NIWC Atlantic’s new Rapid Capabilities Office aims to deliver tech ‘at wartime speed’
A key U.S. Navy organization that’s been hustling to advance and deliver information warfare capabilities purpose-built for the sea service recently set up a new Rapid Capabilities Office to help solve sailors’ real-world operational deficiencies by matching them with modern commercial technology options.
The Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic launched this new hub shortly after Navy leaders created an enterprisewide RCO last year. The offices are among others at the center of the service’s ongoing work under the Trump administration to reform its approaches to buying and selling weapons and other military tech.
“We are laser-focused on speeding advanced capabilities to the warfighter,” NIWC Atlantic RCO Director April Miller told DefenseScoop on Thursday.
She confirmed that the RCO officially opened on Oct. 23, noting that it’s meant “to serve as a strategic arm to quickly respond to emerging operational needs, warfighting capability gaps, and support changes within” the Defense Department and Department of the Navy innovation and purchasing ecosystems.
The office is currently working to enhance and integrate equipment and software that spans the initial priority areas of battlespace command and control, decision advantage, connectivity, robotics and autonomous systems, and non-kinetic effects.
“We are committed to growing and sustaining our support for this critical mission — [amplifying and] extending the DON RCO’s efforts to prioritize timely capability over perfection in order to deliver real solutions that make us more powerful at wartime speed,” Miller said.
An award-winning engineer and digital transformation expert, she previously served as the modeling lead and Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR) technical lead for the Fleet Kill Chain program.
Officials at NIWC Atlantic broadly design, procure, test, engineer, integrate and sustain a full range of IT capabilities — from communications systems to software services. They assist Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and joint service programs, which rely on them to supply secure and connected information warfare solutions for missions that span the world.
According to Miller, the overarching functions of the new NIWC Atlantic RCO are to accelerate capability delivery; serve as a catalyst for command transformation; empower technical experts for strategic impact; interface with DOD and Navy innovation stakeholders; and advise on rapid capability matters.
“We’re heavily invested in several enabling technologies,” she said. “We are continually testing and integrating these technologies to ensure they are reliable, effective, and easily adopted by our warfighters.”
The team is developing trusted AI and autonomous systems to improve decision-making and automate tasks.
“Crucial to all operations is battlespace connectivity, so we’re focused on integrated communications networks that can operate securely and reliably in diverse environments. We are developing secure ways to store and use information to provide the right insights to the warfighter to maintain decision advantage. Furthermore, we’re enhancing our ability to understand battlespace through advanced sensors and signature management, a key component of effective battlespace command and control,” Miller noted. “We are developing capabilities in non-kinetic effects through cybersecurity to protect critical systems and exploring new capabilities like directed energy.”
Mirroring the Navy-wide RCO, NIWC Atlantic’s office will utilize a full spectrum of contracting methods — with an early emphasis on agile pathways such as other transaction agreements, commercial solutions openings, and prize challenges.
Miller pointed to a few mechanisms in the organization’s acquisition-accelerating “toolbox,” including the use of FAR 13.5 for Simplified Acquisitions up to $9 million or 10 USC 4023 for experimental purposes, and the open, general-interest CSO posted by the office in November.
“Through this avenue and others, NIWC Atlantic RCO plans to continually engage with the warfighter and industry to match technologies and operational needs and warfighting gaps within our operator-centric focus areas,” Miller told DefenseScoop.
