Mr. Russell Kupferer is currently performing the duties of Deputy Director for Naval Warfare for the Director, Operational Test and Evaluation, starting 10 January 2025. In this capacity, he is directly responsible for the adequacy of operational test (OT) and evaluation for naval warfare systems, including submarines, warships, unmanned vehicles, missiles and torpedoes, within the Department of Defense. His responsibilities include oversight for the conduct of major weapons system assessments and reporting to the Secretary of Defense and Congress.
Mr. Kupferer graduated from Webb Institute in June of 1999 with a dual bachelor’s degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. Upon graduation, he started work as a structural engineer at Advanced Marine Enterprises, but soon transitioned into their survivability department to support a diverse array of NAVSEA contracts. Over two decades in employment of what became a division of CACI, Mr. Kupferer worked his way up to take over as head of the survivability department and supported work on nearly every ship program in the Navy.
Since joining DOT&E in September 2018, Mr. Kupferer has participated in numerous test events across the country, including serving as the DOT&E lead aboard USS GERALD R. FORD for Full Ship Shock Trials in the summer of 2021, which resulted in a Special Achievement award from the International Test & Evaluation Association in 2022. Mr. Kupferer has also spearheaded the development of Failure and Recoverability Mode (FARM) testing as a way of gathering system survivability information, with first application aboard USS MICHAEL MONSOOR (DDG 1001) in April 2022. Mr. Kupferer has worked closely with the Joint Live Fire office to recommend and support new survivability testing utilizing reusable test assets and has developed techniques to include analysis of full spectrum survivability and lethality in accordance with the 2022 NDAA