Israel Aerospace Industries unveils 1st unmanned submarine BlueWhale

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has unveiled the BlueWhale Large Autonomous Underwater Vehicle.

The BlueWhale has successfully completed thousands of autonomous operation hours, including intelligence-gathering for both maritime and coastal targets, acoustic intelligence, and detecting naval mines, Navy Recognition reports.

The unmanned submarine is capable of performing many of the tasks of a manned submarine for several weeks without operators on board, at minimal cost and maintenance.

Similar to manned submarines, the BlueWhale performs covert intelligence-gathering operations above the sea surface, detecting submarines, underwater targets, and gathering acoustic intelligence.

She is equipped with a telescopic mast several meters high, like a periscope on a manned submarine, which mounts radar and electro-optical systems for detecting sea and coastal targets. Data is transmitted in real-time using a satellite communications antenna on the mast to command posts worldwide.

The BlueWhale uses a towed sonar several tens of meters long, and flank array sonar with receiver arrays attached to both sides of the platform to detect submarines and gather acoustic intelligence.

A dedicated synthetic aperture sonar is also used to detect naval mines on the seabed. Additionally, the BlueWhale has a sensor suite to ensure safe transit underwater or near the surface. In recent years, several international patents have been registered related to the development of this system.