Steven Walker, the 21st director of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, DARPA, announced his resignation on Tuesday, which will be effective Jan.10, 2020, Defense News has learned.
Among the key efforts launched under Walker’s tenure at DARPA was
development and fielding of the Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile, which was accomplished in half the time of a normal development program, DARPA noted in an email.
Walker also reinvigorated the agency’s hypersonic weapons and space efforts, with major programs in boost-glide and air-breathing missile development as well as distributed low-Earth orbit satellite constellations.
...Also noted by the agency: Under Walker’s leadership, DARPA launched the three-year, $1.5 billion Electronics Resurgence Initiative as well as the five-year, $2 billion
AI Next program. Walker also “made pivotal investments in the realm of
engineered biology, resulting in several breakthroughs, chief among them a program that has helped reduce Ebola fatality rates by more than 70 percent,” the email stated.
Walker succeeded Arati Prabhakar, who left the agency in January 2017.