U.S. Navy Selects Defense Unicorns to Advance to Shipboard Deployment Phase of Software Evaluation

CHARLESTON, S.C., July 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Navy has selected Defense Unicorns to advance to the next phase of evaluation under a Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic (NIWC LANT) Rapid Capabilities Cell Other Transaction Agreement (OTA). This phase transitions from lab-based to at-sea operational evaluations aboard naval vessels and shore facilities.

The selection also follows the successful completion of the CANES Next Generation prototype OT in which Defense Unicorns demonstrated the ability of the Unified Defense Stack (UDS) to rapidly configure hardware and launch software. Those results validated the company's approach to secure, airgap-native software delivery in shipboard environments and established the foundation for operational testing.

Moving from lab-based evaluations to live ship deployments represents a significant step toward fleet-scale production. The afloat deployments, combined with ashore integration, will generate the operational data needed to inform long-term acquisition decisions.

Defense Unicorns' UDS powers the solution through two complementary products. UDS Enterprise provides a secure, standardized platform for deploying and managing software in air-gapped and disconnected environments. UDS Fleet enables infrastructure and cluster management across multiple deployed environments, giving Navy operators a unified capability to deliver and sustain software at scale.

"Modernizing how the Navy delivers software to ships at sea requires rigorous operational validation," said CDR Eric Shuey, APM Tactical Networks Technologies, PMW 160. "This evaluation phase is designed to produce the operational data needed to support sound, long-term fleet decisions."

"The Navy operates in some of the most demanding software delivery environments in the world," said Rob Slaughter, co-founder and CEO of Defense Unicorns. "Ships are deployed for months, often disconnected, and the stakes are high. Our north star is simple. Sailors and other warfighters using modern software when and where they need it. This next phase puts us on that path."

The advancement positions UDS as a candidate for fleet-wide standardization as the Department of the Navy continues to accelerate software delivery to the warfighter.

About Defense Unicorns
Defense Unicorns is a veteran-owned defense technology company founded in 2021 by Rob Slaughter, Jeff McCoy, and Andrew Greene to make software a strategic deterrent for the U.S. Department of War. The company builds open-source, airgap-native technologies that enable the secure development, delivery, and sustainment of mission software across cloud, on-premises, and tactical edge environments. Defense Unicorns' technology is trusted by the operators of some of the most critical systems in the world, including the U.S. Navy, Army, Air Force, and Space Force. Learn more at https://defenseunicorns.com

SOURCE Defense Unicorns