PUBLISHER: The Business Research Company | PRODUCT CODE: 2111456
PUBLISHER: The Business Research Company | PRODUCT CODE: 2111456
The Kongsberg sounder uncrewed surface vessel (USV) is an autonomous or remotely operated marine vessel equipped with advanced navigation, sonar, and sensor technologies to operate effectively in coastal, harbor, and offshore environments. The primary purpose of the vessel is to enable safer, more cost-effective, and highly accurate maritime operations and commercial survey activities.
The primary types of Kongsberg Sounder uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) include Sounder uncrewed surface vessels with gondola, Sounder uncrewed surface vessels without gondola, multi-purpose uncrewed surface vessels, hydro-acoustic optimized uncrewed surface vessels, and autonomous surface vehicles. Sounder uncrewed surface vessels with gondola refer to autonomous marine survey platforms equipped with a gondola structure for carrying hydrographic and acoustic sensing equipment. These vessels are categorized by performance attributes including high-endurance uncrewed surface vessels, medium-endurance uncrewed surface vessels, high-speed survey uncrewed surface vessels, deep-water operation-capable uncrewed surface vessels, and precision hydrographic data collection uncrewed surface vessels, and they are deployed through containerized deployment, ship-based deployment, shore-based deployment, rapid field deployment, and offshore deployment. The key applications include hydrographic survey, environmental monitoring, offshore oil and gas, defense and security, and others, while the end users include commercial organizations, government agencies, defense organizations, research institutes, and others.
Tariffs are influencing the Kongsberg Sounder uncrewed surface vessel (USV) market by increasing the cost of imported sonar systems, navigation equipment, marine sensors, communication technologies, and advanced electronic components required for vessel manufacturing and deployment. This is raising procurement and operational costs for commercial, government, defense, and research users, particularly affecting hydrographic survey, environmental monitoring, and offshore oil and gas application segments that rely on globally sourced technologies. North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific are among the most affected regions due to their significant maritime operations and international marine equipment supply chains. However, tariffs are also encouraging local manufacturing of marine technologies, regional supplier diversification, and increased investment in domestic maritime innovation ecosystems, strengthening long-term market resilience.
The kongsberg sounder uncrewed surface vessel (USV) market size has grown rapidly in recent years. It will grow from $1 billion in 2025 to $1.15 billion in 2026 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.9%. The growth in the historic period can be attributed to growing demand for hydrographic mapping activities, increasing offshore oil and gas exploration projects, rising investments in maritime defense modernization, expansion of coastal and port infrastructure development, growing need for cost efficient marine survey operations.
The kongsberg sounder uncrewed surface vessel (USV) market size is expected to see rapidly grown in the next few years. It will grow to $2.02 billion in 2030 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.2%. The growth in the forecast period can be attributed to increasing adoption of autonomous maritime survey technologies, growing demand for real time oceanographic data collection, rising investments in smart maritime infrastructure projects, expansion of offshore renewable energy developments, increasing focus on unmanned maritime operations for safety enhancement. Major trends in the forecast period include increasing adoption of autonomous hydrographic survey platforms for marine data collection, growing deployment of multi-purpose uncrewed surface vessels across offshore operations, rising demand for high-precision hydro-acoustic survey capabilities, expanding use of remotely operated vessels for hazardous maritime environments, increasing integration of modular sensor payloads for diverse marine survey applications.
The growing offshore oil and gas exploration activities are expected to propel the growth of the Kongsberg Sounder uncrewed surface vessel (USV) market going forward. Offshore oil and gas exploration activities involve the identification and extraction of petroleum resources beneath the seabed through offshore drilling and production operations. The increase in offshore oil and gas exploration activities is driven by rising energy demand, which is encouraging energy companies to investigate untapped hydrocarbon reserves in deepwater and ultra-deepwater regions. Kongsberg Sounder uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) contribute to offshore exploration operations by providing autonomous, high-accuracy survey capabilities, making them well-suited for complex marine environments. For instance, in March 2025, according to the Global Energy Monitor, a US-based nonprofit organization, nineteen offshore projects reached first oil or gas production in 2024, representing 71% of the total reserves brought online during the year, equivalent to 6.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent (bboe). Therefore, the growing offshore oil and gas exploration activities are driving the growth of the Kongsberg Sounder uncrewed surface vessel (USV) market.
