Each technical directorate emphasizes a particular area of research within the AFRL mission which it specializes in performing experiments in conjunction with universities and contractors.

In 2009, it was reported that the Laboratory may face problems in the future as 40 percent of its workers are slated to retire over the next two decades, and since 1980, the United States has not produced enough science and engineering degrees to keep up with demand.

[5] Created by General Henry H. Arnold in 1945,[6] AFCRC participated in Project Space Track and Semi-Automatic Ground Environment development.

The path to a consolidated Air Force Research Laboratory began with the passage of the Goldwater–Nichols Act which was designed to streamline the use of resources by the Department of Defense.

[9] Bowing to the constraints of a reduced budget and personnel, the Air Force merged the existing research laboratories into four "superlabs" in December 1990.

[17] In 2023, the National Advanced Air Mobility Center of Excellence was completed to help the Laboratory, private companies, and local academics collaborate on the research of eVTOL and UAS aircraft.

Its primary responsibilities are leadership, policy and guidance; unifying the common objectives of the eight Technical Directorates, the 711th wing, and AFOSR.

The staff functions include Public Relations, Strategic Communication, Business Outreach, Planning, Programming, Budgeting and Execution (PPBE), Technology Transition, Transformation, Contracting and a High-Performance Computing Center.

[28] The X-24 was one of a series of experimental aircraft, including the M2-F1, M2-F2, HL-10, and HL-20, by NASA and Air Force programs to develop the lifting body concept into maturity.

Another recent project managed by the Air Vehicles Directorate is the Advanced Composite Cargo Aircraft program begun in 2007.

[39] The Starfire Optical Range at Kirtland AFB, North Oscura Peak on White Sands Missile Range, and the Air Force Maui Optical and Supercomputing observatory (AMOS) are also operated by divisions of the Directed Energy Directorate in addition to their facilities at the Directorate's headquarters at Kirtland AFB.

[41] AMOS provides space observation capabilities and computational resources to AFRL, the Department of Defense and other agencies of the US Government.

[47] The Active Denial System has also been the target of Amnesty International as well as, less directly, a United Nations special rapporteur as being a potential weapon of torture.

[49] In its vision statement, the wing includes the goals of improving aerospace medicine, science and technology, and human systems integration.

[51] With the increasing number of females in the Air Force ranks, anthropometry is of greater import now than ever, and 711th's WB4 'whole-body scanner' enables swift and accurate acquisition of anthropometric data which may be used to design pilot equipment with a better fit for comfort and safety.

[56] In 2003, the Directorate announced a new manufacturing method for use producing the turbine exhaust casing for the F119 jet engine used on the F-22 Raptor stealth fighter which will result in an estimated savings of 35% of the cost while also improving the durability.

[57] In collaboration with Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, the Directorate helped develop a new laser-based ultrasonic scanner to inspect composite parts also for use on the F-22.

[51] In 2008, the Air Force announced that the Directorate had developed a method of using fabric made of fiber optic material in a friend or foe identification system.

[56] Notable projects which have been made public include the GBU-28 "bunker-buster" bomb which debuted during the 1991 Persian Gulf War in Iraq and took only 17 days from concept to first deployment.

[60] The Directorate also developed the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb which was deployed during the 2003 invasion of Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom and was the largest non-nuclear air-delivered munitions at that time.

[62] Research areas range from experimental rocket propulsion to developing the first ever lithium-ion main aircraft battery for use in the B-2 stealth bomber.

[68] In January 2008, the Directorate used a modified Scaled Composites Long-EZ aircraft to demonstrate that a pulse detonation engine could successfully power flight.

The mission of the Sensors Directorate, located at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is to provide a full range of air and space sensors, networked to the warfighter, providing a complete and timely picture of the battlespace enabling precision targeting of the enemy and protection friendly air and space assets and its core technology areas include: radar, active and passive electro-optical targeting systems, navigation aids, automatic target recognition, sensor fusion, threat warning and threat countermeasures.

[73] In June 2008, the Air Force announced that scientists working for the Sensors Directorate had demonstrated transparent transistors.

These could eventually be used to develop technologies such as "video image displays and coatings for windows, visors and windshields; electrical interconnects for future integrated multi-mode, remote sensing, focal plane arrays; high-speed microwave devices and circuits for telecommunications and radar transceivers; and semi-transparent, touch-sensitive screens for emerging multi-touch interface technologies.

[72] The IBM RAD6000 radiation hardened single board computer, now produced by BAE Systems, was initially developed in a collaboration with the Space Electronics and Protection Branch and IBM Federal Systems and is now used on nearly 200 satellites and robotic spacecraft, including on the twin Mars Exploration Rovers—Spirit and Opportunity.

[80] The University Nanosatellite Program, a satellite design and fabrication competition for universities jointly administered by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), AFOSR, AFRL, and the Space Development and Test Wing, is also managed by the Space Vehicles Directorate's Spacecraft Technology division.