The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Laboratory (DEVCOM ARL) is the
U.S. Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...
's foundational research laboratory. ARL is headquartered at the Adelphi Laboratory Center (ALC) in
Adelphi, Maryland
Adelphi is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. Per the 2020 Census, the population was 16,823. Adelphi includes the following subdivisions; Adelphi, Adelphi Park, Adelphi Hills, Ad ...
. Its largest single site is at
Aberdeen Proving Ground
Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) (sometimes erroneously called Aberdeen Proving ''Grounds'') is a U.S. Army facility located adjacent to Aberdeen, Harford County, Maryland, United States. More than 7,500 civilians and 5,000 military personnel work at ...
, Maryland. Other major ARL locations include
Research Triangle Park
Research Triangle Park (RTP) is the largest research park in the United States, occupying in North Carolina and hosting more than 300 companies and 65,000 workers.
The facility is named for its location relative to the three surrounding cities ...
, North Carolina,
White Sands Missile Range
White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) is a United States Army military testing area and firing range located in the US state of New Mexico. The range was originally established as the White Sands Proving Ground on 9July 1945. White Sands National P ...
, New Mexico, Graces Quarters, Maryland, and NASA's
Glenn Research Center
NASA John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field is a NASA center within the cities of Brook Park and Cleveland between Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and the Rocky River Reservation of Cleveland Metroparks, with a subsidiary facilit ...
, Ohio and
Langley Research Center
The Langley Research Center (LaRC or NASA Langley), located in Hampton, Virginia, United States of America, is the oldest of NASA's field centers. It directly borders Langley Air Force Base and the Back River on the Chesapeake Bay. LaRC has fo ...
, Virginia. ARL also has regional sites in Playa Vista, California (ARL West), Chicago (ARL Central), Austin, TX (ARL South), and Boston (ARL Northeast).
DEVCOM ARL has three directorates:
*Army Research Office, located in
Research Triangle Park
Research Triangle Park (RTP) is the largest research park in the United States, occupying in North Carolina and hosting more than 300 companies and 65,000 workers.
The facility is named for its location relative to the three surrounding cities ...
*Army Research Directorate
*Research Business Directorate
History
Before the forming of the ARL, the United States Army had research facilities dating back to 1820 when the laboratory at
Watertown Arsenal
The Watertown Arsenal was a major American arsenal located on the northern shore of the Charles River in Watertown, Massachusetts. The site is now registered on the ASCE's List of Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks and on the US Nationa ...
, Massachusetts, studied pyrotechnics and waterproof paper cartridges. This facility would evolve into the Materials Technology Laboratory. Most pre-
WWII
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
military research occurred within the military by military personnel, but in 1945, the Army published a policy affirming the need for civilian scientific contributions in military planning and weapons production.
Non-military involvement before this time was frequent; however, methods for contribution to warfare technology was on limited and incidental basis. On June 11, 1946, a new research and development division of the War Department General Staff was created; however, due to internal forces within the military which supported the traditional technical service structure the division was closed. A variety of reorganizations took place over the next four decades, which put many organizations in command of Army research and development.
Often commanders of these organizations were advocates of the reorganization, while some middle level management was opposed to the change.
Reorganization
The ARL represents the realization of a memorandum dated January 6, 1989 from the LABCOM Commander recommending integrating the corporate laboratories into a single entity. As part of the
Base Realignment and Closure
Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) is a process by a United States federal government commission to increase United States Department of Defense efficiency by coordinating the realignment and closure of military installations following the end o ...
of 1989/1991, the consolidated research facilities would be located primarily at Adelphi Laboratory Center and
Aberdeen Proving Ground
Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) (sometimes erroneously called Aberdeen Proving ''Grounds'') is a U.S. Army facility located adjacent to Aberdeen, Harford County, Maryland, United States. More than 7,500 civilians and 5,000 military personnel work at ...
. This would also relocate the majority of operations at MTL to APG. The Federal Advisory Commission reviewed and accepted the creation of ARL in 1992.
Directorates
Army Research Office
The ''Army Research Office'' (ARO), located in
Research Triangle Park
Research Triangle Park (RTP) is the largest research park in the United States, occupying in North Carolina and hosting more than 300 companies and 65,000 workers.
