NUWC Division, Keyport launches Future Capabilities Office to accelerate warfighting readiness

By Frank Kaminski Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Keyport

Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Keyport recently unveiled its Future Capabilities Office, a lean, agile department-level organization aimed at accelerating efforts to meet critical warfighter needs.

The FCO will serve as an incubator for innovative solutions in areas such as weapons delivery, fleet sustainment and subsea warfare. As projects develop and mature, they will transition to other departments, industry partners or other organizations for further development.

"The idea is to bring projects in and transition them out, look at new technologies and explore different possible solutions to meet warfighter capability gaps," said FCO Department Head Scott Shimizu. "The FCO will serve as a vetting process for future work while also addressing near-term warfighter needs."

The FCO stems from the Chief of Naval Operations' "Get Real, Get Better" initiative-focused on shifting the Navy from peacetime efficiency to warfighting readiness-and the Navy's Disruptive Capabilities Office, which harnesses existing technologies and emerging innovations to deliver cutting-edge warfighting capabilities.

The office combines NUWC Division, Keyport's science and technology portfolio, warfighter and fleet support portfolio, special projects team and on-site representative field team into a single unit focused on emerging ideas, nascent technologies and one-off experimental demonstrations. To remain agile and avoid centralizing innovation, the office will operate with a small staff and will partner with both traditional and non-traditional partners across the Navy's research and development enterprise, industry and academia.

In addition to this core staff, Shimizu said the FCO will leverage external resources for personnel to support its projects. These could include experts from industry, academic researchers and students, among others. The FCO may also use short-term details and contracting vehicles to bring in specialized skills that aren't available in-house.

NUWC Division, Keyport Deputy Technical Director Michael Slater emphasized the FCO's critical role in enhancing the Navy's agility and operational effectiveness, particularly in addressing challenges the traditional DoD acquisition cycle often overlooks.

"We need to be able to deliver results in months or years-not decades-and to do things we might not otherwise have the time, money, resources or courage to do," said Slater. "We need to be able to fail fast and early and get base hits on what works. We need to be responsive and go after some of these [challenges] that typically take too long to address."

Craig Bleile, head of the FCO's science and technology research and development portfolio, described the office as a "nexus bringing in the greater research zeitgeist" to facilitate the rapid development of innovative solutions for the Navy.

Shimizu said the FCO is meant to be flexible, with a deliberately open structure and approach that allows for adaptation as the team moves forward.

"We're almost building it as we go, so to speak," said Shimizu. "I can't tell you exactly how we'll operate or what the future really looks like, but we're going to try to generate more synergy and a little more focus on our mission and intent. Not everything's going to come out as expected, but these projects are specifically geared to warfighter capabilities, so we really need to try them."

Bleile said he is optimistic about the FCO and looks forward to seeing what new ideas and capabilities it generates.

"These are exciting times ahead," said Bleile. "I'm really looking forward to it. I have ideas bouncing around in my head right now and I'd like to get teams working on them. I'm excited to expand my reach a little bit. [Through the FCO,] I'll be able to manage more projects than I can handle personally right now."


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Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Keyport is headquartered in the state of Washington on the Puget Sound, about 10 miles west of Seattle. To provide ready support to Fleet operational forces at all major Navy homeports in the Pacific, NUWC Division, Keyport maintains detachments in San Diego, California and Honolulu, Hawaii, and remote operating sites in Guam; Japan; Hawthorne, Nevada; and Portsmouth, Virginia. At NUWC Division, Keyport, our diverse and highly skilled team of engineers, scientists, technicians, administrative professionals and industrial craftsmen work tirelessly to develop, maintain and sustain undersea warfare superiority for the United States.

Are you ready to join one of the largest and most dynamic employers in Kitsap County? We are continually hiring engineers, scientists and other STEM professionals-as well as talented experts in business, finance, logistics and support roles-so if you are eager to be at the forefront of undersea research and development, we want you on our team. Explore our exciting job opportunities at nuwckeyport.usajobs.gov and take the first step toward building your career at NUWC Division, Keyport.