Submariner to Oversee Construction of U.S. Navy's Future Surface Fleet
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he U.S. Navy's top civilian leader has appointed a career submariner to oversee construction of the future surface fleet.
Hung Cao, Acting Navy Secretary, announced Wednesday that he has selected Rear Adm. Jonathan Rucker to the post of Portfolio Acquisition Executive (PAE) Maritime, a recently created administrative post. The PAE structure makes Rucker a direct report to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition, former submarine officer William F. Mahan (serving in a performing-the-duties-of capacity).
The PAE structure - used now by all of the service branches - is designed to remove the silos around individual programs and streamline bureaucratic acquisition processes, in the hopes of getting better overall outcomes in less time. It puts a single person in charge of a broad portfolio of R&D and buying decisions.
Adm. Rucker has served as program manager for the Navy's attack submarines and its Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines, the service's top acquisition priority. While in charge of the Columbia program (2018-2022) and later as the director of design and construction for Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager Submarines (April-October 2026), Adm. Rucker helped deal with the deep-rooted supply chain issues that have pushed back delivery dates for both the Virginia-class and the Columbia-class.
"Admiral Rucker is the right leader at the right time to bring accountability to and accelerate our American shipbuilding system," said Acting Navy Secretary Cao in a statement.
As PAE Maritime, Adm. Rucker inherits all of the Navy's surface shipbuilding programs, all of which were behind schedule as of last year and some of which may face challenging fiscal pressures in future budget years. Pressing questions include the workforce and supply chain issues that have dogged the Navy's procurement efforts; getting the right mix of manned/unmanned platforms; and nurturing new shipyard capacity for distributed and small-vessel shipbuilding.
“We owe it to our Sailors and Marines to deliver the ships they need at speed with capability and quality to ensure they maintain our competitive advantage,” said Rucker in a statement.
