Kongsberg Geospatial: MARITIME SOLUTIONS

Powering the Fleet Behind the Scenes

Serving the RCN Across the Spectrum

BY JAMES CARELESS

Founded in 1814, Kongsberg is an international technology group of companies headquartered in Norway. This company delivers advanced, sustainable and reliable solutions that contribute to safe and efficient complex operations under extreme conditions. Today, Kongsberg has nearly 15,000 employees in 40 countries covering four distinct business areas: Defence & Aerospace, Maritime, Digital, and Discovery.

“Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace has been represented in Canada by Kongsberg Geospatial in Ottawa since 2012 and has always worked collaboratively alongside the subsidiaries of our other business areas,” explained Jordan Freed, Kongsberg Geospatial‘s President and Managing Director. He is responsible for leading Kongsberg’s Defence & Aerospace strategy in Canada. “While each of our Canadian businesses remain independent of each other, we’re working together to provide a comprehensive strategy with a common voice and simplified message to the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and the Canadian government.”

            Kongsberg has over 160 employees in Canada from coast to coast. Mission-critical geospatial software development is based in Ottawa, while underwater ocean instrumentation manufacturing is located in Port Coquitlam, BC. “Meanwhile, our bridge and engine room training simulators can be found at naval academies across the country,” Freed noted. “We’re also involved in developing Kongsberg’s defence solutions out of Norway and can offer Canada access to world-class solutions for land, sea, air, and space, all of which can be contracted and supported locally.”

READ: NordSpace and Kongsberg Geospatial to Advance Canada’s Responsive Space Launch Goals

SUPPORTING THE NSS & RCN

Kongsberg is a significant contributor to Canada’s National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS), providing hardware, design and integration services across multiple platforms. For instance, it has equipped the NSS’s Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) and Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships (AOPS) with steering gear, stabilizers, and propulsion systems. The CCG’s AOPS are also equipped with Kongsberg’s underwater electronic seabed mapping, acoustics, and sonar systems.

Furthermore, Kongsberg is supplying the NSS’s RCN River-class destroyers with steering gear, stabilizers, propulsion systems, and Replenishment at Sea (RAS) systems. “The River-class destroyer is a great example of a platform with significant Kongsberg content, including technology developed in Canada and in Norway,” said Freed. “Kongsberg Geospatial in Ottawa is responsible for TerraLens SDK, a map engine that supports global military customers, including Tier 1 contractors supporting Canadian defence programs. TerraLens will power the map engine for the AEGIS Combat Management System planned for the future River-class destroyers and support unmanned systems.” (Kongsberg is also participating in the RCN’s Halifax-class Life Extension program by providing propulsion and steering gear modernization for these ships.)

The River-class destroyer will be armed with Kongsberg’s Naval Strike Missile (NSM), NATO’s anti-ship and land target missile of choice, already selected by 14 allied navies. “Along with the Joint Strike Missile (JSM), the NSM is part of a fifth generation, multi-domain, multi-platform, long-range precision strike missile for use against land and sea targets,” Freed said. “The NSM will be integrated with AEGIS through a Kongsberg Weapons Control Application that is built on TerraLens.”

            “For over 30 years, the RCN has used our Transport Canada-approved bridge and engine room simulators to provide scalable, realistic training for safety and readiness,” he added. “These simulators will help the RCN prepare for the introduction and integration of the River-class destroyers into the fleet.”

Kongsberg is also playing a significant role in the CCG’s polar icebreakers being built under the NSS, providing ship design engineering; vessel-wide systems design, integration, and installation; integrated bridge design; electrical design and integration; ice-class propulsion systems: deck machinery, winches and cranes; the design and integration of electronic subsea acoustics, and sonar systems.

AUTONOMOUS UNDERWATER VEHICLES

Kongsberg is also involved with the NSS’ Autonomous Launch and Recovery 11-metre vessel design prototype, by supplying water jets, launch and recovery systems for autonomous underwater vehicles, and autonomous vessel controls.

Looking ahead to upcoming RCN priorities, Kongsberg offers solutions with modular, scalable architecture for integrating subsea sensors, AUVs (autonomous underwater vehicles), and C2 (command and control) systems. These include real-time situational awareness and underwater threat detection, all built upon open standards for interoperability and future growth. This technology defends critical infrastructure and enhances maritime domain awareness.

A prime example is Kongsberg’s HUGIN Superior, a proven AUV system actively used by both commercial and military customers since 2019. This AUV provides immediate operational capability for missions such as Subsea and Seabed Warfare (SSW), Intelligence Preparation of the Operational Environment (IPoE), Mine Countermeasures (MCM), and the inspection of critical undersea infrastructure with no required modifications.

            The HUGIN Superior AUV recently passed acceptance testing by the U.S. Navy, with the first such AUV already delivered to this client. “HUGIN Superior would be an ideal solution for the Canadian Arctic,” said Freed. “Kongsberg has also just opened a maritime test bed in Norway for protecting critical infrastructure that demonstrates our foundation for partnering with the RCN to address the Canadian Arctic. Kongsberg Geospatial software, which was developed in Ottawa, for situational awareness is integrated in the test bed.”

SOLUTIONS FOR THE RCAF
& CANADIAN ARMY

The points above only outline what Kongsberg is doing for the RCN. The company also has a long-standing relationship with the Canadian Army, for whom it has provided over 500 Protector Remote Weapons Stations (RWS). The most fielded RWS globally, the combat-proven Protector enables engagement from armored protection and is configurable for multiple weapons such as machine guns and anti-tank missiles.

            For the RCAF, Kongsberg is ready to provide the Joint Strike Missile (JSM). It is the only missile that fits in the F35A’s internal weapons bay.

            One thing is certain: “With Canada’s deep roots in and tight connection to Norway, a fellow Arctic nation and founding member of NATO, Kongsberg is committed to Canadian sovereignty,” Jordan Freed concluded. ”As such, Kongsberg will continue to grow our presence in Canada and collaborate with DND to best define how we can be a strategic partner to the Army, Navy, Coast Guard and Air Force. Kongsberg has been in Canada for over 40 years and looks forward to supporting the country for the next 40, combining proven technology from Norway with made-in-Canada solutions that will be sustained and supported locally.”

James Careless is CDR’s Ottawa Bureau Chief