities to provide the United States an advantage in expanding areas such as lunar infrastructure and the protection of critical infrastructure at home and among allies. For example, lunar efforts include the establishment of a consortium to accelerate the development of international interoperability standards to catalyze commercial space expansion and peaceful exploration of the Moon, as well as a program to spur the development of integrated lunar infrastructure for civil and commercial use.
The intent is to lower the barrier for lunar access, improve situational awareness, and promote the establishment of international norms on this frontier. In other areas of infrastructure protection, STO has a history of developing sensors and analytical tools to advance military capabilities.
These technologies are now applied to examine areas of commercial, financial, and industrial infrastructure to ensure the resilience of critical national systems. This includes investments to improve resiliency in our energy, transportation, and communication services. Protecting and maintaining these key sectors ensures our ability to sustain a national will to pursue our broader interests, even in times of domestic instability and uncertainty. Financial investments include pursuing market transparency and the prevention of economic monopolies that enable unjust market manipulation.