Kongsberg Discovery has announced that the first production system of its long-range Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV), HUGIN Endurance, has completed factory acceptance testing.
Sea trials for the first production unit began in September 2023, and over the last months, the Kongsberg Discovery Uncrewed Platforms team has put HUGIN Endurance through its paces, verifying and refining all system capabilities. Sea trials culminated in March 2024 with a successful demonstration of the AUV capabilities to the customer.
President Martin Wien Fjell commented about this latest development: “I am very proud of the team’s hard work, and we are achieving yet another significant milestone in the history of our company. The project has been delivered in record time, and a huge thank you to everybody who has contributed to this success. This is also an excellent way to celebrate our first anniversary as Kongsberg Discovery. The customer is also pleased and genuinely impressed by the work accomplished by Kongsberg Discovery.”
Future of benefits
HUGIN Endurance, launched in 2021, is the largest member of Kongsberg Discovery’s HUGIN family of AUVs. The system can come equipped with a wide array of standard sensors. This includes a wide-swath high-resolution synthetic aperture sonar (HISAS 1032 Dual RX), multibeam echo sounder (EM 2040 MkII), sub-bottom profiling system, colour camera, laser profiler, magnetometer and environmental sensors collecting data such as conductivity, temperature, sound speed, methane, and CO2 and O2 concentration.
In addition, the 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 the shore, and with a full complement of batteries, it can spend up to 15 days at sea, travelling up to 2200 km (1200 nm).
The company highlights that the programme has attracted significant interest from both the defence and commercial sectors. The attraction has come from the UAV’s adaptability to carry any payload that a customer may need. “To achieve the first system delivery is a significant milestone, and we will continue to develop additional capabilities. HUGIN Endurance enters the market as a game-changer,” Fjell concludes.
