NEW YORK (AP) -- L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. said Monday its MariPro division received a $76.6 million contract from the University of Washington to supply part of an ocean observation system.

The defense contractor said it will design, build and install the regional scale nodes as part of the National Science Foundation's Ocean Observatories Initiative.

The cabled ocean observing system will be located on the Juan de Fuca Plate off the Washington and Oregon coasts.

The regional scale node system is a vast network of sensors and mobile robots connected by nearly 800 kilometers (500 miles) of fiber optic cable. Data from the sensors will be available through the Internet to researchers, public policy makers and educational and public engagement programs, L-3 said.

Shares of L-3 rose $1.37, or 1.8 percent, to $79.02 in morning trading.