Posted on January 12, 2026
The US Navy has committed $448 million to accelerate the use of artificial intelligence and autonomy across the shipbuilding sector, the UK Defence Journal understands.
The investment will fund the new Shipbuilding Operating System (Ship OS), a data and software framework intended to improve output, capacity, and planning within yards and their supply chains.
Ship OS will be built around Palantir software, with the company’s chief executive Alex Karp joining Secretary of the Navy John Phelan for the announcement at the Navy Rapid Capabilities Office Industry Day.
Phelan said the initiative is aimed at measurable industrial outcomes. “This investment provides the resources our shipbuilders, shipyards, and suppliers need to modernize their operations and succeed in meeting our nation’s defense requirements. By enabling industry to adopt AI and autonomy tools at scale, we’re helping the shipbuilding industry improve schedules, increase capacity, and reduce costs. This is about doing business smarter and building the industrial capability our Navy and nation require.”
According to the Department of the Navy, Ship OS will ingest data from enterprise planning tools, legacy databases, and operational feeds to identify bottlenecks, streamline engineering workflows and support risk mitigation. The Navy argues that giving yards a unified decision-making environment could tighten production cycles and improve forecasting.
Pilot work has already taken place with submarine builders. The Navy reports that at General Dynamics Electric Boat, planning tasks that normally took 160 hours were cut to under ten minutes, while Portsmouth Naval Shipyard reduced some material review processes from weeks to under an hour.
The first tranche of funding is earmarked for submarine-sector firms and key suppliers, with surface ship programmes to follow once methods are proven. The service frames the move as part of a push to stabilise schedules, lower programme risk and rebuild industrial resilience after years of uneven output.
The Navy expects productivity gains and reduced delays to offset the initial cost over time, aligning the programme with wider efforts to revive the maritime industrial base and modernise defence manufacturing.
