The Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office was an office within the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and superv ...

, responsible to the Under Secretary of Defense. It was established on November 6, 1993. The office was created to provide increased support from senior management toward airborne

reconnaissance In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...

systems. At the time of its first operation, it had two offices, one of which was located within

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...

, with the other located at the National Reconnaissance Office Westfields facility. The office was responsible for the budget and had oversight of the Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Program, a program with 2 billion in funding. According to U.S. Department of Defense directive 5134.11 the office was empowered to "management oversight of the development and acquisition of all joint Military Department and Defense-wide airborne reconnaissance capabilities, encompassing manned and

unmanned aerial vehicles An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft with no human pilot, crew, or passengers onboard, but rather is controlled remotely or is autonomous.De Gruyter Handbook of Dron ...

, their sensors, data links, data relays, and ground stations, to include modifications of Military Department- and Defense Agency-unique ground stations to achieve and maintain interoperability." The office was a R & D and

procurement Procurement is the process of locating and agreeing to terms and purchasing goods, services, or other works from an external source, often with the use of a tendering or competitive bidding process. The term may also refer to a contractual ...

office, comparable to the National Reconnaissance Office. The office was created in response to a communication from the Congressional Authorization Conference stressing a military attitude of the post-Cold War, that "tactical reconnaissance is relatively more important to national security than at any other time in our history". K. Meiners held the position of Director of Advanced Technology for a time.profile
published and written by the

Office of the Director of National Intelligence The director of national intelligence (DNI) is a cabinet-level United States government intelligence and security official. The position is required by the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 to serve as executive head o ...

etrieved 2015-12-10/ref>

References

{{Authority control United States Department of Defense agencies United States defense procurement Geospatial intelligence organizations Geographic data and information organizations in the United States Aerial reconnaissance Reconnaissance units and formations