The Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (normally known as DERA) was a part of the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) until July 2, 2001. At the time it was the United Kingdom's largest science and technology organisation. DERA was split into two organisations: short-lived transition bodies known as PDERA ("privatised" DERA) which became a commercial firm, QinetiQ, and "RDERA" (meaning "retained" in Government DERA) which became the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl).