Kongsberg
Gruppen - (en)
The company was established in 1814 as Kongsberg Vaabenfabrik (KV)
(lit.: "Kongsberg Weapons Factory"), a name which remained
virtually unchanged until 1987, when it took the name Norsk
Forsvarsteknologi (NFT) (lit.: "Norwegian Defence
Technology") after restructuring due to the sale of all civilian
activity and financial troubles. The name changed again in 1995 to the
present Kongsberg Gruppen following its listing on the Oslo Stock
Exchange in 1993.
In 1987, the company was part of the Toshiba-Kongsberg scandal, which
involved a subsidiary of Toshiba and the Kongsberg Vaapenfabrikk. The
two provided the Soviet Union with American technology to produce
quiet submarine propellers. The US always relied on the fact that the
Soviets had noisy boats. Providing the USSR with technology that would
make their subs harder to find and track was a significant threat to
America's security. Senator John Heinz, the late former husband of
Teresa Heinz-Kerry said "What Toshiba and Kongsberg did was
ransom the security of the United States for $517 million."
In 1974, a Canadian subsidiary known as Kongsberg Mesotech Ltd was
established for the development and manufacturing of underwater
surveillance systems.
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