Kongsberg Discovery has been awarded a contract with the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to rapidly deliver HUGIN Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) capabilities for the U.S. Military. The total contract could result in the Navy acquiring HUGIN Endurance and HUGIN Superior deep-water AUV systems. Kongsberg Discovery offers unmatched and proven Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) experience spanning over 30 years. Since the start, Kongsberg continues to develop and deliver the most successful and trusted large deep-water AUV systems for both commercial and government customers, with approximately 100 large HUGIN AUV systems delivered globally. HUGIN Endurance, one of the newest members in the HUGIN AUV family, is the biggest and most capable with its 39’ length, 47” diameter and 15-day endurance, enabling unsupervised shore-to-shore operations over a 1,200 nm range.
HUGIN Superior, the workhorse of KONGSBERG’s HUGIN AUV family and the deep-water industry standard, is a 22’ long, 35” diameter, and 70-hour endurance vehicle. Both vehicles are tightly integrated with a suite of KONGSBERG’s proven sensors providing IPoE (Intelligence Preparation of the Operational Environment), MCM (Mine Counter Measure), SBW (Seabed Warfare), and seafloor mapping capabilities at delivery. HUGIN Endurance expands these capabilities by providing capacity for further payload integration and range. KONGSBERG’s longstanding expertise in inertial navigation, autonomy in both UUVs and USVs, battery development, and the ability to fuse sensor and payload data seamlessly, enhances productivity and cost effectiveness for the operator.
Headquartered in Lynnwood, Washington, KONGSBERG Discovery’s U.S. team specializes in the delivery and integration of underwater acoustic systems, UUVs, and uncrewed surface systems, along with value-added engineering. Caitlin Hardy, President of KONGSBERG Discovery’s U.S. entity shared “Our team in the U.S. is proud to have a long-standing relationship with U.S. Government customers to enable acquisition of the best quality oceanographic data for the rapid creation of mission-critical information utilizing KONGSBERG Discovery’s acoustic products, considered gold standards for efficient seabed mapping and characterization. We are honoured to help DIU’s efforts in leveraging best-in-class commercially available equipment with our team of UUV experts supporting here in the United States.”
Martin Wien Fjell, President of Kongsberg Discovery, shared “With HUGIN Endurance we are pushing the boundaries for autonomous over-the-horizon AUV operations. We are excited to bring our many years of AUV experience in support of the U.S. Government and look forward to closely partnering with DIU and the U.S. Navy to support making their LDUUV program a reality. HUGIN’s reliability has created a legacy and our continued evolution has enabled us to provide the expertise needed on such a program.”
KONGSBERG has been supporting the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) in various forms since 1892 when the Krag–Jørgensen rifle was first selected for standard U.S. Army issue. Since then, KONGSBERG has continued to support the U.S. DoD with products such as: NASAMS (National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System), Remote Weapons System (RWS), Naval Strike Missile (NSM), and oceanographic mapping sonars. For more than 200 years, KONGSBERG has combined industrial experience with technology and creativity. Alone and in partnership with others, we have developed world-class products that have made the planet safer and more sustainable.
