Defence Research Board
| Recherche and développement pour la défense Canada | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | April 1947 |
| Preceding Agency |
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| Type | military science and technology research |
| Jurisdiction | Government of Canada |
| Headquarters | Ottawa, Ontario |
| Employees | 1,400 |
| Agency executive |
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| Parent department | Department of National Defence |
| Key document |
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| Website | www |
Defence Research and Development Canada, also DRDC (Recherche & développement pour la défense Canada, or RDDC in French), is an agency of the Department of National Defence (DND), whose purpose is to provide the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), other government departments, and public safety and national security communities with the knowledge and technology.
DRDC has approximately 1,400 employees across eight research centres within Canada.
During the Second World War the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) conducted wartime research for the Department of National Defence and its military arms, the Royal Canadian Navy, the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Canadian Army. Among their many projects was a program of radar system development that expanded to become quite extensive.
With the end of the war looming, the NCR's director, C.J. McKenzie, was adamant that the NRC return to civilian research. This left the issue of how to continue military research, and led directly to the formation of the Defence Research Board (DRB) in April 1947 to coordinate the department's research and development activities. A number of NRC labs were handed to the DRB who also took over direction of several existing military labs. The DRB then went on to open several new labs as well, as well as take over direction of several existing military labs.
The unification of the three services into the Canadian Forces (CF) in 1968 saw DRB evolve, becoming the Research and Development Branch of the CF by 1974. The Research and Development Branch was reorganized on 1 April 2000 when it became an agency within DND called Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC).
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