What We Do

As the nation’s premier laboratory for land forces, the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) Army Research Laboratory conducts foundational research in support of U.S. Army Modernization and is focused on disruptive science and technology for the long term, performing research to answer the hardest S&T questions for future Army capabilities. This research is based on seven foundational research competencies as well as ten Essential Research Programs.

Foundational Research Competencies

As the nation’s premier laboratory for land forces, DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory conducts foundational research in support of U.S. Army Modernization and is focused on disruptive science and technology for the long term, performing research to answer the hardest S&T questions for future Army capabilities. This research is based on seven foundational research competencies: Ballistics Sciences, Computational Sciences, Human Sciences, Materials and Manufacturing Sciences, Network and Information Sciences, Propulsion Sciences, and Protection Sciences.

Foundational Research Competencies

Essential Research Programs

As the recognized corporate research laboratory of the U.S. Army, DEVCOM ARL is responsible for performing disruptive and Army-unique foundational research and cultivating critically important knowledge and insight that can enable future Army force modernization capabilities. To fulfill its role, DEVCOM ARL formulates hypotheses, develops probing research questions, and rigorously and systematically creates knowledge and understanding. DEVCOM ARL seeks answers to research questions to inform future Army concepts and provide stakeholders with the confidence that technologies can perform in Multi-Domain Operations. DEVCOM ARL has built upon its core technical competencies to form flagship research efforts—Essential Research Programs (ERPs)—that will drive research questions to closure.

Essential Research Programs