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Air and Fathom5 have partnered to modernize how the U.S. Navy manages maintenance and repairs, combining enterprise logistics software with artificial intelligence to improve fleet readiness. The collaboration aims to replace fragmented maintenance systems with a connected platform that helps sailors identify parts, predict equipment failures, and complete work orders even in communications-limited environments.
The partnership follows Fathom5’s success in Phase III of the Defense Innovation Unit’s NextMRO Prize Challenge, where the company demonstrated software that turned operational Navy maintenance data into applications designed for use by sailors. Air and Fathom5 now plan to expand those capabilities across the Navy’s broader maintenance and procurement network.
Predictive maintenance focus
Fathom5 will integrate its AI-powered Condition-Based Maintenance technology with Air’s Enterprise Readiness platform, creating a system that connects maintenance planning, logistics, supply chains, and repair forecasting across multiple support levels.
The combined platform is designed to give maintenance teams a single source of operational data instead of relying on disconnected databases. Sailors will also be able to search technical manuals using natural language, review parts inventories, forecast maintenance issues before failures occur, and identify alternate suppliers within seconds.
One of the platform’s key features targets operations in contested environments. Sailors working aboard deployed ships will still be able to access work orders and maintenance data in degraded, denied, intermittent, and limited connectivity conditions, commonly known as DDIL environments.
Reducing repair delays
Air says its readiness platform has already delivered measurable results during defense sustainment programs. The company reported reducing part identification time by 99.6%, allowing maintenance teams to locate replacement components and approved alternatives in minutes instead of days.
Faster parts allocation has also shortened repair timelines and reduced equipment downtime across supported commands. According to Air, those improvements have helped sustain equipment readiness levels of about 90% while cutting hundreds of maintenance down days each year.
Tara Murphy Dougherty, CEO of Air, said the partnership addresses what the company describes as the “Readiness Gap” between frontline operational needs and enterprise logistics systems. “This partnership will be pivotal as we work to close the Readiness Gap,” Dougherty said. She added that integrating both companies’ technologies could shorten maintenance turnaround times, increase equipment availability, and support faster digital workflows for naval operations.
Supporting fleet readiness
Fathom5 views the partnership as an opportunity to shift naval maintenance from reacting to equipment failures toward predicting them before they disrupt operations. “The future of naval readiness depends on giving Sailors the right information at the right time, wherever the mission takes them,” said Zac Staples, founder and CEO of Fathom5. Staples said combining the company’s AI-driven maintenance capabilities with Air’s enterprise software will help create a more predictive maintenance process.
He added that the integrated platform is intended to support fleet operations in contested environments while keeping more ships mission-ready. The companies expect the joint platform to support the Navy’s broader effort to modernize maintenance, repair, and overhaul operations through data-driven software that improves decision-making across logistics, sustainment, and fleet maintenance.
