The Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) was a part of the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) between 1995 and 2 July 2001. At the time it was the United Kingdom's largest science and technology organisation. It was regarded by its official history as 'a jewel in the crown' of both government and industry.Eds. Robert Bud and Philip Gummett, ''Cold War Hot Science: Applied Research in Britain's Defence Laboratories 1945-1990'', Harwood, 1999

Formation and operation

DERA was formed in April 1995 as an amalgamation of: *

Defence Research Agency The Defence Research Agency (DRA) was an executive agency of the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) from April 1991 until April 1995. At the time, the DRA was Britain's largest science and technology organisation. In April 1995, the DRA was combine ...

(DRA) which was set up in April 1991 and comprised **

Royal Aerospace Establishment The Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), before finally losing its identity in me ...

(RAE) **

Admiralty Research Establishment The Admiralty Research Establishment (commonly known as ARE) was formed on 1 April 1984 from various Admiralty establishments. It became part of the Defence Research Agency on 1 April 1991. Constituent parts on formation * Admiralty Surface We ...

(ARE) ** Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment (RARDE) **

Royal Signals and Radar Establishment The Royal Signals and Radar Establishment (RSRE) was a scientific research establishment within the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of the United Kingdom. It was located primarily at Malvern in Worcestershire, England. The RSRE motto was ''Ubique ...

(RSRE) * Defence Test and Evaluation Organisation (DTEO) * Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment (CBDE at Porton Down), which became part of the Protection and Life Sciences Division (PLSD) * Centre for Defence Analysis (CDA). The chief executive throughout DERA's existence was John Chisholm. DERA's staffing level was around 9,000 scientists, technologists and support staff.

Dissolution

DERA was split into two organisations, based on short-lived transition bodies known as PDERA ("privatised" DERA) - becoming a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

firm, QinetiQ - and "RDERA" ( "retained" in Government DERA) - becoming the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl). At the split, QinetiQ was formed from the majority (about 3/4 of the staff and most of the facilities) of DERA, with Dstl assuming responsibility for those aspects which were best done in government. A few examples of the work undertaken by Dstl include

nuclear Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: *Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics *Nuclear space *Nuclear ...

chemical A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., w ...

, and

biological Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary in ...

research Research is "creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness ...

. In the time since the split both organisations have undergone significant change programmes. QinetiQ has increased its focus on overseas research with a number of US and other foreign acquisitions, whereas Dstl has a major rationalisation programme.

References

External links

The former DERA website (Internet Archive link)

QinetiQ website

Dstl website
Government munitions production in the United Kingdom Evaluation Government agencies established in 1995 Government agencies disestablished in 2001 2001 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Defence agencies of the United Kingdom Defunct executive agencies of the United Kingdom government 1995 establishments in the United Kingdom {{UK-gov-stub