Research and Development for National Defense

This article describes the duties, composition, and major operations of the Research and Development Board of the Department of Defense. This Board is the agency charged with co-ordination of the research and development programs carried on by the Army, Navy, and Air Force. In the article, particular attention is given to the activities and scope of the RDB's Committee on Electronics and to new developments, both military and nonmilitary, in the field of electronics. The author uses examples to illustrate the point that the application of science and technology to warfare is not a recent development. He warns against easy acceptance of the idea that new weapons and techniques will provide the answer to all the problems involved in our national defense, although the principal aim of the RDB and the research and development agencies of the armed forces is to provide our fighting men with the best possible weapons.