Ocean Power Technologies Acting CEO Tracy Pagliara and Jason Weed – Chief Operating Officer joined Steve Darling from Proactive to provide an update on the company's growing sales opportunities, defense-sector momentum, and expanding portfolio of autonomous maritime technologies. Pagliara revealed that Ocean Power Technologies' qualified sales pipeline has now exceeded $150 million, while its current backlog stands at approximately $20 million. She described the company as being on the verge of a significant growth phase as it works to convert existing opportunities into contracts and revenue. "We are on the verge of breaking out," Pagliara said, pointing to a growing number of large opportunities currently under evaluation. The company continues to focus on converting its backlog into revenue while simultaneously replenishing and expanding its pipeline through new customer engagements. A major contributor to that momentum has been OPT's participation in high-profile military and defense exercises. Weed highlighted the company's involvement in REPMUS 2026, one of NATO's largest maritime autonomous systems exercises, where Ocean Power Technologies worked directly with U.S. Navy and Marine Corps personnel. During the exercise, all three classes of the company's uncrewed surface vehicles—including its 8-foot, 16-foot, and 22-foot platforms—were successfully integrated into the Navy's common control architecture. The vessels were deployed across a range of operational scenarios, including mine countermeasure operations, intelligence gathering, surveillance, reconnaissance, and maritime security missions. Weed noted that the U.S. Navy conducted a formal evaluation of the platforms during the exercise, providing an important opportunity for the company to demonstrate the interoperability and operational effectiveness of its systems in a real-world multinational environment. Beyond NATO operations, Ocean Power Technologies recently completed another significant government evaluation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at the agency's Field Research Facility in Duck, North Carolina. The three-day assessment tested the company's autonomous surface vehicles and sensor technologies in challenging surf-zone environments characterized by breaking waves, currents, and difficult coastal conditions. Weed said the demonstration followed extensive preparation and testing activities conducted off the California coast before deployment to the East Coast evaluation site. The Army Corps assessment focused on capabilities such as bathymetric mapping, submerged hazard detection, and coastal monitoring—applications that are increasingly important for both civil infrastructure projects and military operations. In addition to its growing maritime drone business, Pagliara highlighted continued opportunities for the company's PowerBuoy platform. Earlier this year, Ocean Power Technologies secured a contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that resulted in the deployment of four PowerBuoys supporting U.S. Coast Guard operations. #proactiveinvestors #oceanpowertechnologiesinc #nyseamerican #optt #DefenseTech #MaritimeTechnology #NATO #USNavy #AutonomousSystems #USVs #MilitaryTechnology #CoastGuard #PowerBuoy #OceanTech #ISR #NationalSecurity #SteveDarling