The U.S. Navy is steering serious money into Arlington, awarding the University of Texas at Arlington a contract worth up to $86.4 million to put next-generation ship power and propulsion systems through their paces at campus facilities. The funding will flow to UTA’s Pulsed Power and Energy Laboratory, which is built to mimic shipboard conditions for batteries, capacitors and directed-energy systems so engineers can see how they behave before anything ever heads out to sea.
A Department of Defense contract notice describes the award as a $75,480,869 cost-only agreement focused on surface combatant ship design and engineering work, with options that could take the total value to $86,416,590. According to the notice, initial research funds are being obligated from fiscal 2026 and 2025 research, development, test and evaluation accounts, and Naval Sea Systems Command is listed as the contracting activity.
About UTA’s pulsed-power testbed
UT Arlington’s Pulsed Power and Energy Laboratory (PPEL) and its Power and Energy Innovative Research lab (PEIR) will lead the effort using hardware-in-the-loop setups that simulate the demanding electrical environment aboard modern ships. PPEL has specialized since 2010 in testing how batteries, capacitors and power electronics respond under extreme, pulsed loads, and it operates an off-campus test facility in south Arlington. UTA details the lab’s projects and technical capabilities.
At a ribbon-cutting for the PEIR on Thursday, university leaders and city officials used the moment to celebrate the Navy award, with UTA President Jennifer Cowley telling reporters that “the Navy chose UT Arlington for this work,” and PPEL director David Wetz saying UTA is “proud to contribute expertise, facilities and talent to support next-generation innovation.” Arlington Mayor Jim Ross also praised the partnership between the city and the university, the local station reported. WFAA covered the lab opening and officials’ remarks.
University officials say the contract will expand hands-on research and training opportunities for students while giving engineers a place to uncover integration problems on land before systems are installed at sea. The lab’s hardware-in-the-loop testbeds let researchers drive energy storage and power converters into failure modes and study mitigation strategies under controlled, repeatable conditions. UTA’s site notes that the facility is ITAR-compliant and has a long history of Department of Defense-funded work, and that its PEIR is set up to support Navy-scale test programs. UTA says the facility is tailored for these large, complex efforts.
Why the Navy is investing in land-based testbeds
The award fits into a larger Navy push to electrify surface combatants and deploy high-power directed-energy and electromagnetic systems, priorities highlighted in Naval Sea Systems Command’s Naval Power & Energy Systems roadmap. Land-based testing and industry-academic partnerships sit at the center of that strategy because they lower technical risk and help move promising technology from the lab to operational ships more quickly. NAVSEA explains the roadmap and its technology focus areas.