The facility is named for its location relative to the three surrounding cities ...
, funds extramural basic research, that is, research in outside academic and industrial organizations, providing grants to both single investigators and university-affiliated research centers, as well as outreach programs.
Computational and Information Sciences
The ''Computational and Information Sciences Directorate'' (CISD) is the foremost U.S. Army organization for research and development of modern electronic systems. This research supports capabilities in the analysis, distribution, and assimilation of real or simulated digitized battlefield information. In addition to the digitized war initiatives,
high performance computing
High-performance computing (HPC) uses supercomputers and computer clusters to solve advanced computation problems.
Overview
HPC integrates systems administration (including network and security knowledge) and parallel programming into a multid ...
research is performed at a variety of centers under the ARL. The use of
supercomputers
A supercomputer is a computer with a high level of performance as compared to a general-purpose computer. The performance of a supercomputer is commonly measured in floating-point operations per second (FLOPS) instead of million instructions p ...
for mathematical simulations instead of mass
fabrication can result in the conservation of human and physical resources. The directorate is a key player in the
International Technology Alliance The International Technology Alliance (ITA) refers to a series of research programs that were jointly sponsored by UK Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom) and the US Army Research Laboratory
The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command ...
in conjunction with SEDD and HRED directorates.
Human Research and Engineering
The U.S. Army Research Laboratory's ''Human Research and Engineering Directorate'' (HRED) is the principal Army organization for research and development (R&D) in the human dimension. HRED conducts a broad-based program of scientific research and technology directed toward optimizing Soldier performance and Soldier-machine interactions to maximize battlefield effectiveness. HRED also executes an analysis mission that provides the Army with human factors leadership to ensure that Soldier performance requirements are adequately considered in technology development and system design. HRED coordinates technologies within the Army, other services and their laboratories, industry, and academia to leverage basic and applied research opportunities for the benefit of the Army.
Sensors and Electron Devices
''Sensors and Electron Devices Directorate'' (SEDD) is a group dedicated to produce equipment from tiny chips to fully integrated systems. SEDD also helps develop
sensors
A sensor is a device that produces an output signal for the purpose of sensing a physical phenomenon.
In the broadest definition, a sensor is a device, module, machine, or subsystem that detects events or changes in its environment and sends ...
and electronic devices which become an important part of modern warfare. Other components of this directorate include: multifunction radio frequency equipment, autonomous sensing,
power generation
Electricity generation is the process of generating electric power from sources of primary energy. For utilities in the electric power industry, it is the stage prior to its delivery ( transmission, distribution, etc.) to end users or its stor ...
and management, and
signal processing
Signal processing is an electrical engineering subfield that focuses on analyzing, modifying and synthesizing ''signals'', such as audio signal processing, sound, image processing, images, and scientific measurements. Signal processing techniq ...
algorithms. One of the best ways to protect the soldier is to develop autonomous sensing systems for all activities, from intelligence gathering to waging warfare.
Survivability/Lethality Analysis
The ''Survivability/Lethality Analysis Directorate'' (SLAD) is the primary center for expertise in survivability, lethality, and vulnerability of all army systems, across the full range of battlefield threats: ballistic,
electronic warfare
Electronic warfare (EW) is any action involving the use of the electromagnetic spectrum (EM spectrum) or directed energy to control the spectrum, attack an enemy, or impede enemy assaults. The purpose of electronic warfare is to deny the opponen ...
,
information operations
Information Operations is a category of direct and indirect support operations for the United States Military. By definition in Joint Publication 3-13, "IO are described as the integrated employment of electronic warfare (EW), computer network ...
, and nuclear, biological, and chemical warfare. SLAD's mission is to assist technology and system developers in optimizing system designs and to provide analytical data to evaluators and decision makers in the Army and the
DOD.
