Sea-Air-Space 2026 to focus on maritime readiness, autonomy, and industrial base challenges
NewsApril 17, 2026
NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland. Sea-Air-Space 2026 will bring together senior military leaders, policymakers, and defense industry representatives to examine how the sea services are preparing for future conflict, with a program centered on readiness, modernization, and the integration of emerging technologies across naval operations, according to event materials.
The conference agenda reflects a Navy and Marine Corps increasingly focused on operating in contested, multi-domain environments, where coordination across air, surface, undersea, space, and cyber domains is required to maintain operational effectiveness, the program shows. Early sessions set the tone by focusing on how leadership is aligning force generation, training, and modernization efforts to meet near-term operational demands while preparing for more complex scenarios in the years ahead.
Autonomy and uncrewed systems are woven throughout the event, not as standalone technologies but as part of a broader shift in how naval forces are expected to operate. Multiple panels explore how uncrewed maritime platforms are moving from experimentation into deployment, as well as the challenges of integrating these systems alongside crewed assets. Discussions also extend into artificial intelligence and robotics, particularly in sustainment and manufacturing, where the services are looking to improve efficiency and reduce timelines for delivering capability to the fleet.
At the same time, the program places significant emphasis on the industrial base that supports naval power. Sessions on shipbuilding capacity, supply chain limitations, and acquisition reform point to ongoing concerns about whether industry can meet growing demand for ships, systems, and munitions. These conversations often return to the need for closer collaboration between government and industry, including new partnership models and contracting approaches intended to accelerate production and deployment.
Beyond platforms and production, the conference also addresses the operational realities of modern maritime competition. Panels on expeditionary logistics, Arctic strategy, cybersecurity, and information warfare highlight the range of challenges facing naval forces as they operate in distributed and contested environments. The inclusion of Coast Guard leadership and international perspectives further broadens the discussion, reflecting the role of allied cooperation and maritime security beyond traditional naval missions.
Taken together, the event’s sessions suggest a naval enterprise working to balance immediate readiness requirements with longer-term transformation, with technology integration, industrial capacity, and operational adaptability emerging as central themes across the program.
