NAVAIR personnel kicked off Tuesday at Sea-Air-Space Exposition 2026 with “Start with the Fleet: Readiness, Capability, Speed,” a panel led by NAVAIR Commander Vice Adm. John E. Dougherty IV, who was joined by Rear Adm. Todd Evans, Commander, Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division and chief engineer with NAVAIR; Vice Commander Capt. Joseph Hidalgo, representing Commander, Fleet Readiness Centers (COMFRC); and Paul McGinty, director of the NAVAIR Rapid Capability Cell.

Dougherty began the panel by laying out NAVAIR’s highest priorities.

Brendan Stevens is a software engineer at Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division. On a Sunday in March, he stood in the pit area at FATHOMWERX, the workshop floor where teams repair and adjust robots between matches, helping students troubleshoot their own.

His team had a problem.

The robot was driving in the wrong direction. Controls were inverted. Forward was backward.

A 10-year-old has no business flying a plane. His father let him anyway.

It was a 1941 Aeronca Chief, with a balsa-wood frame and a cloth skin. It landed on a dime. You sat side-by-side. Your knees nearly touched.

Dale Bruno’s father flew P-3s in the Navy. He treated the little plane like it was a family car.

“We’re going here,” his father said. “Here’s your heading. Fly.”

Bruno flew. For three years, they chased air shows up and down the coast, from Watsonville, California, to Washington state.

Jim Loundagin was testing missile hardware with whatever tools were available.

It was 1989. Loundagin had just joined the Fiber Optic Guided Skipper program at Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division. The team needed to know whether a fiber optic bobbin could survive the force of a missile launch. They did not have a missile ready. They improvised.

“We were shooting compound bows out the back door,” Loundagin said. “We were firing shotgun slugs too, just trying to simulate the acceleration of the bobbins.”

Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division recognized five engineers Jan. 21 for completing its Electronic Warfare Engineering Certificate Program.

A hybrid virtual ceremony across Naval Air Systems Command honored the graduates for finishing the four-year curriculum.

Honorees included Kaylee Arceo of Patuxent River, Md.; Leonel McMichael Martinez of Point Mugu, Calif.; and Michael Fischer, Deneyce Joseph and Pavel Rybakov of China Lake, Calif.

The Shipboard Weapons Integration Team provides independent assessments that ensure Navy ships can safely store, move, and handle weapons at sea, turning new shipboard firepower into usable fleet capability.

That work happens far from the flight deck and long before a system ever deploys. SWIT evaluates weapons facilities on new construction ships and ship modifications to confirm crews can safely handle ordnance under real operating conditions.

For almost 49 years, Debbie Covey was a steadfast and integral part of the China Lake community, dedicating her professional life to serving the U.S. Navy.

Covey seamlessly transitioned from a valued contractor to a respected civil servant, leaving an indelible mark on the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division.

Dr. Joseph Estevez tells new researchers the truth he needed early in his career.

“Research works 1% of the time,” Estevez said. “The other 99% of the time, you’re figuring something out.”

At Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, that mindset helps scientists push through setbacks and deliver results that matter. Their ideas turn into funded projects that support weapons and electronic warfare needs for the fleet.

Mark Roth wanted to build tractors.

Growing up on a farm in Nebraska, he earned a mechanical engineering degree with one dream: build the next great tractor.

By the time he graduated, the agricultural economy had tanked. The company he loved was out of business.

So when a recruiter talked about the mission, Roth listened. He started at Point Mugu in 1985.

Forty years later, he is still listening. He never built tractors. He built something else.

He built people.

Managing people can be both challenging and rewarding, but what are the qualities of a great supervisor? For those who work with Antonette Ayers, the word that comes to mind is "transformational."

Transformation is defined as a marked change, usually for the better, in appearance or character. Ayers’ work in bringing about that change is evident – and effective.