Vehicle Technology
The U.S. Army Research Laboratory's ''Vehicle Technology Directorate'' (VTD) manages research and development of
vehicle propulsion
Propulsion is the generation of force by any combination of pushing or pulling to modify the translational motion of an object, which is typically a rigid body (or an articulated rigid body) but may also concern a fluid. The term is derived fro ...
and structure. In addition, VTD conducts analytical and practical experiments in loads analysis, structural dynamics, aero-elasticity, structural acoustics, and
vibration reduction
Image stabilization (IS) is a family of techniques that reduce blurring associated with the motion of a camera or other imaging device during exposure.
Generally, it compensates for pan and tilt (angular movement, equivalent to yaw and pit ...
. VTD makes ground combat vehicles lighter, more reliable, safer, and more fuel efficient. Air combat vehicles such as the
helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...
are studied to decrease the vibrations caused by the rotors.
Metal
A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...
lic materials are engineered to increase strength and decrease
corrosion
Corrosion is a natural process that converts a refined metal into a more chemically stable oxide. It is the gradual deterioration of materials (usually a metal) by chemical or electrochemical reaction with their environment. Corrosion engine ...
through the use of
composites. The divisions of VTD are Loads & Dynamics, Structural Mechanics, Engine & Transmission Systems, Engine Components, and Unmanned Vehicles.
Weapons and Materials Research
The U.S. Army Research Laboratory ''Weapons and Materials Research Directorate'' (WMRD) is the principal U.S. Army organization for research and development in weapons and materials technologies. The directorate is charged with making bullets pierce farther and
ballistic vest
A bulletproof vest, also known as a ballistic vest or a bullet-resistant vest, is an item of body armor that helps absorb the impact and reduce or stop penetration to the torso from firearm-fired projectiles and fragmentation from explosions. ...
s stronger. Although these interests may seem opposed, the goal is to increase the survivability of the soldier. In the WMRD, traditional armaments are studied, as are advanced ballistic defense systems. This directorate is especially linked with VTD in order to produce safer vehicles, transports, and aircraft. One aspect of this directorate's analysis duty is to evaluate military technologies from an economical standpoint in order to reduce overall system costs.
Federated Laboratories
Beginning in 1996, the Army Research Laboratory entered into innovative cooperative agreements with industrial and academic partners to form "federated laboratories," or "FedLabs", to perform research in broad areas important to the U.S. Army where the ARL could extract significant leverage from work being performed in the commercial and academic arenas. The first three FedLabs were in Advanced Displays, Advanced Sensors, and Telecommunications. Each FedLab was a large consortium of companies, universities, and non-profit organizations, with both an overall industrial leader and an ARL leader. The cooperative agreements forming the FedLabs were somewhat unusual in that the ARL was not a mere funder of research, but an active consortium participant.
[Vassiliou, Marius (2007), "The Virtual Research Laboratory," Proc. 2007 IEEE Aerospace Conference.] The first three FedLabs won a National Performance Award in 1999 from then-Vice President
Al Gore
Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic Part ...
.
Collaborative Technology and Research Alliances
Collaborative Technology and Research Alliances is a term for partnerships between Army laboratories and centers, private industry and academia for performing research and technology development intended to benefit the US Army. The partnerships are funded by the
US Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
.
*
Cyber Security Collaborative Research Alliance (CSCRA)
Cyber Security Collaborative Research Alliance (CSCRA) was a research program initiated and sponsored by the US Army Research Laboratory (ARL). The objective of the program was “to develop a fundamental understanding of cyber phenomena, includi ...
*
*
Multi-Scale Multidisciplinary Modeling of Electronic Materials Collaborative Research Alliance
*
Distributed Analytics and Information Science International Technology Alliance (DAIS ITA)
See also
*
Internet of Battle Things (IoBT) Collaborative Research Alliance (CRA)
*
Smart Weapon End-to-End Performance Model The Smart Weapon End-to-End Performance Model (SWEEPM) is a modeling software developed by the United States Army Research Laboratory (ARL), designed to measure the overall effectiveness of all types of munitions. SWEEPM was conceived in 2008 and co ...
References
External links
Army Research Laboratory website*
{{Coord, 39.0296, -76.9647, type:landmark_region:US-MD, display=title
Research Laboratory
A research institute, research centre, research center or research organization, is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often im ...
Historic American Engineering Record in Maryland
Military technology
Military simulation