(1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 
the Director of the National Science Foundation. 
(2) OCEANOGRAPHIC RESEARCH VESSEL.—The 
term ‘‘oceanographic research vessel’’ has the mean-
ing given the term in section 2101 of title 46, 
United States Code. 
(3) U.S. ACADEMIC
RESEARCH
FLEET.—The 
term ‘‘U.S Academic Research Fleet’’ means the 
United States-flagged vessels that— 
(A) have been accepted into, and are ac-
tively participants administered within, the Uni-
versity-National Oceanographic Laboratory Sys-
tem; 
(B) are operated as oceanographic research 
vessels by research universities and laboratories; 
(C) receive funding from the National 
Science Foundation; and 
(D) have achieved designation as a mem-
ber vessel of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet 
through the standard U.S. Academic Research 
Fleet evaluation process. 
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SEC. 3. PLAN TO IMPROVE CYBERSECURITY AND TELE-
COMMUNICATIONS OF U.S. ACADEMIC RE-
SEARCH FLEET. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Director , in con-
sultation with other Federal agency owners heads of other 
Federal agencies and the head of any university or labora-
tory that owns or operates a vessel of the U.S. Academic 
Research Fleet, shall submit to the Committee on Com-
merce, Science, and Transportation of the U.S. Senate 
and the Committee on Space, Science, and Technology of 
the U.S. House of Representatives a plan to improve the 
cybersecurity and telecommunications of the Academic Re-
search Fleet. 
(b) ELEMENTS.—The plan required by subsection (a) 
shall include— 
(1) an assessment of the telecommunications 
and networking needs of the U.S. Academic Re-
search Fleet, consistent with the typical scientific 
mission of each vessel; 
(2) in accordance with guidance issued by the 
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency 
and the National Institute for Standards and Tech-
nology, an assessment of cybersecurity needs appro-
priate for— 
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(A) the ownership of vessels within the 
U.S. Academic Research Fleet; and 
(B) the typical research functions and top-
ics of such vessels; 
(3) an assessment of the costs necessary to 
meet the needs described in paragraphs (1) and (2), 
including— 
(A) any necessary equipment, such as sat-
ellite 
communications 
equipment, 
software, 
high-performance computing clusters shipboard 
and shoreside, or enterprise hardware; and 
(B) estimated personnel costs in excess of 
current expenditures, including any necessary 
training, support, or logistics; 
(4) an assessment of the time required to im-
plement any upgrades required to meet the needs 
described in paragraphs (1) and (2) under varying 
budgets and funding scenarios; 
(5) a proposal for the adoption of common solu-
tions or consortial licensing agreements, or by cen-
tralizing elements of fleet cybersecurity, tele-
communications, or data management at a single fa-
cility; and 
(6) in consultation with any non-Federal owners 
of a vessel of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet, a 
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spending plan for the National Science Foundation, 
the Office of Naval Research, non-Federal owners of 
vessels of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet, users 
of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet, or any com-
bination thereof, to provide funding to cover the 
costs described in paragraph (3). 
(c) CONSIDERATIONS.—The Director in preparing 
the plan required by subsection (a), shall consider the fol-
lowing— 
(1) the network capabilities, including speed 
and bandwidth targets, necessary to meet the sci-
entific mission needs of each class of vessel within 
the U.S. Academic Research Fleet for such purposes 
as— 
(A) executing the critical functions and 
communications of each vessel; 
(B) providing network access for the 
health and well-being of deployed personnel, in-
cluding communications to conduct telemedicine 
(including mental health care), counseling, 
interviews with crisis response providers, and 
other remote individual care and services; 
(C) as necessary to meet operations, 
uploading any scientific data to a shoreside 
server, including the copying of data off ship 
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for disaster recovery or risk mitigation pur-
poses; 
(D) as appropriate, conducting real-time 
streaming to enable shore-based observers to 
participate in ship-based maintenance or re-
search activities; 
(E) real-time coordinated viewing of— 
(i) scientific instrumentation so that it 
is possible to conduct scientific surveys and 
seafloor mapping with fully remote subject 
matter experts; and 
(ii) critical operational technology by 
manufacturers and vendors so that it is 
possible to carry out maintenance and re-
pairs to systems with limited expertise on 
each vessel, with fully remote subject-mat-
ter experts advising; and 
(F) as appropriate, enabling video commu-
nications to allow improved outreach to, and 
other educational services for, K–12 students, 
including occasional remote classroom teaching 
for instructors at sea to improve oceanographic 
access for students; and 
(2) In consultation with the Director of the Cy-
bersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the 
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