22.08.2022, Sandnes, Norway – Nordic Unmanned opens a North American office headed by a seasoned industry veteran to expand its business in the world’s largest and fastest-growing drone market.
The office will be located in Baltimore County, Maryland, close to strategic partners, potential governmental and commercial clients and aviation authorities. The focus will be on offering Nordic Unmanned’s existing products and services portfolio, as well as operational experience with performing long-range, complex beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations, in pursuit of the North American defense, government, and commercial markets.
North America is the largest drone market in the world, with the highest expected growth rate, both within the defense and enterprise market. The U.S. 2023 defense budget request consists of 20 programs fully dedicated to the procurement of drones, totaling $2.6 billion. The enterprise market adds to this, with its expected CAGR of 15.8 percent from 2021 to 2030.
“Expanding into accessible markets is a key part of our growth strategy. The US is a very appealing market for Nordic Unmanned, allowing us to build upon our leading role in the European drone industry and leverage our EASA-approved Light UAS Operator Certificate (LUC) and experience within complex BVLOS drone operations. This provides a solid foundation for capturing the enormous opportunities identified through the development of drone regulations in North America. Europe and North America have a long and positive history of collaboration on aviation rules, safety, regulations and operational licenses, for all aspects of the aviation industry, including drones. Nordic Unmanned has the ambition to become the first company with a fully approved BVLOS operating certificate, for multiple complex drone systems, in both Europe and the U.S,” says Knut Roar Wiig, CEO of Nordic Unmanned.
The North American market will be led by the seasoned multi-mode aviation, defense, rail, and transit executive Timothy “T3” Tenne. Mr. Tenne joins Nordic Unmanned from the position of Chief Operations Officer at Easy Aerial Inc, where he has led their operations, production, regulatory, and other areas within the defense, enterprise, government, and rail drone solutions. Tim has also held senior leadership positions with, amongst others, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Amtrak, Maryland Transit Administration and U.S. Air Force. Mr. Tenne is a local of Baltimore County and Maryland, where he attended the U.S. Naval Academy and went on to become a pilot and leader, and eventually retired after many years of service.
“I’m excited by this opportunity, and I look forward to making the new entity the leader in this market and applying my many years of executive aviation and aerospace experience to deliver cutting-edge solutions to existing and new customers in multiple verticals,” says Timothy Tenne.
“Opening the office in Baltimore County was a carefully planned and strategic decision. Maryland is an attractive state for this business, with proximity to partners, potential customers, test and operations areas, a growing pool of technical and engineering talent, and proximity to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). These are major benefits, while at the same ensuring closeness to Norway with only a six-hour time difference. This is crucial for us to ensure synergies and to harvest the substantial operational experience from our colleagues in Norway,” Mr. Tenne says.
“As the leading operator and provider of drone solutions, it is a natural next step for us to enter the largest and fastest growing market in the world. We expect to turn the current North America opportunity pipeline into revenue within the next six months,” concludes CEO Knut Roar Wiig.
DISCLOSURE REGULATION This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.