Darren Barnes serves as the Deputy Technical Director, Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) where he partners with the Technical Director for executive and technical leadership for more than 4,900 civilian and military employees and approximately 4,500 industry partners. In this role, he sets commandwide strategy and manages engineering and business operations for the $2 billion/year portfolio.
Barnes has been a senior scientific technical manager since 2016 and served as the department head for the Electromagnetic & Sensor Systems portfolio, where he was responsible for leadership of electronic warfare, radar systems, electromagnetic environmental effects and chemical biological radiological defense. In fiscal year 2024 he served as the (Acting) Technical Director for Naval Undersea Warfare Center Keyport Division, where he was responsible for leadership of undersea weapons and targets, undersea warfare test and evaluation and unmanned undersea vehicles. He has also formally served as the (Acting) Technical Director for NSWCDD during portions of fiscal years 2020 and 2021.
Barnes previously served as the (Acting) Director, Integrated Fires (OPNAV N2/N6F3) for the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Information Dominance (OPNAV N2/N6). The N2/N6F3 Division and managed investments ($23.3 billion across the Future Years Defense Program for President’s Budget 2017), training and policy for U.S. Navy integrated fires capabilities, including electronic warfare, cyber, and targeting. He received the Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Award from Vice Adm. Jan Tighe for this assignment.
Barnes has over 29 years of Navy experience, serving in numerous engineering and senior management positions covering a wide range of warfare analysis, systems engineering, C2 and C4I integration efforts.
Barnes graduated from The Pennsylvania State University with a bachelor’s in computer engineering and minor in computer science, followed by a master’s in public administration from Indiana University.