Israel’s State Defense Company Unveils New Unmanned Sub

Israel’s state-own defense company has for the first time developed an unmanned submarine capable of covert intelligence operations. 

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) trained the BlueWhale Large Autonomous Underwater Vehicle for thousands of hours, and it can now detect targets above and below the surface of the water, perform acoustic intelligence and even identify naval mines. 

It uses radars and electro-optical systems to detect sea and coastal targets, and can transfer data in real-time to command posts anywhere in the world, at sea or on land, using its satellite communications antenna. 

The vessel is capable of operating for several weeks at a time at a minimal cost and maintenance and without the need for operators on board. 

The BlueWhale tows behind it a sonar device dozens of meters in length in order to detect submarines and gather acoustic intelligence. The vessel is also equipped with smaller sonars on the sides to detect mines. 

“BlueWhale joins the family of land, sea and space-based unmanned platforms developed by IAI, and represents a force-multiplier for submarine fleets,” said IAI Vice President Yoav Tourgeman.

“Based on its advanced engineering capabilities IAI’s Elta Group (which develops naval radars) has for the first time in the world managed to bring to maturity the development and production of an autonomous underwater system able to perform a wide range of tasks,” said Tourgeman, who is also the CEO of ELTA.

“BlueWhale is a significant member of IAI’s family of maritime products, which include solutions for use in Economic Exclusion Zones, tools for managing autonomous vessels, and their integration in monitoring the maritime arena.”