AWS Cloud: Ready to power American shipbuilding

AWS provides a comprehensive suite of services and tools to enable digital engineering at scale. As the MIB embarks on key digital transformation initiatives, the AWS cloud offers secure compute, storage, and networking resources to support large-scale, high-fidelity simulations and a secure digital thread that provides accessibility across the industrial base. The AWS cloud enables faster design iterations, more testing accomplished through simulations, and improved production planning—all of which translate to quicker delivery of innovative platforms to the fleet. Additionally, the flexibility and scalability of the AWS cloud will allow the maritime industry to adapt to changing mission requirements and surge capacity as needed.

AWS, along with our Partners who build and run on AWS, are actively building environments for the Navy and Maritime Industrial Base and exploring where extending our experience hosting digital twins to key platforms can help accelerate operational availability and readiness.

By applying artificial intelligence and autonomy to shipbuilding, the Navy and MIB can boost productivity and ultimately reduce shipbuilding times and adjust maintenance intervals to increase operational availability. AWS provides the scalable compute, purpose-built artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) tools, and access to leading large language models (LLMs) across security fabrics and domains needed to develop and deploy AI applications securely. AWS also offers no-cost instructor led training to DoW customers through the Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability (JWCC) contract. Amazon Bedrock provides U.S. Government customers with secure access to foundation models and GenAI capabilities within AWS Classified and Unclassified regions. 

The Navy Reserve has leveraged LLMs on AWS to comprehend text and make documents more legible, increasing Reservist engagement and improving personnel readiness. AWS has also delivered training to U.S. Federal employees through mechanisms such as our “AI Ready” Initiative including Generative AI Immersion Days, other Instructor Led Training, and 600+ SkillBuilder Courses. AWS is eager to leverage proven practices used across the U.S. Federal sector to enable employees in this sector.  

 Transforming American shipbuilding requires a fundamental reimagining of how ships are built. AWS brings proven Industry 4.0 capabilities to create the connected shipyard of the future, where digital systems and physical operations work in harmony to accelerate production while improving quality. In this vision, thousands of IoT sensors continuously monitor everything from welding parameters to environmental conditions, all securely connected through AWS IoT Core. Real-time data flows from the shop floor to the cloud, where advanced analytics provide immediate insights to operators and managers. In the fabrication shop, integrated inspection systems verify quality while work instructions are delivered directly to workers' devices through manufacturing execution systems.

The Industrial Fabric concept provides a unified digital foundation connecting disparate systems, data, and processes across the shipbuilding lifecycle. Rather than operating in silos, systems spanning design, engineering, production, and quality control are integrated—enabling seamless data flow between CAD/CAM software, manufacturing execution systems, ERP, and shop floor equipment. When engineering updates a design, Industrial Fabric automatically propagates changes to production systems, updates work instructions, and notifies relevant teams; all while maintaining configuration control and regulatory compliance.

Building upon the connected shipyard foundation, the Smart Factory concept orchestrates operations across multiple workshops and trades, optimizing production flow and resource allocation. For instance, if a delay occurs in steel fabrication, smart factory capabilities can automatically adjust downstream assembly schedules and redistribute resources to minimize impact. Smart factory platforms also support predictive maintenance for critical equipment, automated quality inspection workflows, and real-time tracking of components throughout the yard. 

Security remains paramount in this connected environment. AWS’ industrial solutions implement defense-in-depth security architectures that protect both operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT) systems. This includes end-to-end encryption of industrial data, zero-trust security architectures, and role-based access control that meet Department of War (DoW) requirements.

The U.S. Navy’s shipbuilding process faces challenges in efficiently scheduling and coordinating work at shipyards and refit facilities, resulting in delays that impact fleet force readiness. Many processes for developing schedules, work packages, and engineering reports are highly manual and time consuming, requiring users to navigate multiple systems and increasing the possibility of human error, while unplanned work adds additional challenges. Through IoT capabilities, shipyards can gain deep insights into their operations, enabling teams to optimize production flows and identify potential improvements. These insights, combined with machine learning models running on Amazon SageMaker, help identify bottlenecks and predict potential issues before they impact production schedules. By leveraging scalable AWS data lake, advanced analytics, and GenAI capabilities, the Navy can transform shipyard data into a strategic asset to drive efficiency, enhance readiness, and accelerate fleet operations. 

AWS’ partnership with U.S. Navy COMSUBFOR reduced submarine maintenance work package processing from weeks to hours using an Agentic RAG solution on Amazon Bedrock in GovCloud. The solution automatically generates Navy Official Forms and searches across multiple submarine-specific databases, eliminating manual processes that previously required sailors to navigate disparate systems. This has catalyzed Navy-wide AI adoption, with other Navy squadrons now pursuing similar implementations.

The AWS Global Network provides a secure foundation for the shipbuilding enterprise, to include shipyards and refit facilities. AWS' infrastructure delivers high-throughput, low-latency connectivity supporting geographically dispersed components with redundant network paths. AWS has piloted connecting IOT sensors at key ship repair locations to the cloud, leveraging the AWS global backbone to reduce latency, combat the tyranny of distance, and save time for each availability. AWS is eager to scale across the enterprise at key locations. 

Classified workloads and cross-domain solutions are also a critical part of the shipbuilding ecosystem. AWS provides cloud services designed to support government workloads across all security classification levels: Unclassified, Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), Secret, and Top Secret. AWS also supports secure data transfer capabilities that meet government standards for cross-domain solutions, facilitating the necessary coordination between mission systems, hull design, and other industrial base participants. By combining a resilient global network and classified workload capabilities, AWS delivers a comprehensive, secure infrastructure to power the digital transformation of American shipbuilding—from design environment to the shop floor.

AWS recognizes the United States seeks to accelerate shipbuilding in coordination with allies through mechanisms such as the Australia-United States-United Kingdom (AUKUS) Trilateral Security Pact and new investments from leading allied commercial shipbuilders. To support the U.S. Navy's need to share information rapidly, consistently, and securely, AWS offers environments for allied mission data sharing that can be expanded to include digital engineering capabilities and Trusted Secure Enclaves architecture. AWS’ isolation design patterns for secure enclaves support scalable collaboration while providing the breadth and depth of available cloud services to drive innovation.