SMI’s Shipbuilding and Naval Technologies Practice engages government and industry to expand domestic shipbuilding capacity and transition technologies into operational programs that restore America’s maritime advantage.
The U.S. Navy is challenged by authoritarian near peer competitors abroad and a fragile shipbuilding industrial base at home. The federal government and private sector must work together to meet these dual challenges, pursuing policy innovation and sustained investments that will revitalize U.S. shipbuilders and suppliers. Looking toward the future, the Navy also must develop and deploy transformational technologies like unmanned platforms, advanced power and energy systems, advanced manufacturing, and distributed sensing networks.
To address capacity challenges, Congress and the Department of War (DoW) have invested significant funding to support the submarine and surface shipbuilding industrial base in the areas of workforce, infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, and supplier development. SMI excels at helping clients navigate the complex web of processes governing these critical investments, engaging with key stakeholders across the shipbuilding ecosystem (e.g., Navy program managers and technical personnel, shipyard primes, Congress, and DoW industrial base policy decision-makers) and developing requirements-based, compelling proposals that lead to contract capture. Additionally, SMI has unique experience working with Congress to shape legislation and funding related to ship design and acquisition strategies, Buy America requirements, and technology development, including in the annual National Defense Authorization Act and the defense appropriations bill.
Regarding the research and development of U.S. Navy technologies, SMI assists organizations of all types and sizes secure government support and funding for technical programs that address national security requirements and military operational needs. SMI works with clients to scope R&D projects, build relationships with government decision-makers, secure funding, and ultimately transition the resulting innovation to durable DoW programs of record. SMI has expertise in research areas such as power and energy systems, advanced materials and manufacturing, unmanned systems, digitalization, weapons systems, and C5ISRT.
SMI’s Shipbuilding and Naval Technologies team consists of in-house policy experts and technical consultants with extensive experience working in government (U.S. Navy, DoW, Congress) and industry on these topics. As a trusted, mission-oriented leader in the shipbuilding space, SMI helps clients connect with key decision-makers, build winning programs, and provide critical capabilities to our warfighters.
