Aker Solutions, Kongsberg Discovery Partner on Offshore Drone Detection

Aker Solutions and Kongsberg Discovery have teamed up to deploy a drone detection system aimed at protecting offshore infrastructure, beginning with a demonstrator at Aker Solutions’ site in Stavanger.

The system uses Kongsberg’s Drone Detection Radar and is part of a broader plan to roll out surveillance technologies across the North Sea to bolster situational awareness around energy assets and transit lanes.

Kongsberg Discovery develops navigation, acoustic and marine robotics systems, including autonomous underwater and surface vehicles, and offers products such as Drone Detection Radar, Mobile Broadband Radio, camera clusters and subsea acoustic monitoring tools.

Aker Solutions, which provides integrated low-carbon oil and gas solutions and supports renewables such as offshore wind, hydrogen and carbon capture, will act as system integrator, with Kongsberg as sub-supplier.

Later phases of the program include offshore deployment, integration with onshore control centers, installation on supply vessels, and eventual rollout to other countries.

The demonstrator system will be used for joint customer presentations before phased expansion across rigs, vessels and other offshore sites.

“This collaboration marks the beginning of a scalable solution to enhance situational awareness at critical infrastructure, offshore and onshore. By combining Kongsberg Discovery’s technology expertise with Aker Solutions’ integration and domain knowledge, we are setting a new standard for safety and security at sea,” said Joachim Hovland, Head of Drones and Robotics at Aker Solutions.

“There have been many observations of drones close to critical infrastructure in the last couple of years. Few are properly documented. This cooperation between Aker Solutions and Kongsberg Discovery will provide the end customer with proper tools to monitor, record and document illegal, as well as legal, UAV activity around installations,” added Cato Giil Eliassen, Vice President Infrastructure at Kongsberg Discovery.