Boeing, Liquid Robotics to cooperate on maritime surveillance

Reuters
An underwater view of Liquid Robotics' SHARC, a wave-powered, autonomous ocean vehicle for persistent surveillance and communications. REUTERS/Liquid Robotics

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Boeing Co , the No. 2 supplier to the U.S. Defense Department, and Liquid Robotics, a top supplier of autonomous ocean vehicles, on Tuesday said they had signed a multiyear agreement to collaborate on products for maritime surveillance. The companies said the initial focus would be to develop solutions for anti-submarine warfare, maritime domain awareness and other defense equipment. The announcement comes a week after Chris Chadwick, chief executive officer of Boeing's defense division, called on weapon makers to be more innovative in meeting the Pentagon's requirements at a time when budgets are shrinking. Liquid Robotics makes Wave Glider ocean drones for ocean observation, data collection and monitoring. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)