Navy Secretary Aims To Cut Out Bureaucracy, Accelerate Innovation

With its Golden Fleet initiative, the U.S. Department of the Navy (DON) is prioritizing speed, scale and execution. With shipbuilding and modernization efforts underway, the Secretary of the Navy seeks to bring accountability and cut out bureaucracy.

On the last day of WEST 2026, attendees from around the world gathered in a standing-room only to hear the 79th Secretary of the Navy John Phelan deliver his keynote speech.

“The Golden Fleet is America’s shipbuilding renaissance,” Phelan said, “restoring American industrial power, integrating unmanned and [artificial intelligence (AI)] enabled systems and partnering with the private sector to deliver capability at the speed of relevance.”

Through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and the Fiscal Year 2026 Appropriations Bill, the Navy has a cumulative $59 billion to spend on advancements including shipbuilding, vessels, emerging technology and infrastructure.

The secretary spoke further on the significance of modern technology.

“The modern fight favors those that can rapidly prototype, test under fire, incorporate operator feedback and scale successful innovations on the front lines in real time, faster than opponents can react,” he stated.

Phalen also cited the newly established Department of the Navy Rapid Capabilities Office as well as the Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Robotic and Autonomous Systems, or PAE RAS.

PAE RAS is the consolidation of the development and purchasing of autonomous systems, which is set to take on 66 programs across 18 offices, responsible for roughly $19 billion in acquisitions, according to USNI News.

“PAE RAS will set the standard for vison-drive leadership in autonomous maritime systems,” Michael Grass, the office’s newly appointed chief and rapid capabilities cell lead, wrote in a LinkedIn post.

“Unmanned systems add mass, optionality and unpredictability,” Phelan emphasized. “RAS allows us to harness the ingenuity of a much broader industrial base, and to do it faster than traditional acquisition pathways ever allowed.” RAS also opens doors to a wider group of innovators through its fast, modular and affordable framework.

Robotic and autonomous systems add speed and lethality to every ship, and medium unmanned surface vessels are a strategic route to success.

Phelan also encouraged emerging leaders to step up, initiate and innovate.

“We are shaping the next generation of leaders,” he said. “Officers who display initiative, independent thinking, intellectual curiosity, calculated risk-taking and demonstrate outstanding leadership under pressure.”

The secretary also noted the review of the Navy’s “Get Real, Get Better” program, which was first announced by then-Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday in 2022. “’Nothing changes’ is no longer acceptable,” Phelan said.

AI capabilities are also top of mind for Navy’s leadership, with capabilities such as ShipOS underway. Through a partnership with Palantir, the Navy announced the $448 million contract for the “AI-powered shipbuilding operating system” in December, Defense Scoop reported.

“It links shipyards, suppliers, program offices and operators into a shared operating system, giving leaders not only real-time visibility into production bottlenecks, sustainment risks and execution timelines,” Phelan said at WEST. “More importantly, it gives the operational levers to address them.”

The Navy is also implementing GenAI.mil, which aims to add speed and efficiency to everyday operations.

Additionally, Phelan spoke of the Data Edge Collection Kit, or DECK.

“DECK allows ships to collect operational data at the edge and retrain models,” he explained. “It turns ships into learning systems, not static platforms, enabling an iterative and adaptable feedback loop with legacy bespoke architectures that historically evolved only through programmatic redesign.”

While addressing the critical need for modern systems, Phelan still underlined the critical need for ships and carriers.

Soon to reach his one-year mark on the job, the secretary said the role has come with many surprises. “Candidly, having not served has been a big advantage,” he said while answering an audience question. “I don’t have any allegiances to any specific tribe … my career wasn’t dependent on some group of admirals as I moved up, so it allowed a fresh look at things.”
 

One key lesson for Phelan has been that the Navy runs like a business, managing shipyards and supply chains. “We pay for a lot of things and get nothing in return … and I think there are a lot of people in senior leadership who view understanding the details as not in their job description, and that’s been a surprise to me …”

Phelan also stressed the need for an audit in order to fully comprehend the numbers behind running the Navy “business.” “We’ve gotten way too fragmented and I think that’s just growth in bureaucracy, not having enough accountability and, candidly, probably just creating jobs to get a bigger budget, because that’s the incentive.”

In his role, the secretary is emphasizing the need to move at speed, with acquisition processes that must be cut shorter.

Notably, the DON Chief Information Officer published its Innovation Adoption Kit in Fall 2025, an effort led by DON Chief Technology Officer Justin Fanelli to accelerate acquisition timelines.

Still, Phelan described an observed challenge. “There’s a hesitation to try,” he said, speaking on existing long-term processes to innovate and adopt. “We love to study things to death. Let’s stop studying—let’s try.”

The message resonated with attendees. “That line stuck with me,” Birds Eye Aerial Drones LLC CEO Sheri Painter wrote in a LinkedIn post. “Leadership isn’t theory. It’s execution. Time to deliver.”

Scaled Agile Inc., program manager Sam Ervin also wrote, “I was struck less by what [Phelan] said about innovation, and more by what he revealed about why execution so often lags behind it.”

“Secretary Phelan’s words were a great conclusion to a week of engagements and collaborations discussing our nation’s toughest challenges,” said AFCEA International President and CEO Susan Lawrence. “His view on moving the Department of War forward quickly is backed by his own industry experience.”

In his closing statements, Phelan described his one goal within his job: “To ensure there are zero caskets draped in an American flag.”
 

WEST 2026 is co-hosted by the U.S. Naval Institute and AFCEA International. SIGNAL Media is the official media of AFCEA International.