Kongsberg Maritime unveils Arctic Hunter, an uncrewed sensor ship to track submarines

Norwegian company Kongsberg Maritime has unveiled Arctic Hunter, an uncrewed surface vessel for anti-submarine surveillance in the North Atlantic and the Arctic, at an event in Oslo. It is offered for the Royal Navy's Type 92 programme for uncrewed sensor platforms, part of the navy's plan for a hybrid fleet.

Arctic Hunter adapts one of Kongsberg's existing civilian ship designs for Arctic waters and is meant to serve as a long-endurance sensor carrier rather than to attack submarines itself. It would carry Thales UK sonar and secure military communications to pass its data to other units, and could operate from a forward support point inside the Arctic Circle. Kongsberg says its uncrewed ship technology has approvals from the classification society DNV and the Norwegian Maritime Authority.

The ships would be built at civilian yards and then fitted with military equipment; Kongsberg works with shipbuilder Balaena Maritime, whose yard in Birkenhead would build them. The first ships could be ready by the end of the decade, and Kongsberg said it would sign technology agreements with Thales UK and Balaena Maritime at the Atlantic Future Forum in Oslo.