Part of PAE RAS, DECK is a cornerstone of the U.S. Navy’s larger Warfighting Data Ecosystem
SUNNYVALE, Calif., March 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Applied Intuition, Inc., the leading physical AI company, today announced it has delivered the U.S. Navy’s first large-scale data engine, the Data Edge Collection Kit program, to deliver the infrastructure to rapidly field autonomous systems. DECK, a program within the U.S. Navy’s Portfolio Acquisition Executive Robotic and Autonomous Systems (PAE RAS), enables edge data collection for artificial intelligence and autonomy development for the Department of War (DOW.)
Sensor and mission data is essential to deliver production-grade AI and autonomous systems. The DOW has historically underinvested in the infrastructure required to collect data from operational environments, preventing it from maturing AI systems at the velocity needed to fight and win in an era of software-defined warfare—where the rate of adaptation of weapons, sensors, and platforms determines victory or defeat. As a result, the U.S. Navy’s prototype autonomous and semi-autonomous systems rely on antiquated, manual processes to identify targets, assess threats, and cue engagements. This results in slowed decision-making and limited effectiveness of critical kill chains in contested maritime environments.
DECK directly addresses this gap, deploying AI to the edge to collect thousands of hours of operational data and rapidly delivering software updates that improve system accuracy while reducing operator workload. As the U.S. Navy establishes its PAE RAS, DECK is a critical mission enabler to enable the deployment of autonomy across the DOW.
“The future warship is software-defined, and DECK is a cornerstone of that vision for the U.S. Navy,” Qasar Younis, co-founder and CEO of Applied Intuition, said. “DECK turns ships into data-generating, continuously improving platforms and gives the DOW a real data engine at sea, not another one-off system. That’s how you deliver AI to the fleet at operational speed.”
Secretary of the Navy John Phelan at AFCEA West said DECK is central to transforming ships into adaptive, AI-enabled systems.
“If you do not build a data engine, you do not build an AI-enabled force,” Phelan said Feb. 12 during his keynote address. “That is why the Navy is deploying DECK…it turns ships into learning systems, not static platforms, enabling an iterative and adaptable feedback loop with legacy bespoke architectures that historically have evolved only through programmatic redesign. This is how we move from demonstrations to dominance. Even with unmanned systems and AI, there is a hard truth: the government cannot deliver the Golden Fleet alone, fast enough, or at scale. That is why private sector partnership is not optional—it is foundational and it must be accelerated.”
Enabling a Software-Defined Fleet for the U.S. Navy
Today’s hardware-defined ship architectures are siloed and tightly coupled to legacy systems. Software is slow to field, limiting the Navy’s ability to respond to adversaries who are rapidly modernizing.
DECK is part of Applied Intuition’s Data Engine solution, developed over several years with both defense and commercial customers and an early concrete step toward building a software-defined fleet and larger Warfighting Data Ecosystem for the Navy.
Specifically, DECK performs real-time automated detection, classification, and recording using shipboard sensors, presents operators with integrated displays and visual overlays, and intelligently manages limited satellite bandwidth. Offboard curation and retraining of AI and machine-learning pipelines allow deployed AI models and interface software to be updated over the air, improving performance with minimal sailor intervention. The system is modularized, allowing it to be rapidly deployed as a small form-factor system, or scaled as part of an end-to-end capability.
By delivering this pathfinder capability, the Navy is setting a clear vision for the speed at which it is looking to deliver the software-defined fleet.
To learn more about how Applied Intuition is building the future of maritime autonomy, visit applied.co or contact press@applied.co.
About Applied Intuition
Applied Intuition, Inc. is powering the future of physical AI. Founded in 2017 and now valued at $15 billion, the Silicon Valley company is creating the digital infrastructure needed to bring intelligence to every moving machine on the planet. Applied Intuition services the automotive, defense, trucking, construction, mining and agriculture industries in three core areas: tools and infrastructure, operating systems and autonomy. Eighteen of the top 20 global automakers, as well as the United States military and its allies, trust the company’s solutions to deliver physical intelligence. Applied Intuition is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with offices in Washington, D.C.; San Diego; Ft. Walton Beach, Florida; Ann Arbor, Michigan; London; Stuttgart; Munich; Stockholm; Bangalore; Seoul; and Tokyo. Learn more at applied.co.
