What naval technology could be accelerated for Alexander the Great

How advanced a fleet could a modern naval historian build for Alexander the Great?

Probably improved quinqueremes with better navigation, lateen-style rigs, and workable incendiary weapons using period industry.

The panel proposes working within ancient materials and production rather than attempting an impossible technological leap. A fleet of quinqueremes could receive improved navigation practice, three-masted lateen-style rigs, and marines equipped with an experimentally reconstructed incendiary mixture. Catapults might deliver fire pots, although they would not necessarily become the fleet's main fighting system. The discussion highlights the importance of technologies that existing craftsmen can reproduce at scale. Naval advantage comes from combining feasible improvements in mobility, navigation, and weapons rather than introducing one miraculous device.