MIDDLETOWN – The Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Division Newport signed a three-year Other Transaction agreement with the Undersea Technology Innovation Consortium for a multimillion dollar agreement, UTIC announced Monday.
The agreement can be extended for up to 10 years. It was estimated that the agreement will award UTIC a minimum of $20 million per year.
OT agreements are legally binding instruments used to engage industry and academia for a broad range of prototyping activities, according to UTIC.
The OT that NUWC and UTIC signed specifically focuses on undersea vehicles, sensors and sonars, payloads, communications, electronic warfare and applicable enabling technologies such as quantum computing and advanced materials.
Any commercial, nonprofit or academic institution in the consortium is eligible to receive an OT award, minimizing barriers for non-traditional companies to participate in government projects.
“This award is excellent news for UTIC and NUWC, as it will lead to innovative and potentially groundbreaking research in the field of undersea warfare operations,” said U.s. Sen. Jack F. Reed.
Prototypes developed through an OT may include physical or virtual models to evaluate the technical or manufacturing feasibility or military utility of technology, process, concept or system.
UTIC was represented by its management firm, Advanced Technology International.
“ATI is proud to partner with the Undersea Technology Innovation Consortium. We look forward to supporting the development of innovative undersea and maritime technology prototypes to enhance the effectiveness of our service members and the security of our nation,” stated Chris Van Metre, CEO and president of ATI.
As part of the OT agreement process, the government selects one or more awardees in the consortium and delivers funding to the selected consortium members through the management firm, in this case ATI. The government may also propose new relationships between consortium members without re-soliciting white papers or proposals from the entire consortium.
“UTIC is honored to be the consortium for the OT Agreement for undersea and maritime innovative technology. We have partnered with ATI, a pioneer in Other Transaction consortium management. As a team UTIC and ATI will manage a strong and innovative technology consortium for DoD’s undersea and maritime technology needs. We welcome companies with innovative technology to join our consortium team,” said Molly Donohue Magee, UTIC executive director, in a statement.
Magee told PBN that she expects the agreement to create jobs at participating UTIC organizations, but that there is no specific job-creation estimate available at this time.
Chris Bergenheim is the PBN web editor.
