Boeing, Liquid Robotics to cooperate on maritime surveillance

[September 23, 2014]  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Boeing Co <BA.N>, 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)

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