Polish drones, Norwegian missiles: WB Group and Kongsberg team up on Baltic unmanned systems

Piotr Wojciechowski, chief executive of WB Electronics, signed for the Polish side. Kongsberg was represented by Ronny Langset Opsjøen, executive vice president for new business development. The signing took place in the presence of Magdalena Sobkowiak-Czarnecka, undersecretary of state at the Polish Ministry of National Defence, and Brigadier General Romuald Maksymiuk, director of the ministry's armaments policy department.

- By combining Polish and Norwegian competencies, technologies and production capabilities, we can jointly create top-class solutions capable of operating in the Baltic Sea and beyond, Piotr Wojciechowski said.

Piotr Wojciechowski stressed that security requires real cooperation between states, armed forces and industry, and that pooling Polish and Norwegian production capacity should yield systems usable well beyond the Baltic.

A platform built to watch and to strike

The partnership draws on both companies' experience in manned and unmanned maritime and aerial systems, air defence, weapons, communications, command and control and advanced electronics. The first area of joint work is unmanned maritime platforms equipped with multi-sensor reconnaissance systems, integrating imagery and electronic intelligence with other sensors adapted to the maritime environment.

The Norwegian side describes the deal as a strategic partnership and a natural step towards lasting operational cooperation between Poland and Norway.

- By combining our competencies in maritime, unmanned and command systems, we are creating solutions that genuinely increase security in the Baltic and beyond, Ronny Langset Opsjøen said.

The agreement also provides from the outset for arming the platforms with effectors capable of engaging surface vessels, so that they can carry out strike as well as reconnaissance and surveillance tasks. Particular emphasis is to be placed on integrating sensors, command systems and effectors within a single architecture. The companies gave no timeline, named no specific platforms and identified no launch customer; the statement refers in general terms to multi-role maritime systems for military users, able to operate in the demanding Baltic environment and on other seas.

FlyEye and Warmate meet NSM and HUGIN

WB Group is Poland's largest privately owned defence company, known for the FlyEye reconnaissance drone, the Warmate loitering munition, the FONET communications system and the TOPAZ fire control system. Kongsberg produces the Naval Strike Missile, fielded by Poland's coastal missile squadron since 2013 and chosen as the anti-ship weapon for the Miecznik frigates, while its subsidiary Kongsberg Discovery is one of the leading makers of HUGIN autonomous underwater vehicles, used by NATO navies for mine reconnaissance and seabed survey. That points to a natural division of labour, Polish sensors, communications and command with Norwegian platforms and effectors, though the statement does not spell one out.

The agreement fits a clear pattern at this year's MSPO. On the same day the Polish Naval Academy formally joined the defence ministry's Autonomous Systems Centre, bringing its unmanned underwater vehicle expertise into the programme. With its subsea cables, pipelines and shallow, hydrologically difficult waters, the Baltic is becoming the main proving ground for maritime unmanned systems on both the military and the industrial side.