Forsvarsministeriets Materiel- og Indkøbsstyrelse, Denmark's defence acquisition and logistics organisation, recorded decisions on 24 August to place two separate direct contracts for the ship Norwind Helm: an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) system from Kongsberg Discovery AS, and a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) system from Saab UK Limited 12. Both notices invoke the Defence and Security Directive's crisis provision, which lets a buyer award directly instead of running a competition.
The split turns on who decides in the water. An AUV swims a planned route on its own, out of contact, and comes back with what it recorded. An ROV stays on a cable with a person watching a screen, deciding what the manipulator arm touches. Belgium bought the second behaviour on its own when it tendered for twelve tethered underwater ROVs on 29 July . Copenhagen has bought both behaviours, from two suppliers, for one hull.
What the notices withhold matters as much as what they award. Neither states a value, a quantity or a vehicle model, so the size of the buy cannot be read from the record at all. The support options can: 10 years on the AUV and 15 on the ROV. A buyer writing a 15-year tail on a tethered system is planning to keep a person in the loop for the working life of the ship.
