Figure 1. Department of Defense research program funding trends 



800 



700 



600 



500 



400 



300 



(Millions of Dollars) 



CONSTANT DOLLARS 

 (FY 78) 



»•••••••" 



•...••' V •*' 



r 



CURRENT DOLLARS 



J L 



_L 



J L 



J L 



64 



Source: DOD 



66 



68 



70 72 



Fiscal Year 



74 



76 



78 



80 



Table 1. Allocation of research funding for fiscal years 1976, 

 1977. and 1978 (in millions of dollars). 



Source: DOD 



Each military department has an office of re- 

 search which manages most of the contract re- 

 search programs. The history, tradition, and orga- 

 nization of each department, as well as DARPA, 



will be treated separately in the following chap- 

 ters. 



Recent Research Initiatives 



Here briefly are listed recent initiatives that are 

 common to the programs of the military depart- 

 ments: 



• Commitment to real growth of DOD research 

 funding 



• Increased emphasis on university research. 

 Regarding the first initiative, the Department 



has initiated actions to increase research, and, 

 since FY 1976, a turnaround in the funding has 

 been achieved (Figure 1). 



The second initiative strengthens DOD-univer 

 sity ties in areas of potential interest to the long- 

 term needs of the national defense. Emphasis will 

 be placed on the quality of the basic research and 

 on innovation. A DOD committee will be estab- 

 lished to help guide the Departments university 

 research programs. 



The Future 



The Department intends to continue its empha- 

 sis on a strong and healthy research program. The 

 program will continue to be carried out by in- 



DEFENSE 57 



