New Military AUV – HUGIN 1000
11 April 2003
On January 20th 2003 the Royal Norwegian Navy (RNoN) directed the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI) to deliver a military Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) prototype. The Navy intends to use the military AUV system in mine countermeasure (MCM) and rapid environmental assessment (REA) operations.
The delivery of a military AUV prototype is part of a long-term national plan to establish a forward autonomous MCM/REA capability to the Navy. The delivery is a successor to the very successful operations, test and evaluations performed by the use of the HUGIN I vehicle from one of the RNoN MCM vessels during the last two years.
Kongsberg Simrad will produce and deliver the vehicle by the end of 2003. By 2005 a full-performance capability (HUGIN Mine Reconnaissance System) will be transitioned to the Navy and will be subjected to operational evaluation by the Mine Warfare Flotilla. Thus, by taking delivery of a military AUV prototype now the Navy is speeding up their original schedule by establishing a preliminary capability from 2004.
The HUGIN 1000 vehicle is a new generation of HUGIN AUVs, and will have an endurance of 20 hours and a depth rating of 600 meters. Additionally, it will have a sensor suite capable of doing high-precision seabed route surveys, mine detection, classification and localization in forward positions to the MCM vessel. The system will be used in regular MCM and REA operations in national and international waters. The vehicle will be operated from the KNM Karmøy mine hunting vessel and will represent a significant force-multiplying element to the fleet of mine hunting vessels.
The HUGIN 1000 system is built on the technology and experience from the original HUGIN 1 and 2 (operating in the North Sea since 1997) and on the deepwater HUGIN 3000s. The new technology developments by FFI and Kongsberg Simrad comprise accurate navigation, sensors, sensor processing, power sources and autonomous control technology.
To date the HUGIN AUV systems have accumulated more than 25000 line kilometers and 4000 hours of commercial and research survey operations in the North Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and in the Brazilian, Mediterranean and West African waters. Surveys have been performed down to 2850 meters with endurances up to 2.5, days providing excellent data quality and operational efficiency.
