DARPA continuous thrust on innovative research concepts and Breakthrough Technologies for National Security

DARPA has identified some of the technical, economic and geopolitical shifts that are posing potential threats to U.S. preeminence and stability. On the technical front is increasing availability on the global market the weapons technology, biological and chemical threat capabilities, advanced microelectronics and cyber- and space-related technologies, the capability of social media to spread misinformation and blossom into deadly crises. In the future off-the-shelf gene-screening and -splicing kits will make the tools of genetic engineering accessible to many. Geopolitical challenges involve peer adversaries and other nation states and encompass conventional-weapon threats as well as concerns about nuclear proliferation. Other challenges stem from terrorist groups and other non-nation-state actors.