The Defence Research Agency (DRA) was an

executive agency An executive agency is a part of a government department that is treated as managerially and budgetarily separate, to carry out some part of the executive functions of the United Kingdom government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government or N ...

of the

UK Ministry of Defence The Ministry of Defence (MOD or MoD) is the department responsible for implementing the defence policy set by His Majesty's Government, and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces. The MOD states that its principal objectives are to ...

(MOD) from April 1991 until April 1995. At the time, the DRA was

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

's largest

science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...

and

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and Reproducibility, reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in me ...

organisation An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived from ...

. In April 1995, the DRA was combined with five other MOD establishments to form the

Defence Evaluation and Research Agency 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 h ...

History

The DRA was formed on 1 April 1991 as an amalgamation of the following

Defence Research Establishments {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022 The Defence Research Establishments were a number of separate UK Ministry of Defence Research Establishments, dating back to World War II, World War I, or even earlier. Each establishment had its own head; known as t ...

: * Admiralty Research Establishment (ARE) – major sites

Portsdown Portsdown is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest on Portsdown Hill, on the northern outskirts of Portsmouth in Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East E ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

and Southwell,

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

("Maritime Division") * Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) – major site Farnborough, Hampshire ("Aerospace Division") * Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) – major site

Boscombe Down MoD Boscombe Down ' is the home of a military aircraft testing site, on the southeastern outskirts of the town of Amesbury, Wiltshire, England. The site is managed by QinetiQ, the private defence company created as part of the breakup of the Def ...

Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a c ...

( RARDE) – major site

Fort Halstead Fort Halstead was a research site of Dstl, an executive agency of the UK Ministry of Defence. It is situated on the crest of the Kentish North Downs, overlooking the town of Sevenoaks, southeast of London. Originally constructed in 1892 as part ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

("Military Division") *

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) – major site

Malvern, Worcestershire Malvern is a spa town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England. It lies at the foot of the Malvern Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The centre of Malvern, Great Malvern, is a historic conservation area, which grew dr ...

("Electronics Division") DRA's headquarters was created at the RAE site at Farnborough, but the other major sites maintained a great deal of independence. DRA's first Chief Executive was Nigel Hughes, followed by John Chisholm who took over in August 1991. In April 1995, the DRA was combined with five other MOD establishments to form the

( DERA), DRA's John Chisholm becoming Chief Executive of the enlarged DERA (split in July 2001 into DSTL and QinetiQ).

References

Bibliography

* Eds
Robert Bud
and

Philip Gummett Philip John Gummett CBE is a British academic administrator. Philip Gummett graduated from Birmingham University with a B.Sc. in Chemistry in 1969. He graduated from Manchester University with the degrees of M.Sc. and Ph.D. Gummett was Chief Exec ...

(1999), ''Cold War Hot Science: Applied Research in Britain's Defence Laboratories 1945-1990'', Harwood * Military research of the United Kingdom Defunct executive agencies of the United Kingdom government Defence agencies of the United Kingdom 1991 establishments in the United Kingdom 1995 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Government agencies established in 1991 Government agencies disestablished in 1995 {{UK-mil-stub