Navy Stands Up Disruptive Capabilities Office for Rapid Warfighter Technology Adoption

Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro has announced the creation of a Disruptive Capabilities Office to handle the service’s rapid adoption of new warfighting technologies. 

According to Del Toro, a 2023 Wash100 winner and a past Potomac Officers Club event speaker, the DCO will work across the Navy’s various units, including the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory’s Rapid Capabilities Office.  

The Navy secretary disclosed the new office in his remarks at the Naval Research Laboratory Centennial Exhibition at the Pentagon on Thursday, during which he also cited developments on the service’s newly launched Science and Technology Board, DefenseScoop reported.

Del Toro revealed that he has ordered the chief of naval research to formulate within the next 90 days a science and technology strategy for the board.

The Navy secretary also noted that the DCO will have a key supportive role to the Pentagon’s new Replicator effort. Initiated by Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks in August, the program calls for a massive deployment of autonomous systems to deter China.

In a related development, an unnamed Navy spokesperson told Breaking Defense that the DCO’s creation will disband the Navy’s Unmanned Task Force, with its key personnel absorbed by the new office.