Doesn't Turkey Need a Turkish DARPA Similar to DARPA, the Brain of the Pentagon?

In the United States, the building housing the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff is called the Pentagon. The Pentagon is located in the Arlington neighborhood of the capital Washington. Built between 1941 and 1943, the building, which consists of five interlocking pentagons (pentagon means pentagon in Greek), is one of the largest buildings used for official services in the world with a total area of 600,000 m² and 340,000 m² of usage area.

The Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, commonly known as DARPA, is the world's foremost military science organization and America's top secret military research center. DARPA was established in 1958 in response to a need recognized by the US Congress in the wake of Russia's launch of the Sputnik missile into space during the Cold War.

In short, it functions as the central research and development organization of the US Department of Defense. The most important mission of DARPA is defined as follows: To develop revolutionary technologies for the US military, to guide the development and implementation of military projects based on these technologies, and to establish the technological dominance of the US military over the militaries of the world. DARPA defines its function as "providing leading-edge technologies and capabilities for American national security".

With an annual budget of $3.2 billion, DARPA leads US military R&D activities. In fact, DARPA does not actually conduct its own R&D and scientific work. In this respect, it is different from all other US military research agencies. DARPA's program managers and administrators have a work culture that distributes, follows up, in a sense manages and concludes work for scientific research and development organizations, academics and other relevant public institutions that want to be part of the defense industry. It works like an employer on behalf of the army. It acts as an integrator or bridge that brings the military capabilities it creates to the army. 

Within the framework of its mandate and the space it has been given, DARPA has adopted a fast and rapid way of working, free from the bureaucracy or formalities inherent in the Armed Forces and standard government organizations. It does not 'do' things itself, but 'gets things done' through the powers it has. Doing rather than doing is DARPA's basic operating principle. 

In line with this working philosophy, DARPA has a successful and relatively small staff. Looking at DARPA's 60-year history, it can be seen that DARPA has managed huge R&D and scientific programs and projects with an average of 120 program managers, each of whom has served at DARPA for an average of five years. Most of these program managers, each of whom is an entrepreneur, are also scientists who have proven their competence in their respective fields. Through these carefully selected entrepreneurial program managers, DARPA initiates, supervises and ensures the timely completion of hundreds of research projects involving tens of thousands of scientists and engineers working in national laboratories, military and other related contractor facilities throughout the USA and abroad, and in the laboratories of universities working with it.

The program managers of DARPA, which is 'famous' as the organization that created the internet technology that we all rely on today, and which is perceived to be carrying out 'harmless' work in this respect, are equipped with duties, powers and responsibilities to a degree that is perhaps unprecedented in any other government agency in the world. By placing the people and organizations they are in contact with within the scope of the program they initiate under their command, program managers ensure that all work within the scope of the program is carried out swiftly and free of bureaucratic obstacles. They serve as the undisputed sole 'boss' of the program. They can initiate, execute and, when necessary, terminate research and development projects with virtually no outside interference. 

DARPA relies on a high level of secrecy in its work. Today, DARPA, the organization that invented the world wide web and the global positioning system (GPS), uses such news as a 'veil of secrecy' to keep its activities secret. In fact, the first example of what DARPA does and is expected to do is the F-117A aircraft, which emerged as a product of this organization's technology development efforts in the field of invisibility and made its first flight in 1977.

Until 1972, DARPA was headquartered inside the Pentagon, but then moved to an unmarked glass and steel building four miles from the Pentagon.

In its 64 years of existence, DARPA has created technologies that have surprised the American public. For this reason, some have begun to refer to DARPA as the 'brain of the Pentagon'. Others believe it is more accurate to call it the center of the American military-industrial complex. Whatever the definition, there are many in the US who both admire and fear DARPA. 

Meanwhile, the American public debate about DARPA is centered on two controversial judgments and even two prejudices: First, "this organization functions to protect American democracy." The second is that "it serves to keep America constantly war-oriented and ready." Personally, I believe the latter is valid.

Whatever the judgments or concerns about it, DARPA today believes that it serves to make the future of the American people more secure. Some things in the US - military industry, public health, social and cultural life - are moving forward because of the technologies DARPA pioneered. More importantly, DARPA is leading the development of advanced military science behind closed doors on its own authority. In this way, DARPA creates what does not exist in America or even in the world, establishes American hegemony around the world, and when DARPA products are sent to the battlefield, DARPA fulfills the function of destroying America's adversaries. 

DARPA works to ensure that the US military is never faced with a technological surprise elsewhere in the world. At the same time, it is expected to advance the technological superiority that will enable the US military to prevail against America's enemies. Ultimately, the goal is to bring American surprise technologies and capabilities developed under the leadership of DARPA to the battlefield, and to win victories primarily through superior military technology. In pursuit of these goals, DARPA continues to develop radical innovations and breakthroughs.

DARPA's website emphasizes innovation: "DARPA's success depends on the dynamic innovation ecosystem in which the Agency operates, which is nurtured by DARPA communities across multiple sectors." DARPA interacts with Universities, Industry, Small Business, Government, Public Opinion and the Media. Each of these is referred to as DARPA's 'partners'. 

Despite this open partnership structure, DARPA attaches great importance to secrecy in its work, and acts with an understanding that it is necessary to delay the fielding of the technologies it has developed before they are available. For example, the development of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) began in the early 1960s during the Vietnam War. The armed UAV version, which took DARPA almost 30 years to develop, was not brought to the agenda and kept secret. When the US reached technological maturity, armed UAVs were deployed in Afghanistan in October 2001. In fact, thanks to the UAV studies spearheaded by this organization, the US revealed its armed UAV technology at a time when it was well ahead of other developed countries. By the time the world saw armed drones for the first time, the United States was far ahead of the curve in armed drone technology.

In conclusion, DARPA, the most secretive, powerful and controversial military research and development organization of the Pentagon, the US Department of Defense, is taking not only America but almost the entire world into the future with its roles and missions. And it does this with a tiny staff of 120 people who are highly competent in their fields. DARPA, which brings together the scientific world and the secret thoughts of the US military, tests military concepts and brings their products to the military, continues to function as the brain of the technological superiority in the military field that the US tries to keep secret. 

I believe that today's Turkey, where "Deep State" scenarios are highly regarded, actually needs a genuine deep state similar to DARPA. If there is to be a deep state in Turkey, it should be an institution or organization with the structure of DARPA. Turkish DARPA should introduce advanced technologies to the Turkish army. As a pioneering organization, it should be able to fulfill its duties and functions in areas where the Presidency of Defence Industries (SSB) is unable to do so, with a competence and authority that exceeds that of the SSB. Within the framework of national programs to be initiated to develop key technologies and capabilities, Turkish DARPA should direct and manage military technology-oriented research and development activities across the country, and be a "military brain" that focuses on solutions and results. Technology is the future. All recent wars have shown that armies without competence in military technology cannot win the wars of the future. I believe that Turkey, at least as much as the United States, needs a Turkish DARPA that is dynamic and can operate outside the bureaucratic wheels. 

References:

Annie Jacobsen, Pentagon’un Beyni, DARPA’nın Sansürsüz Tarihi, Profil Kitap Birinci Baskı (Türkçe), 2018

https://www.darpa.mil