White House Tech Strategy Lists Navy Submarines As Top Priority
White House Tech Strategy Lists Navy Submarines As Top Priority
Washington Times
By: Bill Gertz
August 19, 2026
American submarines are a key focus in protecting U.S. military advantages against foreign enemies, along with new national security space systems know-how, according to a recent White House strategy report.
The National Security Science and Technology Strategy, made public this week, also states that applying artificial intelligence will remain a priority for advanced technology development.
“The United States will prioritize technological advantage in areas integral to deterring attack and prevailing in conflict against sophisticated and capable adversaries, capitalizing on existing U.S. advantages in key areas,” the report states.
Undersea battlefield dominance and underwater power projection is listed first in three target technology areas in the strategy.
“Clear technological superiority in the undersea domain, including submarine survivability and anti-submarine warfare” remains a key priority, the report said.
For space, technological superiority will be used to detect, identify and counter threats to American satellites ranging in zones from very low-Earth orbit through the space between Earth and the moon, known as cislunar space.
Supporting the rapidly advancing field of AI and robot weapons technology is identified in the strategy as a third goal.
Other sectors that are the focus of the new strategy and deemed critical for American national security include building air warfare superiority through stealth technology, electronic warfare and anti-aircraft power.
Missiles also will remain a high-tech priority with a focus on long-range strike weapons and the ability of missiles to penetrate advanced defenses and “reach targets on operationally relevant timescales, and strike with precision” — likely a reference to new and soon-to-be deployed hypersonic missiles.
U.S. military command and control, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, a major American strategic military advantage, is listed in the report as another area for funding and support.
Military command control advantages will provide what the strategy calls “information dominance in all phases of conflict, and superior ability to direct, coordinate, and control forces and assets, including in the face of adversary cyber operations.”
Navy submarines, both nuclear missile and conventional attack boats, remain a vital mainstay of U.S. military power and strategic nuclear deterrence.
American submarines are regarded as the quietest in the world and thus capable of destroying Russian and Chinese submarines and warships in a future conflict without being detected.
For example, military leaders project that U.S. submarine power is a key deterrent for Chinese plans to launch an amphibious assault across the 100-mile-wide Taiwan Strait.
Elbridge Colby, undersecretary of defense for policy, said in a recent speech that the Navy’s submarine force is the most advanced in the world. He noted the use of a submarine to launch Tomahawk cruise missiles during the joint operation with the B-2 bombers and advanced stealth jets to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities.
“I mean, you look at our submarine force, it is the best in the world, and I don’t say that lightly. It is absolutely devastating, and that’s a product of technology,” Mr. Colby told a conference at the Strategic Command earlier this month.
The submarine advantage is the result of 80 years of development and “constant, constant practice and learning and refinement,” he said.
“If you go into the maritime domain, you are going to deal with our submarine force, and that is going to be very, very, very dangerous,” Mr. Colby said.
The Navy currently operates three types of submarines — strategic nuclear missile, conventional cruise missile and fast attack vessels.
Current deployments include 18 Ohio-class nuclear missile subs, 22 Los Angeles-class fast attack subs, three Seawolf attack submarines and 22 Virginia-class submarines.
To bolster the cruise missile-firing submarines as older Ohio-class SSGNs are retired, the Navy plans to deploy Tomahawk missile launchers on some Virginia-class boats.
China, the sole adversary mentioned by name in the report, is seeking “global technological dominance” through coercive industrial policies and state security tools, the report said.
The new administration’s technology strategy calls for targeted federal research and development funding and partnerships with companies and universities to assist in meeting national security goals.
Federal investment also will be made in science and technology education and training.
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