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 Limited12. 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.
