Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR) just scored one of its biggest military contracts yet. The U.S. Navy is bringing Palantir's Foundry and Artificial Intelligence Platform into the messy, complex world of shipbuilding, with approval for up to $448 million to speed up how ships actually get built.
Navy Secretary John Phelan and Palantir CEO Alex Karp announced the ShipOS program, which sounds exactly like what it is: an operating system for ship production. The idea is to take data-driven software and apply it to the notoriously outdated processes that slow down American shipbuilding, creating better real-time decision-making across sprawling supply chains.
ShipOS works by pulling together data from enterprise systems, legacy databases, and operational sources through the Maritime Industrial Base Program and Naval Sea Systems Command. The goal is spotting bottlenecks, delays, and inefficiencies before they cascade into bigger problems.
When Minutes Replace Months
The early results are pretty striking. General Dynamics Electric Boat managed to cut submarine schedule planning from 160 hours down to just minutes. Meanwhile, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard compressed material review times from weeks to under an hour. Those aren't incremental improvements—they're the kind of efficiency jumps that make CFOs and supply chain managers very happy.
The Navy plans to roll out the software first across submarine shipbuilders, public shipyards, and critical suppliers. After that, the program will expand to surface ship programs. The broader ambition here is cutting costs, reducing delays, boosting output, and building a more resilient U.S. shipbuilding industrial base—one that can actually keep pace with demand.
Riding the AI Wave
Palantir stock has been on a tear this year, gaining over 140% year-to-date. The rally has been fueled by AI-driven demand, growth across both commercial and government sectors, and an increasing pipeline of government contracts like this one.
Just last Friday, Palantir expanded its partnership with Northslope to drive wider adoption of its AIP platform and unlock additional enterprise value. Under that deal, Northslope became the first member of Palantir's new Vanguard: Elite network, strengthening the company's ecosystem and helping customers deploy applied AI solutions faster.
Shares of Palantir Technologies were up 1.40% at $184.39 at the time of publication on Wednesday.
