Eight months after her appointment as the Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Robotic and Autonomous Systems in December 2025, Rebecca J. Gassler was removed from the position on Wednesday, per a Navy release.
In addition to the removal, the service announced the establishment of the Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for Robotic and Autonomous Systems, aimed at correcting “years of fragmented requirements, resourcing, and acquisition practices that dispersed accountability, complicated industry engagement, and slowed delivery to the warfighter,” the memo states.
Christopher Miller was selected to serve as the acting DRPM RAS and will concurrently take over Gassler’s previous role as Portfolio Acquisition Executive RAS. He will report directly to William Toti, who is performing the duties of the under secretary of the Navy.
“We are at an inflection point in naval warfare, and the Department has been approaching robotic and autonomous systems through arcane processes that do not deliver capabilities at the speed our Sailors and Marines need,” said Toti. “Secretary Cao has directed us to replace that model with clear accountability, faster decisions, and a relentless focus on the warfighter.”
The move comes only weeks after the RAS unit was caught in the crosshairs of a federal lawsuit after the Navy tweaked the acquisition framework for the medium unmanned surface vehicle program twice within the past two years.
Two defense technology companies — Blue Water Autonomy and Saildrone — filed lawsuits in federal court on July 14 after being excluded from the U.S. Navy’s newest unmanned surface vessel acquisition program.
The two companies allege they were kicked out of contention for the Navy’s Medium Unmanned Surface Vessel Family of Systems program after the Navy failed to comply with its own requirements, among other errors.
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Blue Water Autonomy called the Navy’s decision to remove it from consideration for the MUSV request for prototype proposal “capricious” and not “in accordance with statute or regulation.”
Gassler was the first to serve in the portfolio acquisition executive role after the service strove last December to streamline its acquisition processes in an effort to purchase more drones and unmanned autonomous vehicles for the Navy.
Gassler concurrently served as the Deputy Director for Project Overmatch, a position she has held since her appointment to the Senior Executive Service in October 2024. In that position, she served across the Navy, Joint Services and with Coalition and Allied partners to design, develop and field the Naval Operational Architecture, according to her bio.
Claire Barrett is an editor and military history correspondent for Military Times. She is also a World War II researcher with an unparalleled affinity for Sir Winston Churchill and Michigan football.
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