A retired Air Force officer who also served as the top acquisition executive, for the Special Operations Command, Geurts has been at the forefront of the Navy’s push for unmanned ships. He has also championed the standup of 15 “tech bridges” across the country to spur innovation.
Navy officials said this week that the destroyer, which still hasn't been deployed almost five years after she was christened, might find a place in the fleet after all.
"It is too early to say where we will end up across that portfolio, but we are investigating a range of options via our prototyping efforts," Capt. Pete Small told the virtual Surface Navy convention
"Some of these people may have been in these jobs too long," Navy Undersecretary Gregory Slavonic suggested of House and Senate Armed Services committee lawmakers, suggesting they should be subject to term limits.
"We've done about all we can do with this ship and we've maxed out the space, weight, power and cooling,” Rear Adm. Paul Schlise said. "It's time to reset to a new large surface combatant."
"We have ample margin for this hull form," said Capt. Kevin Smith, the Navy’s frigate program manager. "Some of those could lead to direct energy type projects and other capability. But right now, just as an example for weight, we have at least 100 tons of margin for future upgrades."
"I don't mean to be dramatic," said Navy CNO Adm. Mike Gilday, "but I feel like if the Navy loses its head, if we go off course and we take our eyes off those things we need to focus on, I think we may not be able to recover in this century."
"The LPDs need the ability to reach out and defend themselves and sink another ship," said Marine Maj. Gen. Tracy King, the Navy’s director of expeditionary warfare.
Raytheon Missiles & Defense draws on agile DevSecOps experience to keep the US Navy current.