IAI Unveils Its First Unmanned Submarine Called BlueWhale
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) continues to expand its maritime capabilities. On Thursday, 4 May, the company unveiled BlueWhale, an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) that is described as Israel’s first unmanned submarine.
Commenting on the subject, IAI Vice President Yoav Tourgeman said, “BlueWhale joins the family of land, sea, and space-based unmanned platforms, developed by IAI, and represents a force-multiplier for submarine fleets. Based on its advanced engineering capabilities IAI’s Elta Group 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.” He concluded by saying “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.”
BlueWhale (ELI-3325) is an autonomous submarine system designed for reconnaissance and intelligence missions by IAI subsidiary Elta Systems. The vehicle, which is outfitted with a wide variety of sensors such as radar, EO/IR, SIGINT, sonars, and magnetic sensors, can perform covert intelligence gathering above the sea surface like manned submarines, detect submarines, underwater targets, and collect acoustic intelligence, and search for and detect naval mines on the sea floor. The data gathered by the vehicle’s satellite communication system (SATCOM) can be sent in real time to command posts anywhere in the world, on land or at sea. The BlueWhale is said to be 10.9 meters long, 1.1 meters in diameter, and weighs 5.5 tons. The AUV may be transported by land, air, and sea in a 40-meter shipping container. The vehicle’s operational speed, which is powered by an electric motor, is 2-3 knots, and its maximum speed when submerged is 7 knots. The autonomous submarine, which can operate continuously for 2-4 weeks depending on the mission profile, with the electrical power coming from the battery bank, is capable of operating in conditions as severe as Sea State 5.
The BlueWhale system, which is expected to most likely be used on the coasts of Lebanon and the Gaza strip, is expected to expand the intelligence gathering capabilities of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) while significantly reducing maintenance and training expenses.