The National Defence Research Institute (FOA) was established in 1945 (Instruction TS C:II No.

24), and took over operations at the Swedish Armed Forces Chemical Institute (Försvarsväsendets kemiska anstalt, FKA), the Military Physics Institute and the Telecommunications Technical Working Group of the Swedish Board of Inventions (Statens uppfinnarnämnds teletekniska arbetsgrupp, SUN), that is, essentially all technical and scientific research outside the industry.

After this the FOA was organized in a central office, which accounted for among other thing the projections, management, staffing and education issues, and five main departments, FOA 1-5:[2] The central office was divided in 1976 into three parts: central planning, administrative bureau and staff administrative bureau.

[3] The coat of arms of the Swedish National Defence Research Institute.

Blazon: "Azure, a winged two-bladed propeller surmounting a sword and an anchor in saltire.