We deliver knowledge-based services of unmatched value to the cause of U.S. national security: Gadsden Edward Rule of Naval Systems, Inc.

“Businesses like NSI serve to strengthen America economically, technologically, militarily, and ethically, while striving to make all of our employees better people in the process.”

Naval Systems, Inc. (NSI) provides professional services in support of U.S. national security, with a primary focus on the development, acquisition, and life cycle support of defense systems and their employment within a multi-domain, joint, and coalition environment.

NSI was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Lexington Park, MD. It has additional offices located in North Carolina, Florida, and California. Currently, the company has over 300 employees and approximately 200 additional subcontractor employees. NSI has grown by an average rate of 30 percent annually over the past five years.

The Silicon Review reached out to Gadsden Edward “Ed” Rule, who’s the President and CEO of Naval Systems, Inc., and here’s what he had to say.

Interview Highlights

Q. Why was Naval Systems born? What pain points did you set out to solve?

Naval Systems was set up to provide a more quantified and analytically sophisticated approach to naval aircraft and weapon systems acquisition and sustainment, to better serve the Warfighter and U.S. national security needs – at less cost and greater speed and effectiveness.

Q. How does Naval Systems protect and defend American interests and ideals? What are its focus areas?

Our mission is to protect and defend American interests and ideals. We do this by first cultivating a culture that understands and appreciates what these interests and ideals are. We then collectively apply our talents and expertise to maximum effect via a for-profit enterprise – our delivery system. 

For example, America at its foundation believes in the inherent dignity and value of every human being and the natural rights of people to be free to pursue their own dreams, serving within a government structure of their own devising that protects such natural rights as freedom of expression and religion and administers laws in a fair manner that treats all equally. Authoritarian, dictatorial, and tyrannical powers do not typically share these beliefs and instead seek power at the expense of natural human rights, administered through capricious edicts, imprisoning or killing those who oppose their will without constraint. Dictatorships bent on expansion have historically been stopped or deterred in their ambitions of conquest and dominance only in the end through a superior opposition force. As humankind’s greatest guarantor of human rights, America must therefore maintain superior economic, technological, and military strength. Capitalism is part of the recipe for our success, but it is much more than that. It requires an understanding of why we must innovate and win in economic as well as in philosophical, moral, and sociological domains. Businesses like NSI serve to strengthen America economically, technologically, militarily, and ethically, while striving to make all of our employees better people in the process.

Q. Can you introduce us to your services? What are their key features?

NSI’s service offerings can be broken down into the following six key business lines. 

Technology and Analytics – Applying emerging technologies involved in the extraction, transformation, and loading/visualization of data. Through this fast-growing sector, NSI is bringing advanced data analytics into the Department of Defense, including the application of AI and machine learning, to enable faster, more intelligent, and effective decision-making and resource deployment in the operation and sustainment of defense systems. Our Score Technology and Analytics Center (STAC) is continuously ingesting terabytes of data from over 1000 sources to service over six thousand users. We lead the Naval Aviation Enterprise (NAE) in the development of interactive digital dashboards and associated analytics for Sustainment Program Baselines/Naval Sustainment Baselines (SPB/NSP), the Reliability Control Board (RCB), Integrated Supply Chain Management (ISCM) tool, Supply Integrated Risk Tool (SIRT), Training Readiness Predictive Modeling Environment (TRPME), Maintenance Planning, Scheduling & Execution (MPS&E) tools, and many other projects and uses.

Sustainment Support – Supporting the formulation and implementation of weapon systems support strategies that maximize operational availability with increasing efficiency. NSI is the prime contractor providing sustainment support services to the F/A-18 Super Hornet, the EA-18G Growler, the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, the MH-60R Seahawk, the CH-53K King Stallion, and numerous other air platforms, weapon, and mission system programs.

International Programs – Supporting cooperative military programs with allied nations through the development, sale, and sustainment of U.S.-produced systems used by allied partners in our collective security interests. Through these Department of Defense programs, NSI supports dozens of foreign partners involving the spectrum of military services and defense systems.

Program Planning and Control – Supporting the cost, schedule, and performance analysis and managerial/administrative functions associated with the development, acquisition, and sustainment of highly sophisticated defense systems.

Engineering and Technical Support – Providing engineering and other technical expertise as required by our clients in the fielding and sustainment of defense systems.

Non-Standard Programs – Providing knowledge-based services to non-standard national security programs, such as rapid prototyping, cyber warfare, and counter-Unmanned Air Systems (UAS) developmental and testing efforts.

Q. Will Naval Systems be expanding, bringing on any new services that we should be aware of?

NSI will continue to grow, and so will our six primary service lines. Our customer/market reach is expanding across the military services (including space) into Homeland Security and the intelligence community. While organizational structures and corporate infrastructure will continue to evolve with this growth, our fundamental role will remain true to our mission statement, with an emphasis on advanced analytics, sharpened through the interaction between military veterans and new generations of technologists, engineers, analysts, and motivated managers.

Gadsden Edward “Ed” Rule | President & CEO

Gadsden Edward “Ed” Rule has over 40 years of leadership and management experience as a naval officer and a business leader. During his 20 years in the Navy, Mr. Rule served as a logistician in the Pacific and Atlantic fleets on multiple deployments and exercises. He qualified as Surface Warfare Supply Corps Officer, Helicopter Control Officer, and Scuba Diver. With a subspecialty in Financial Management, Mr. Rule served in a major platform Program Management Office and on the staffs of the Program Executive Officer for Tactical Aircraft Programs and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, and Acquisition. Mr. Rule earned a Bachelor’s in Business Management from William and Mary and his MBA from the University of Georgia, where he led his Business Plan team to a national championship. He also serves as President of the Board of Directors for Leadership Southern Maryland, as well as a member of the Board of The Patuxent Partnership, and AFCEA International, Southern Maryland Chapter. Through NSI, Mr. Rule contributes to numerous community events and non-profit organizations in Southern Maryland and in communities in which NSI is located throughout the U.S.

“Our mission is to protect and defend American interests and ideals. We do this by first cultivating a culture that understands and appreciates what these interests and ideals are. We then collectively apply our talents and expertise to maximum effect via a for-profit enterprise – our delivery system.”