Successful AUV Demonstrations for the US Navy & DIU

A delegation from the U.S. came to Horten in Norway for a comprehensive week-long demonstration of Kongsberg Discovery’s HUGIN Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV), showcasing the company’s proven technology developed over the last 30 years.

In January, Kongsberg Discovery was awarded a contract with the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to rapidly deliver Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) capabilities for the U.S. Military. 

Kongsberg produces three models that fall into the Large Diameter Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (LDUUV) category as defined by U.S. Navy — the newest and most capable of which is HUGIN Endurance. 

While the new AUV incorporates many of the industry-leading capabilities found in previous HUGIN vehicles, to enable long-term unsupported missions new advancements had to be made. These include greater redundancy, a new autonomous mission management system, greater situational awareness, and the ability to deal with a wide range of varying water density. 

The HUGIN family of AUVs include multiple contenders for the LDUUV market. Of these, HUGIN Endurance, launched in 2021, is the largest member of Kongsberg Discovery’s HUGIN family of AUVs. 

In addition to Kongsberg’s standard compliment of mapping sensors, this vehicle includes a large configurable volume that can be used to carry a mixture of batteries and custom payloads as needed.  The system is designed to allow autonomous operations directly from shore, and with a full complement of batteries, it can spend up to 15 days at sea, traveling up to 2200 km (1200 nautical miles).

As global geopolitical situations change, so too does the demand for these types of technology in the defense sector. Today there are 12 navies using HUGIN in real world missions such as IPoE (Intelligence Preparation of the Operational Environment), MCM (Mine Counter Measure), SSW (Subsea and Seabed Warfare), and seafloor mapping operations. 

Topics at the demonstration included operations, design philosophy, systems approach, sensors, batteries, navigation, autonomy, manufacturing, physical vehicle portfolio, and hands-on familiarization of our user interfaces.

Vice President of Sales, Rich Patterson, Uncrewed Platforms Division explained that the market for AUV’s has changed over the last few years; “Our HUGIN AUVs were always designed for dual use purposes. In the early years of the program our user base tended to be primarily in the commercial market. 

“In the last few years, we have seen a shift in the marketplace with increasing demand from the defense space as our AUV technology became more mature and were demonstrated to have extremely high reliability.”

Espen Henriksen, Executive Vice President Uncrewed Platforms Division, said; “I am extremely pleased with the visit and demonstrations we held for the team sent by DIU and the U.S. Navy. 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. 

“It was terrific to have the DIU and U.S. Navy team visit and allow us to show off our own amazing team and world renowned HUGIN AUVs. We are honored to be a part of the U.S. Navy’s LDUUV effort and are excited to receive additional feedback.”