ManTech International Corporation (NASDAQ:MANT) announced today that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has formally accepted a new system that revolutionizes how NOAA produces its national suite of nautical charts. This system - Nautical Chart System II (NCS II) - represents a technological leap forward in creating the charts that mariners need to bring people and goods safely and efficiently through America’s oceans and coasts.

In 2004, NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey partnered with ManTech to develop an integrated production system for NOAA charts. ManTech engaged in requirements analysis and vendor trade study/ selection activities to identify the best alternative to meet NOAA needs for an integrated commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) solution. The ArcGIS 9.3 Nautical solution was selected, an offering from Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI), a known leader in geographic information system (GIS) solutions.

ManTech lead the integration activities and worked with NOAA and ESRI to enhance the functional capability of the COTS solution to align with the needs of the NOAA Hydrographic Office community. ManTech also lead efforts working with NOAA to develop and implement workflows and system interfaces required to integrate the COTS solution into a system capable of meeting NOAA Hydrographic Office production line requirements for efficient chart source data application, review and product publishing.

In February 2009, NOAA, ManTech and ESRI, reached a milestone by accepting the integrated solution based on ESRI’s ArcGIS Nautical 9.3 software that outputs charting data to multiple chart products from a single, streamlined database.

“The needs of the global navigation community are constantly changing, and our charts must adapt to those needs,” said Captain Steven Barnum, NOAA Office of Coast Survey director. “The system we developed with ManTech allows NOAA to continue being the provider of choice for accurate and timely navigation data.”

“The NOAA’s Nautical Chart System II is an innovative and cost-effective, enterprise-based, database management solution,” said George J. Pedersen, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, ManTech International Corporation. “The centralized nautical database will have the versatility to build different charts needed by the maritime community and the ability to exchange data seamlessly with the national geospatial database infrastructure and other government agencies.”

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency of the U.S.