Navy preps science-and-tech strategy built for speed and focus
Two service leaders in technology development spoke at the Defense One Tech Summit.
Bradley Peniston | June 16, 2026
Navy Tech Summit Drones Technology
A new Navy science-and-tech strategy will push technology to the fleet faster and concentrate limited research funds on problems that industry won't solve on its own, the service’s research chief said Tuesday.
The Office of Naval Research strategy, called "Feed S&T at Speed to the Fleet and Force," is in final production, Chief of Naval Research Rachel Riley said Tuesday at the Defense One Tech Summit in Arlington, Virginia.
"Speed is, of course, the word of the year in our business," she said during a panel discussion that included Jarred Conley, principal director for maritime efforts at the Defense Innovation Unit.
Riley said the document urges closer collaboration with DIU, warfighters, and other stakeholders. She said it also aims to explain "in plain English" what ONR does and what the Navy wants from industry. ONR is working to "de-layer and simplify" its bureaucracy, so that the limiting factor on technology development is "the physical science and not the processes and the policies around it," she added.
"Speed is, of course, the word of the year in our business.”
https://www.defenseone.com/policy/2026/06/navy-preps-science-and-tech-strategy-built-speed-and-focus/414226/?oref=d1-skybox-hp
