Navy establishes direct-report portfolio manager for robotic and autonomous systems

WASHINGTON — The Department of the Navy has created a new oversight post to coordinate its rapidly growing portfolio of robotic and autonomous systems, establishing a Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for Robotic and Autonomous Systems (DRPM RAS). Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao announced the move today, describing it as a restructuring intended to more tightly align development, requirements, and acquisition of these capabilities across the Department of the Navy.

The new post is designed to bridge gaps that often emerge between technology development and procurement, consolidating responsibility for shaping requirements and turning them into fielded systems for the Navy and Marine Corps. By centralizing oversight, the department aims to speed decision-making, reduce duplication, and ensure that emerging technologies transition more predictably from experimentation into programs of record.

Robotic and autonomous systems have become a central element of naval modernization, with efforts spanning unmanned surface and undersea vessels, aerial drones, and ground systems to expand sensing, logistics, and strike options in contested environments. The department has in recent years experimented with new operational models and organizations to advance these technologies, and today’s move signals a push to embed that work more directly within acquisition pathways.

The announcement did not include details on who will lead the DRPM RAS, how it will be positioned within existing acquisition and requirements chains, or what immediate authorities it will hold over ongoing programs. The department also did not specify initial funding levels, reporting relationships with program executive offices, or a timeline for when the office will be fully operational.

Additional guidance on the DRPM RAS’s charter, governance structure, and priorities is expected to clarify how the new role will interact with service laboratories, fleet experimentation initiatives, and industry partners competing for future unmanned and autonomous contracts. Further information was not immediately available.