Navy Leverages AI for Operational Edge

As the U.S. Navy seeks to maintain its operational edge, it’s turning to artificial intelligence (AI) to drive innovation and improvement. This move reflects broader industry trends, where AI is being leveraged to enhance decision-making, automate processes, and gain strategic insights. The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS), located in Monterey, California, is at the forefront of this effort, utilizing AI to tackle complex operational challenges and educate tomorrow’s leaders in AI skills.

At the heart of NPS’s AI initiatives is the NVIDIA DGX GB300 system, which has been granted to the institution to support its research and development efforts. This powerful system will enable NPS to train and deploy AI models, including its own NPS GPT, and provide a secure, on-premises environment for sensitive data processing. As retired Col. Randolph Pugh, NPS AI Task Force lead and AI Portfolio director, notes, “First, with this DGX GB300 system, we should be able to support model training and inference capability with our own NPS GPT.”

NPS is also collaborating with nonprofit organization MITRE to advance its AI capabilities. MITRE has developed the Advanced Simulation for Planning and Enhanced Navigation (ASPEN) simulation framework, which utilizes the NVIDIA Omniverse platform to create high-fidelity digital twins for simulating unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) navigation and other complex scenarios. This partnership demonstrates the potential for AI to drive real-world applications, from autonomous systems to environmental modeling.

The use of AI and simulation technologies has significant implications for the Navy’s operational readiness. By leveraging AI to predict environmental changes, understand complex systems, and optimize decision-making, the Navy can improve its ability to respond to emerging threats and maintain its strategic edge. As U.S. Navy Captain Michael Owen, NPS AI Task Force Deputy, explains, “We can spin up something born out of an independent study or a hackathon project or funded research, with faculty leveraging students as part of that, and we can connect them with the fleets that are going to fund them or operationalize them.”

NVIDIA is supporting NPS’s AI initiatives through the NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute and the establishment of an NVIDIA AI Technology Center at the university’s Monterey campus. These resources will provide faculty and students with access to cutting-edge AI tools and expertise, enabling them to develop innovative solutions and applications. As Pugh notes, “We’ve appreciated the access to the NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute for its instructor toolkits. It’s proving critical in helping NPS educate tomorrow’s leaders in AI.”

Source: Official Link