38th Submarine Technology Symposium Charts Course for Undersea Advantage

13 July 2026

Christopher Watkins, Submarine Technology Symposium Co-Chair, welcomes attendees to the annual conference. (Image credit: Ed Whitman, Johns Hopkins APL)

As undersea warfare enters a more contested and fast-moving era, leaders across the US Navy, allied nations, industry, and academia are racing to rethink how submarines fight, adapt, and survive. That urgency drove discussions at the 38th annual Submarine Technology Symposium (STS), held May 5–7 at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, where more than 600 participants gathered to examine the future of undersea advantage.

Hosted by Commander, Submarine Forces, and co-sponsored by the Naval Submarine League and APL, the symposium centered on the theme “Forged to Fight – Global Reach from the Undersea.” Discussions focused on how undersea forces can maintain their advantage amid rapid technological change and increasingly contested maritime domains.

Vice Adm. Richard Seif, commander, Submarine Forces, outlined the challenges facing warfighters in undersea environments and emphasized the need for advanced awareness capabilities worldwide.

“STS is a great forum for sharing new ideas and technologies that support mission-critical operations,” said Seif, this year’s keynote speaker, about the symposium. “We need advanced awareness capabilities worldwide to support the challenges facing our warfighters in undersea environments.”

Christopher Watkins, STS co-chair and APL’s chief mission engineering and integration officer, highlighted the operational and technological pressures shaping today’s undersea forces. He pointed to recent conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine as evidence of how low-cost systems, rapid adaptation, and compressed development timelines are reshaping warfare—trends likely to influence the undersea domain.

“For our community, the task is clear: maintain undersea advantage, adapt to a more contested battlespace, and ensure the force is ready for what comes next,” Watkins said.

For the second consecutive year, participants from AUKUS—the security partnership among Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States—attended the full symposium, underscoring the importance of allied collaboration in strengthening undersea advantage.

Retired Rear Adm. Lorin Selby, STS general chair, emphasized the symposium’s role as a forum where strategic vision and technical innovation converge.

“This gathering of operators in the fleet, AUKUS partners, scientists, and industry professionals fosters the interchange of ideas and conflict-solving through a broad, diverse team,” Selby said. “Over the next three days, we will focus on what matters most: ensuring our submariners are ready to fight tonight, maintaining undersea dominance through decisive competitive advantage.”

Throughout the symposium, attendees explored exhibits showcasing new undersea technologies, analytical tools, prototypes, and concepts of operation. These displays were complemented with hands-on engagement and cross-community knowledge sharing.

The three-day program featured five sessions, each with fleet briefs and technical presentations from industry, research, and military leaders:

“Fight Tonight Technology—Expanding Our Advantage,” chaired by Marc Dalby of Leonardo DRS, with Sebastian Pascarelle of In-Depth Engineering as assistant chair
“Revolutionary Technologies on the Horizon,” chaired by Jon Sherman of HII-NNS, with Benjamin Beck of Penn State Applied Research Laboratory (PSU/ARL) as assistant chair
“Disruption by Design: Technologies That Break the Paradigm,” chaired by APL’s James Borghardt, with William Browning of Applied Mathematics, Inc., as assistant chair
“Built to Endure—Sustaining Undersea Power,” chaired by Jeffrey Banks from PSU/ARL, with Bryan Still of Systems, Planning, and Analysis as assistant chair
“Fit to Fight, Built to Last: Engineering Warfighter Effectiveness,” chaired by Stephen O’Grady from Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Newport, with Todd Cloutier of Monterey Technologies, Inc., as assistant chair

Senior Navy, submarine force, executive branch, and international leaders delivered remarks and briefings, including:

William Toti, performing the duties of Undersecretary of the Navy
Jerry Hendrix, chief, Office of Management and Budget, Shipbuilding Office
Adm. William Houston, director, Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program
Adm. John Richardson (retired), chairman, Naval Submarine League
Vice Adm. Johnny Wolfe, director, Strategic Systems Programs
Vice Adm. Robert Gaucher, submarine direct reporting portfolio manager
Vice Adm. Richard Seif, commander, Submarine Forces
Rear Adm. Christopher Cavanaugh, commander, Submarine Forces Pacific
Maj. Gen. Mark Totten, RN, Attack Submarines Capability director
Commodore Michael Jacobson, Royal Australian Navy, director general of submarines
Rear Adm. John Stafford, commander, Undersea Warfighting Development Center
Capt. Kevin White, Undersea Communication and Integration Program Office
James “Jim” Juster, executive director, Department of the Navy Rapid Capabilities Office
Capt. Hector Marin, former USS New Mexico (SSN 779) commanding officer
Cmdr. Clint Emrich, USS Annapolis (SSN 760) commanding officer

Their perspectives connected the technical discussions to broader efforts in force design, shipbuilding, readiness, and allied integration.

Eric Higgs, a program manager in APL’s Force Projection Sector, served as this year’s STS program chair, partnering with the Naval Submarine League and the broader undersea community to coordinate the 16 exhibits and 43 presentations from 30 organizations.