Kongsberg Discovery has Completed In-water Demo of HUGIN Autonomous Underwater Vehicle for U.S. navy

Kongsberg Discovery has completed in-water demonstrations of the HUGIN autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) within the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and U.S. Navy's assessment of large-diameter unmanned underwater vehicle (LDUUV) systems

In January of this year, Kongsberg Discovery secured a contract to supply HUGIN AUVs to the U.S. Military. In April, a U.S. delegation visited Horten, Norway for an extensive week-long demonstration.

Topics included operations, design philosophy, systems approach, sensors, batteries, navigation, autonomy, manufacturing, physical vehicle portfolio, and hands-on training with our user interfaces.

"I'm delighted with the visit and demonstrations for the DIU and U.S. Navy team. The visitors were provided a unique opportunity to both see in-water capabilities and shoreside sessions to introduce Kongsberg’s experience in the deep water AUV space. Hosting the DIU and U.S. Navy was a privilege, and we look forward to their feedback as we continue our partnership." said Espen Henriksen, Executive Vice President Uncrewed Platforms Division.

Kongsberg produces three models within the LDUUV category defined by the U.S. Navy, with the HUGIN Endurance being the newest and most capable. This model excels in long-duration missions, offering enhanced redundancy, a new autonomous mission management system, superior situational awareness, and adaptability to varying water density conditions.

Vice President of Sales, Rich Patterson, Uncrewed Platforms Division explains that the market for AUV’s has changed over the last few years.

"In the early years, our user base was primarily in the commercial sector. However, in recent years, we've observed a shift towards increasing demand from the defense space. This is due to the maturity of our AUV technology and its demonstrated extremely high reliability." he noted.

Twelve navies are using HUGIN in real-world missions such as Intelligence Preparation of the Operational Environment (IPoE), Mine Counter Measure (MCM), Subsea and Seabed Warfare (SSW), and seafloor mapping operations.

“We are excited to bring our many years of AUV experience in support of the U.S. military and look forward to closely partnering with DIU and the U.S. Navy to support making their LDUUV program a reality,” Mr. Patterson continued.