Days ago, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) launched its first large autonomous underwater vehicle (First AI Underwater Spy), the BlueWhale, and it has already garnered praise from defense experts of various countries. These experts underline that the state-of-the-art unmanned submarine, capable of gathering intelligence and detecting enemy threats, is a powerful yet sophisticated asset.
Developed as a commercialized version of the Cicerone Autonomous Underwater Vehicle, the BlueWhale has completed thousands of hours of underwater and autonomous operations. The submarine uses radar and electro-optical systems to detect sea and coastal targets and is equipped with sonar capabilities to gather intelligence, detect manned and unmanned submarines, and map out naval mines. This intelligence is then transmitted in real-time to a designated command center via a dedicated broadband-secured satellite channel.
The autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) can remain submerged for up to four weeks thanks to its powerful battery bank. It is easily transportable in a 40-foot shipping container and is part of a rapidly expanding array of unmanned underwater vehicles developed in recent years, as navies worldwide upgrade their naval defense technologies to protect offshore assets such as undersea pipelines.
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. 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. –Yoav Tourgeman, IAI VP and ELTA’s CEO
The BlueWhale is capable of performing many of the tasks of a manned submarine for several weeks without operators on board, at minimal cost and maintenance. Its covert intelligence-gathering capabilities include detecting submarines, underwater targets, and gathering acoustic intelligence. The unmanned submarine is also equipped with a telescopic mast, similar to a periscope on a manned submarine, which mounts radar and electro-optical systems for detecting sea and coastal targets.
With a towed sonar several tens of meters long and flank array sonar with receiver arrays attached to both sides of the platform, the BlueWhale is adept at detecting submarines and gathering acoustic intelligence. A dedicated synthetic aperture sonar is used to detect naval mines on the seabed. The BlueWhale also boasts a sensor suite to ensure safe transit underwater or near the surface. Several international patents have been registered in recent years in relation to the development of this innovative system.
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