thumb|[[Theodore von Kármán, left, is joined by Air Force and NASA officials while inspecting two of the models used in the high velocity, high altitude wind tunnels at Arnold Air Force Base. The missiles are AGARD-B and Atlas Series B. (1959)]]

The Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development (AGARD) was an agency of NATO that existed from 1952 to 1996.

AGARD was founded as an Agency of the NATO Military Committee. It was set up in May 1952 with headquarters in Neuilly sur Seine, France.

In a mission statement in the 1982 History it published, the purpose involved "bringing together the leading personalities of the NATO nations in the fields of science and technology relating to aerospace".

The Advisory Group was organized by panels:

:Aerospace medical, avionics, electromagnetic wave propagation, flight mechanics, fluid dynamics, guidance and control, propulsion and energetics, structures and materials, and technical information.

Activities

There were annual meetings, frequently in Paris, but also in Delft, Turin, Cambridge, Washington DC.

Later examples of AGARD studies include such topics as non-lethal weapons, theatre ballistic missile defence, protection of large aircraft in peace support operations, and limiting collateral damage caused by air-delivered weapons. AGARD was also one of the first NATO organizations to cooperate with Russia in a mutual exchange of information dealing with flight safety.

AGARD merged with the NATO Defence Research Group (DRG) in 1996 to become the NATO Research and Technology Organisation (RTO).

See also

  • Aeronautics

Notes

Further reading

  • Theodore von Kármán with Lee Edson (1967) The Wind and Beyond: Theodore von Kármán Pioneer in Aviation and Pathfinder in Space: Little, Brown and Company
  • The AGARD History 1952-1987 (1999), Advisory Group for Aerospace Research & Development,
  • Science and Technology Organization (STO)