Newport, R.I. –
During his visit to the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport on May 19, Executive Director Mike McClatchey, a member of the Senior Executive Service, Program Executive Office, Undersea Warfare Systems (PEO UWS), emphasized the critical role the submarine platform and warfare center play in safeguarding our country.
“The submarine is our nation’s vanguard, and it is the most important platform to strategic deterrence,” McClatchey said. “The submarine force and the undersea domain are what makes our adversaries say, ‘not today.’ All those capabilities that make the submarine a warfighting platform are within the PEO UWS portfolio.
“I have a vested interested in the work at Division Newport and I’m very excited to be here. We really have an important job, and our nation and our Navy are counting on us. Thank you for your efforts and service. You’re incredibly important to our nation’s security and defense.”
In his role, McClatchey is responsible for more than $25 billion in acquisition, research, development, transition and sustainment of all undersea weapons, countermeasures, combat systems, artificial intelligence, training and sensor systems.
McClatchey develops opportunities for undersea enterprise capabilities and cross-domain effects by guiding and integrating efforts across PEO UWS, Team Submarine and the undersea domain portfolio. He also serves as the Undersea Warfare Chief Technology Officer (USW CTO) Executive.
“PEO UWS owns the kill chain, and weaving all aspects of this together is what we do,” McClatchey said. “Being able to collaborate across all the platforms and systems is so important.”
During his visit, McClatchey spoke to about 40 Division Newport scientists and engineers, as well as a handful of Team Submarine members, participating in Division Newport’s Submarine Combat Systems Course.
The course provides students with an overall understanding of the submarine combat system and the factors that drive system capabilities.
“PEO UWS was stood up about three years ago, and Mr. McClatchey has been a big proponent of our submarine combat systems courses over the years,” course instructor Matt O’Connell, director of programs for the Undersea Warfare (USW) Combat Systems Department, said. “These courses are a great way to get this knowledge transfer at a rapid pace to deliver these capabilities.”
PEO UWS is Division Newport’s largest customer with about 24% of the warfare center’s services rendered accounted for by this program executive office.
Division Newport operates under the Navy Working Capital Fund (NWCF) model, which means it receives funds from multiple “customers” to execute tasking within its assigned mission. Those utilizing the NWCF model receive no directly appropriated funding and operate like a nonprofit business with a “customer-provider” relationship.
“This differs from organizations that use a general fund, which means the installation receives its funds directly from the Congressional budget to accomplish its mission,” Division Newport Comptroller Adam Macksoud said. “These organizations are funded through direct appropriations and the activities are called “mission-funded.
“The working capital model allows Division Newport to provide long-term, value-added expertise to meet the Navy’s needs.”
During his visit to Division Newport, McClatchey discussed several areas where Division Newport is meeting the needs of PEO UWS so that the organization accomplishes its priorities.
PEO UWS is working to build capacity to deliver torpedoes, countermeasures, payloads and sensors to the fleet, McClatchey said. It is increasing operational availability by reducing modernization, testing, training and deployment timelines. It also is expanding undersea dominance with faster deployment of enhanced capability through resilient and modern architecture.
“The U.S. Navy has the best combat and weapons systems in the world,” McClatchey said. “The folks here at NUWC have played an important role in that.”
McClatchey shared some undersea perspectives on Project Overmatch, a U.S. Navy initiative to connect and share information across the fleet and with other services as part of the Pentagon's broader Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control (CJADC2) effort.
He also discussed how Team Submarine delivers a federation of independent electronics systems integrated into a common combat system, the submarine warfare federated tactical system (SWFTS). Hardware and software updates are conducted with the fleet at regular intervals, McClatchey explained, but lately there has been particular attention paid to modernizing SWFTS.
“The SWFTS rearchitecture was initiated in 2016 and refocused in 2024 with the goal of delivering capabilities at the speed of relevancy,” McClatchey said. “This is a high priority for PEO UWS, particularly to stay ahead of cyber threats and build resiliency.”
McClatchey addressed some current efforts in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), as well. Those include Project Harbinger to provide improved decision making for operators; SWFTS AI-enabled refactor pilot for software language modernization; SUB-S Interactive Electronic Technical Manual (IETM) efforts to integrate chat bot capabilities; and AUKUS common development environments.
“The bottom line is when it comes to AI and ML, there’s a lot of real capability there,” he said. “As we, the Navy, get better at it, there will be more opportunities there.”
As for torpedoes, McClatchey said “business is booming,” and the adversarial threat has necessitated exponential growth in lethality through investments in torpedo technology.
In closing, he encouraged those in attendance to continue to challenge assumptions to spur growth.
“Do your best and speak up. If someone is proposing something that doesn’t make sense, be confident enough to ask tough questions,” McClatchey said. “Not in a confrontational way, but we have to stop and ask why?
“It may be uncomfortable, but let’s have those conversations. We have to make each other stronger and build each other up.”
As a member of Team Submarine, PEO UWS ensures undersea sensors and warfare systems in support of Distributed Maritime Operations. It includes the undersea domain program integration office for Project Overmatch and organizes these programs, projects and efforts to directly support Direct Reporting Program Manager (DRPM) Overmatch. All Team Subs Participating Resource Managers (PARM) program offices are aligned under PEO UWS. The offices are responsible for submarine training; submarine logistics; and the submarine safety.
Team Submarine is a combination of PEO Strategic Submarine (PEO SSBN), PEO Attack Submarines (PEO SSN) and PEO UWS, as well as the Direct Reporting Program Office, AUKUS Integration & Acquisition Office (AUKUS).
The Team Submarine concept divides the single submarine-centric organization into specific PEOs with the goal of enhancing the structures and processes in the submarine research, development, acquisition and maintenance communities. Team Submarine provides exceptional communication among the various offices that contribute to the overall success of the U.S. Submarine Force.
NUWC Newport is the oldest warfare center in the country, tracing its heritage to the Naval Torpedo Station established on Goat Island in Newport Harbor in 1869. Commanded by Capt. Chad Hennings, NUWC Newport maintains major detachments in West Palm Beach, Florida, and Andros Island in the Bahamas, as well as test facilities at Seneca Lake and Fisher's Island, New York, Leesburg, Florida, and Dodge Pond, Connecticut.