Maritime Industrial Base

NPS submits unique problems to be solved. As its innovation hub, FLEETWERX utilizes its ecosystem and market research to attract best-of-breed submissions to solve those problems. Subsequently, NPS reviews and selects participants with the highest value to satisfy their needs to enter into agreement negotiations.

Fleet Readiness is challenged by the limited responsiveness of the defense industrial base and the growing complexity of contest operation environments. The ability to sustain operations is hindered by extended lead times for critical repair parts, compounded by distribution delays forward deployed or contested regions. The goal of the effort is to be completed through:    

1. Demonstrate Agile Material Changeovers: Assess the capability to switch between materials quickly—such as stainless steel and nickel-aluminum bronze—without compromising quality or certification standards.

2. Leverage Advanced Manufacturing Techniques: Utilize large-scale additive manufacturing to produce essential components on demand, reducing reliance on long supply chains.

3. Validate Operational Utility: Fabricate and test parts in representative scenarios to evaluate their performance, reliability, and ability to meet Navy certification requirements.

4. Support Forward-Deployed Sustainment: Enable the fleet to overcome contested logistics by decentralizing part production, reducing downtime, and improving mission continuity in austere environments.

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11 April2025 to 21 April 2025 – White Paper Submissions Open

·       18 April 2025 – Objective StrategicSession (OSS)‍

21 April 2025 to 23 April 2025 – Government Review and Downselect:

After 25 April 2025 – Path Forward: ‍

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18 April 2025

21 April 2025