NOAA today announced a new agreement with the Navy to jointly expand the development and operations of unmanned maritime systems in U.S. and international waters, noting that the partnership “will enable NOAA to leverage the Navy’s expertise, infrastructure, best practices and training to accelerate its science, service and stewardship mission.”
Assistant Sec. of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Deputy NOAA Admin. Tim Gallaudet said that the partnership will better position NOAA “to transition unmanned maritime technologies into operational platforms that will gather critical environmental data that will help grow the American Blue Economy.”
Commander for the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command John Okon said that the agreement “lays the foundation for collaboration, engagement, and coordination between NOAA and the U.S. Navy that our nation has never seen before,” adding that “[i]t will help us take advantage of each other’s strengths to advance each of our strategic and operational mission priorities.”
NOAA noted that the agreement formalizes the Commercial Engagement Through Ocean Technology Act of 2018’s directive that NOAA coordinate with the Navy on a range of functions and is a follow-up action to the November 2019 White House Summit on Partnerships and NOAA’s Unmanned Systems Strategy.
