Kongsberg to Upgrade Norwegian Submarine Combat Systems
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Submarine combat systems, which integrate information from the boats sensors and control weapons firing, is a specialized field, with a limited number of competitors around the world. Outside of Russia, Lockheed Martin and Thales are well known. Norway’s Kongsberg is also a player, known to equip TKMS’ U212A submarines in Italy and Germany, and Norway’s U210/Ula Class. The latter is a small (1,150t submerged) boat, designed especially for coastal operations. Norway’s unique fleet of 6 boats were commissioned between 1989 – 1992, and have undergone a number of upgrades to keep them current.
The most recent effort is a NOK 200 million (about $33 million) modernization of the combat system…
Under this latest modernization, announced in January 2012, the Ula Class will receive an upgrade from Kongsberg’s MSI-90U to the Mk2 version. Kongsberg sees it as a continuation of on-going contracts for the class’ new Passive Sonar System and integrated Submarine Navigation System. They also see the upgrade as a reference contract, and the term’s exact meaning to the firm was explained when their MSI-91 was picked for Italy’s U212A. EVP Nils-Oddvar Hagen explained:
“KONGSBERG has more than 35 years’ experience of delivering command and weapon control systems to Norwegian, German and Italian submarines… a campaign conducted over several years to strengthen our position as a supplier of complete, integrated sonar and command and weapon control systems for submarines. The world market includes a rather significant number of submarines that are or soon will be in need of life extension programmes. In this context, this is yet another valuable reference contract.”
That history is now about 40 years old, beginning with the MSI-70U system aboard Norway’s long-retired Kobben Class. Note that Indonesia’s KRI Nanggala U209 boat, which were delivered in the early 1980s, currently serves with the new MSI-90U Mk2, following a refit.
