Navy Warfighting Experiments and Demonstrations

Investments in Swampworks have been transferred under the same Program Element 0603758N in FY 2025 to Project 1097 R-2 Activity titles Innovation Agility (NavalX), Tech Bridges (NavalX), and Innovation Operations (NavalX).

The Navy's Innovation Protection Policy (IPP) office performs research, analysis, and policy development for protection of intellectual property as it pertains to patents of critical and national security technologies. This effort was assigned to DoN (NavalX) by OSD and is a cross agency (Commerce, Homeland Security, US Patent Office) combined effort to provide vulnerability assessments and policy recommendations for protecting, strengthening and building resilience in the U.S Patent process from nation state actors attempting to disrupt innovation IP confidence and integrity with the goal of shifting international patent filings, and subsequently business, away from the U.S., thus reducing U.S. influence and power as a global innovation marketplace tied to the rule of law.

Plans to conduct development of subsystems and components as well as efforts to integrate subsystems and components into system prototypes for field experiments and/or tests in a simulated or real environment. The result should be proof of technological feasibility and assessment of subsystem and component operability and producibility.

Technology Bridges provide technology insights, aligned with DoD mission accelerator centers. Within allied militaries and markets, they identify disruptive and innovative technologies and concepts that may advance US Naval warfighter's capabilities. They match technologies from around the World with US Naval programs and stakeholders to rapidly transition capabilities to the warfighter. Technology Bridges play a role in supporting the US defense industrial base. They promote US defense articles with allied military partners. They help the US fill gaps in the defense supply chain by identifying qualified sources for materials and components. They build partnerships between domestic and overseas industry to share technology, support investment, and open foreign markets to US companies.

The objective of this activity is to capitalize technology breakthroughs of Government and Industry to develop and integrate components, including subsystems, into prototypes quickly, mature into products, and provide to the warfighter for demonstration, test, analysis, Fleet/Force exercises, and/or tests in simulated or actual environments. NavalX, partnering with Fleet/Force warfighting commands for demonstrations, iterates throughout the innovation process to achieve optimal warfighter results. The net results are early warfighter feedback, assessment of CONOPS, analysis of mission impact, and an understanding of DOTMLPF considerations to mature and transition technology solutions. NavalX participates in live exercises and demonstration events such as Integrated Battle Problem, Silent Swarm, Trident Spectre, Hybrid Fleet, and others to analyze and assess industry technology candidates. NavalX also leverages these events as demonstration and test opportunities for technology prototypes to assess their overall mission effectiveness and receive warfighter feedback on human factors, safety, usability, and interoperability, and other critical success metrics.

This project includes the technology transition initiatives which solve mission focused, human centered challenges using innovation and design thinking methods. Technology initiatives tailor the analysis, development, and solution generation methods to the respective topic and scope.

The Innovation Agility portfolio responds to opportunities for rapid and disruptive technologies to meet urgent warfighter needs, and addresses technology and sailor performance issues identified during exercises and demonstrations. NavalX Agility explores high-risk, disruptive, and innovative technologies and concepts that advance naval warfighter's capabilities. The program has substantial programmatic flexibility and is not limited to any set of technology areas. Ultimately, the goal is to provide a dramatic improvement for the warfighter at a rapid pace. Some of these technologies may become part of a follow-on technology development, may end up in the hands of the warfighter for Fleet/Force experimentation, or may culminate in a significant Fleet/Force exercise that demonstrates capability that transitions into the Acquisition Program of Record (POR). NavalX builds an agile, collaborative, and connected Naval network to pursue high risk, disruptive, and innovative technologies and concepts that advance naval warfighter's capabilities. Innovation Agility includes the digital environments needed to develop technologies rapidly and efficiently. Innovation Agility digital environments include Automated Test and Re-Test (ATRT) functionality to develop, demonstrate, and evaluate small business technologies and disruptive capabilities, evaluate cybersecurity, and provide a low barrier of entry for small businesses and new startups to integrate with Naval systems and missions. These digital environments provide for Model-Based Systems Engineering to do evaluation of technologies in the context of Naval missions and priority kill chains and support integration and interoperability with Naval systems unable to be tested/integrated traditionally at physical test sites. Innovation Agility encompasses efforts that transform the Navy's innovation culture. Innovation Agility focuses on training and scaling of non-traditional innovation methods with programs like the Center for Adaptive Warfighting (CAW), Workforce Agility (WFA) courses.

NavalX builds an agile, collaborative, and connected Naval business network via regional Technology Bridges (Tech Bridges) to cultivate the startup and development of new small businesses and industry thinking that can drive high-risk, disruptive, and innovative technologies and concepts that advance naval warfighter's capabilities. Tech Bridges are focused on developing and cultivating local and state business ecosystems that support regional jobs, businesses, startups, and investment opportunities related to Naval technology development. Tech Bridges align with Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), National Security Innovation Network (NSIN), AFWERX (a Technology Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) for accelerated technology development), and other DoD mission accelerator centers and provide a critical Naval integration point for supporting innovation across the services and across accelerator offices. Tech Bridge ecosystem development helps to foster innovation and startup opportunities across local, regionals, and state business sectors and helps to develop partnerships with local business development organizations and investments. Tech Bridges align with and leverage all of the execution authority of the T2 program and helps to ensure partnerships across PIAs, Labs, Warfare Centers, and other DoD organizations. Tech Bridges support regional technology innovation challenges addressing critical Naval mission problems; increase participation of small- and medium-sized business in the defense industrial base; produce and deliver dual-use prototypes in partnership with the local/regional commercial sector, and support regional operational experimentation events. Tech Bridges are an ASN(RDA) initiative under NavalX and sponsored by ONR. Currently, sixteen Tech Bridges have been established across the U.S. plus one in London and Japan with the mission to promote regional/local collaborations in support of DON and national security missions. While each Tech Bridge may focus on their specific local/regional challenges and opportunities, they all work together as a national Tech Bridge network to share best practices and support the Navy and USMC's mission.

The Naval Research Enterprise (NRE), through NavalX, supports mission-driven design and problem solving within the Naval Research and Development Establishment (NR&DE) and academia in support of agile and rapid prototyping development driven by well-defined and effective innovation processes, operations, and a trained workforce. This will bring commercial best practices for innovation processes into the DON to stimulate effective NR&DE and industry-wide collaborations and facilitation to accelerate the delivery of novel technologies to the warfighter. Activities are based on three foundational principles: (1) utilize innovative technical and business pathways that accelerate technology acquisition and deployment to the warfighter and pilot potential efforts as a result of this investigation; (2) leverage the commercial market and attract private investments to modernize, accelerate, and reduce the cost of defense acquisition and deployment of technologies that provide capabilities to the warfighter; and (3) employ innovative commercial industry best practices in contracting that accelerate awards and provide flexibility and speed in technology development and transition.