Department of Defense Invests to Enhance and Build Further Underwater Inspection Systems

Coda Octopus Group, Inc., a world leader in underwater terrorism prevention, said today it had received notification of an additional $1.53 million from the Department of Defense (DoD) Technical Support Working Group (TSWG) to develop certain technological enhancements to its Underwater Inspection System (UIS) that enables rapid underwater searches in the nation's ports and waterways by the US Coast Guard and other security organizations concerned with maritime domain awareness.

This additional funding follows the successful completion of the initial delivery based on the contract signed in July 2007 between Coda Octopus and TSWG. In the first round, the Company produced four UIS for the US Coast Guard within a six month timeframe. This additional funding takes the total value utilized under the contract signed in July 2007 to $4.2 million.

If fully funded, the contract could expand to a total of $8.27 million and would require the Company to deliver a total of ten UIS systems. In addition, the Company would develop a number of significant enhancements which could include next-generation software enabling port authorities to automatically determine significant changes between one underwater search and the next. This time saving improvement to maritime domain awareness would provide the tools to detect underwater IEDs or hazardous devices that have been placed in critical areas between searches.

The TSWG is the U.S. national forum that identifies, prioritizes, and coordinates interagency and international research and development (R&D) requirements for combating terrorism. The TSWG rapidly develops technologies and equipment to meet the high priority needs of the combating terrorism community, and addresses joint international operational requirements through cooperative R&D with major allies.