The growing expansion of offshore wind energy projects is expected to propel the growth of the Kongsberg Sounder uncrewed surface vessel (USV) market going forward. Offshore wind energy projects involve the construction and deployment of wind-powered electricity generation systems in marine environments using fixed-bottom or floating turbine installations connected through subsea infrastructure. The expansion of offshore wind energy projects is mainly driven by increasing investments in renewable energy generation, growing government decarbonization initiatives, and the global shift toward sustainable energy sources. Kongsberg Sounder uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) support offshore wind development by facilitating autonomous hydrographic surveys, seabed mapping, environmental monitoring, and inspection activities with greater efficiency and lower operational risks in offshore settings. For instance, in April 2026, according to the Global Wind Energy Council, a Portugal-based international trade association, the global wind energy industry added a record 9.3 gigawatts (GW) of new offshore wind capacity, an increase of 16% compared to the previous year. Therefore, the growing expansion of offshore wind energy projects is driving the growth of the Kongsberg Sounder uncrewed surface vessel (USV) market.
In March 2026, Kongsberg Discovery AS, a Norway-based technology company that manufactures and supplies the Kongsberg Sounder USV, entered into a partnership with Fugro N.V. to support offshore survey operations and USV-based marine data collection activities. Through this collaboration, Kongsberg Discovery AS aims to enhance the integration of its hydroacoustic and positioning technologies across Fugro N.V.'s global operations and uncrewed surface vessel (USV) fleet, improving high-precision seabed mapping and autonomous survey capabilities. Fugro N.V. is a Netherlands-based company specializing in geo-data acquisition, analysis, and consulting services for marine and infrastructure environments, supporting both government and commercial offshore projects.
Major companies operating in the kongsberg sounder uncrewed surface vessel (usv) market are Kongsberg Gruppen ASA; Fugro; Teledyne Technologies; Exail Technologies; Maritime Robotics; OceanAlpha
North America was the largest region in the Kongsberg sounder uncrewed surface vessel (USV) market in 2025. Asia-Pacific is expected to be the fastest-growing region in the forecast period. The regions covered in the kongsberg sounder uncrewed surface vessel (USV) market report are Asia-Pacific, South East Asia, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Middle East, Africa.
The countries covered in the kongsberg sounder uncrewed surface vessel (USV) market report are Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Taiwan, Russia, South Korea, UK, USA, Canada, Italy, Spain.
The Kongsberg sounder uncrewed surface vessel (USV) market consists of sales of autonomous unmanned surface vehicles (USVS) equipped with sonar systems, multibeam echo sounder systems for seabed mapping, marine navigation and positioning control units, and integrated hydrographic survey payload systems. Values in this market are 'factory gate' values, that is, the value of goods sold by the manufacturers or creators of the goods, whether to other entities (including downstream manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors and retailers) or directly to end customers. The value of goods in this market includes related services sold by the creators of the goods.
The market value is defined as the revenues that enterprises gain from the sale of goods and/or services within the specified market and geography through sales, grants, or donations in terms of the currency (in USD unless otherwise specified).
The revenues for a specified geography are consumption values that are revenues generated by organizations in the specified geography within the market, irrespective of where they are produced. It does not include revenues from resales along the supply chain, either further along the supply chain or as part of other products.
The kongsberg sounder uncrewed surface vessel (usv) market research report is one of a series of new reports from The Business Research Company that provides kongsberg sounder uncrewed surface vessel (usv) market statistics, including kongsberg sounder uncrewed surface vessel (usv) industry global market size, regional shares, competitors with a kongsberg sounder uncrewed surface vessel (usv) market share, detailed kongsberg sounder uncrewed surface vessel (usv) market segments, market trends and opportunities, and any further data you may need to thrive in the kongsberg sounder uncrewed surface vessel (usv) industry. This kongsberg sounder uncrewed surface vessel (usv) market research report delivers a complete perspective of everything you need, with an in-depth analysis of the current and future scenario of the industry.
Kongsberg Sounder Uncrewed Surface Vessel (USV) Market Global Report 2026 from The Business Research Company provides strategists, marketers and senior management with the critical information they need to assess the market.
This report focuses kongsberg sounder uncrewed surface vessel (usv) market which is experiencing strong growth. The report gives a guide to the trends which will be shaping the market over the next ten years and beyond.
Where is the largest and fastest growing market for kongsberg sounder uncrewed surface vessel (usv) ? How does the market relate to the overall economy, demography and other similar markets? What forces will shape the market going forward, including technological disruption, regulatory shifts, and changing consumer preferences? The kongsberg sounder uncrewed surface vessel (usv) market global report from the Business Research Company answers all these questions and many more.
The report covers market characteristics, size and growth, segmentation, regional and country breakdowns, total addressable market (TAM), market attractiveness score (MAS), competitive landscape, market shares, company scoring matrix, trends and strategies for this market. It traces the market's historic and forecast market growth by geography.
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