HUGIN Superior
Kongsberg's long-range AUV; European centrepiece of the 2026 AUKUS Pillar II seabed-warfare bid.
HUGIN Superior, Kongsberg's long-range underwater drone, became the sensor platform in Europe's AUKUS Pillar II counter-bid on 8 June 2026, while Kongsberg was separately picked on 15 July to help design a US Navy uncrewed submarine.
Last refreshed: 24 July 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Is HUGIN Superior capable enough to displace US-built vehicles from AUKUS Pillar II?
Timeline for HUGIN Superior
Mentioned in: Kongsberg to design a US Navy drone sub
Autonomous Systems: Land & SeaMentioned in: Kongsberg lands Fugro and DOF deals
Autonomous Systems: Land & SeaKongsberg sells subsea guard in secret
Autonomous Systems: Land & SeaProposed as the AUV element of the combined undersea-warfare system
Autonomous Systems: Land & Sea: Europe bids for the AUKUS seabedBackground
HUGIN Superior is the most capable variant in Kongsberg's HUGIN family of long-range autonomous underwater vehicles, which has accumulated qualification across 14 allied naval programmes since 2003. It extends the baseline HUGIN 1000 in endurance, sensor capacity and operational depth, and navigates pre-programmed missions without a surface umbilical, taking acoustic position updates from surface or subsurface transponders.
Paired with the HISAS 1032 synthetic-aperture sonar, it produces high-resolution seabed imagery at survey speeds useful for both mine-hunting and seabed-infrastructure monitoring, capability that underpins the standing NATO requirement for surveillance of the Greenland-Iceland-UK gap, the corridor Russian submarines use to reach the Atlantic.
That dual civilian-military utility, sonar mapping and mine countermeasures on one hand, subsea infrastructure protection on the other, is what has made Kongsberg's AUV family attractive across both defence procurement and commercial offshore-protection contracts.
HUGIN Superior anchors Europe's AUKUS bid
Kongsberg named HUGIN Superior the sensor platform in its joint bid with DRASS for AUKUS Pillar II procurement, unveiled at ILA Berlin on 8 June 2026 alongside the HISAS 1032 sonar and the DG-900 host submarine, positioned as Europe's counter-offer to the US-built vehicles named in AUKUS's 30 May Signature Project.
The vehicle's commercial momentum has continued regardless of that bid's outcome: on 15 July the US Defense Innovation Unit selected Kongsberg Discovery to help design a US Navy uncrewed submarine, the same fortnight Kongsberg signed a Fugro supplier deal and a DOF order, showing HUGIN selling into defence and commercial markets on both sides of the AUKUS divide.
What makes the HUGIN Superior AUV different from other underwater drones?
How does HUGIN Superior fit into the AUKUS Pillar II bid?
Can HUGIN Superior operate in Arctic conditions for NATO surveillance?
Did the US Navy hire Kongsberg to design an underwater drone?
