U.S. Navy designates Rhode Island's NUWC as DoD spot for maritime innovation
NewsJune 21, 2018
NEWPORT, Rhode Island. The Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport announced a three-year agreement with the Undersea Technology Innovation Consortium (UTIC -- Middletown, Rhode Island) under which UTIC will develop and implement leading-edge undersea and maritime technologies for the U.S. Navy.
Under the terms of the agreement -- which UTIC estimates may provide a minimum of $20 million to be distributed annually to technology companies through the management firm Advanced Technology International -- the Navy is allowed to the wield Other Transaction Authority (OTA), a vehicle designed to make delivery of these technologies and related prototypes faster and more efficient than traditional federal acquisition requirements might normally permit.
Information from the Navy details that the award establishes Rhode Island as the Department of Defense (DoD) focal point for undersea and maritime technology innovation with a particular focus on undersea vehicles, sensors and sonar, payloads, communications, electronic warfare, and enabling technologies such as quantum computing and advanced materials.
The OTA agreement allows for extensions on options for up to 10 years in a bid to engage industry and academia in a broad range of prototyping activities.
