Director, Digital Warfare Office United States Navy
Adoption of new technology to deliver Over-The-Horizon (OTH) effects at speed and scale will be enabled by transformational changes laid out in the Secretary of War’s acquisition reform memorandum, which emphasizes speed, agility, and wartime footing. “Acquisition is a warfighting function, and it must enable and encourage continuous adoption and improvement of our warfighting capability.” (remarks by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on the Arsenal of Freedom; November 7, 2025). Additionally, the DOW is executing an AI acceleration strategy that will extend the US’s lead in military AI. Human-commanded, machine optimized kill webs will link distributed sensors, C2 nodes, and shooters through resilient networks to enable dynamic tasking, collaborative engagements, and cross-domain fires at extended ranges. The integration of AI-enabled sensor fusion and decision support tools, automated target recognition, autonomous unmanned vehicles, and advanced weapons will increase lethality and survivability while decreasing the sensor-to-shooter timeline. This panel will discuss the Navy’s transformational approach to leverage AI, autonomy, and advanced munitions to deliver OTH effects. The panel will address challenges and highlight opportunities for industry engagement.
