Company History

Comrod Communication Group

Comrod designs and manufactures tactical antennas, marine antennas, antenna systems, tactical support masts, power supplies & battery chargers and composite utility pole systems.

An international company

Comrod Communication Group is an international company with development, production, sales & marketing to the defense communication and civil markets. The Comrod Communication group of companies are associated with innovative, high quality solutions and long-lasting products.

The Norwegian subsidiary, Comrod AS, is a supplier of antennas, antenna systems and power supplies, mainly for the defence market, but also for maritime and commercial applications.  Comrod France SAS is a supplier of masts and mast systems, antennas and composite industrial products.  Comrod Sweden AB (formerly WIBE Telescopic Masts) are a world leader in the design and manufacture of crank-up and motorized aluminium telescopic masts.  Comrod Inc, located in Cleveland, Ohio USA, was opened in 2010 to serve the US market. Comrod Inc has full access to the entire Comrod Group of products as well as the support of the design, engineering and manufacturing teams.

The Group headquarters is located at Stavanger in South-Western Norway.

Where it all began…

The company was first incorporated in Norway in 1948 and France in 1946. Its manufacturing base has developed from fishing rods to today’s advanced communication antennas, antenna systems, support masts, power supplies and composite products.

Based on its knowledge of fiber composites, Comrod developed a range of antenna products designed for extreme environments.  Production of whip antennas for fishing vessels began in 1960 using the knowledge and techniques gained from the manufacture of fishing rods.  Since the early 1970s, the focus has been on developing and producing sophisticated antennas for the military, commercial and maritime markets.

Key Dates

  • 1948Company established in Norway
  • 1950sIntroduced steel and fiberglass fishing rods
  • 1960sIntroduced marine antennas to the commercial market
  • 1970sTransferred technology to defense antennas
  • 1980sFirst defense contract with Sweden
  • 1990sConcluded its first major international defense contract with Switzerland
  • 1997Sold by Christian Bjelland & Co to Norwegian Applied Technology ASA (NAT)
  • 1999Spilka Gruppen became the main owner of NAT
  • 2002Signed a contract with Bowman for delivery of antennas to the British armed forces
  • 2003Contract for VHF/UHF omni-directional system for the Swedish Visby Stealth Corvettes
  • 2005Agreement with US radio manufacturer Harris Corporation for delivery of tactical communication antennas
  • 2006Acquisition of the power division of Eltek Energy and of Lerc SA.
  • 2011Acquisition of WIBE Telescopic Masts from Schneider Electric.
  • 2017Acquisition of Front-End and establishment of Comrod Mission Systems.
  • 2017Establishment of Comrod Utility Systems AS.

Key Product Developments

  • 1949Steel fishing rods
  • 1953Fiberglass fishing rods
  • 1960Marine antennas
  • 1969Military antennas
  • 1970Ski poles
  • 1982Broadband antennas
  • 1986Composite insulators
  • 1990Pipe production (continued by the Compipe AS company)
  • 1997Combined active GPS/VHF antennas
  • 2001INTAS antenna combining system for vehicles
  • 2002AIS combined antennas
  • 2002MAS 1 antenna system for pleasure yachts
  • 2003VHF/UHF omni-directional system for Visby Stealth Corvettes
  • 2004Development of L1/L2 active GPS antennas 
  • 2006Power Supplies, Battery Chargers, Masts and Industrial Products
  • 2009HF Loop Antenna (on-the-move)
  • 2011Aluminum telescopic masts
  • 2012Tri-band vehicle antennas
  • 2015Mars Rover 2020 GPR antenna
  • 2015A19 & A26 submarine antenna systems
  • 2017Next generation composite utility mast systems