{{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022 The Defence Research Establishments were a number of separate UK

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

Research Establishments, dating back to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, or even earlier. Each establishment had its own head; known as the Director or the Superintendent. Prior to the formation of the Ministry of Defence each of the three Services, i.e. the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

, the Admiralty and the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

, had their own research establishments; although some establishments had tri-service functions.

World War II

At the beginning of

there were about a dozen research and development establishments. The main ones were: * The

Royal Aircraft 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 Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), bef ...

- Air * The Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment - Air * The

Telecommunications Research Establishment The Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE) was the main United Kingdom research and development organisation for radio navigation, radar, infra-red detection for heat seeking missiles, and related work for the Royal Air Force (RAF) ...

- Air * The Admiralty Research Laboratory - Sea * The Admiralty Compass Observatory - Sea * The Naval Construction Research Establishment - Sea * The Armaments Research Department - Triservice

Formation, merging and breakup

Many establishments were formed, merged or changed their names over time to meet the needs of the UK Government at the time. These changes also involved the opening of new sites, operating across multiple sites, change of site location; and closing of sites. For example, the Explosives Research and Development Establishment (ERDE), merged with the

Rocket Propulsion Establishment The Rocket Propulsion Establishment at Westcott, Buckinghamshire on the site of the former RAF Westcott has made a number of notable contributions in the field of rocket propulsion, including input on the rocket design for the Blue Streak mis ...

and became the

Propellants, Explosives and Rocket Motor Establishment Propellants, Explosives and Rocket Motor Establishment, usually known for brevity as ''PERME'', operated at two sites: * Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills The Royal Gunpowder Mills are a former industrial site in Waltham Abbey, England. It w ...

(PERME). PERME became part of the Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment (RARDE).

Amalgamation into DERA and split into QinetiQ and Dstl

Some of these establishments were merged in 1991 to form the

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 combined w ...

(DRA). More were added to DRA in 1995 to form the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA). DERA was split up in the early 2000s, with the major part becoming known as

QinetiQ QinetiQ ( as in '' kinetic'') is a British defence technology company headquartered in Farnborough, Hampshire. It operates primarily in the defence, security and critical national infrastructure markets and run testing and evaluation capabili ...

and the more sensitive parts retained as Dstl.

References

* Postan, M.M., Hay, D. and Scott, J.D. (1964). ''Design and Development of Weapons: Studies in Governmental and Industrial Organisation''. ( History of the Second World War: United Kingdom Civil Series). London:

Her Majesty's Stationery Office The Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) is the body responsible for the operation of His Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO) and of other public information services of the United Kingdom. The OPSI is part of the National Archives of the U ...

and Longmans, Green and Co.

World War II

Formation, merging and breakup

Amalgamation into DERA and split into QinetiQ and Dstl

References

See also