The German Navy has concluded around two weeks of trials with the BlueWhale autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) developed by the ELTA Systems division of Israel Aerospace Systems (IAI), the Israeli company announced on 26 November 2024.
The Operational Experimentation (OPEX) trials, which took place in early November near Eckernförde on Germany’s Baltic coast, addressed the requirements of both the German Navy and the Bundeswehr Technical Centre for Ships and Naval Weapons (WTD 71).
The German Navy launched OPEX as an initiative to pave the way toward its ‘Marine 2035 and Beyond’ plan. OPEX is the German Navy’s ‘toolbox’ for promoting innovation and for testing new approaches and technologies quickly and comprehensively under conditions that are as realistic as possible.
The BlueWhale AUV is 10.9 m long, has a 1.12 m diameter and weighs 5.5 tons. It is designed to perform covert intelligence-gathering above the sea surface, detect submarines and other underwater targets, gather acoustic intelligence, and search for and detect naval mines on the seabed. The AUV can thus perform a significant portion of a crewed submarine’s operations for several weeks with a minimal cost and maintenance burden without risking operators.
On 10 May 2023, at the Undersea Defence Technology (UDT) Conference and Exhibition in Rostock, Germany, IAI and Germany’s Atlas Elektronik launched a joint development based around the BlueWhale AUV. This added a towed passive sonar triplet array to the BlueWhale, based on Atlas Elektronik’s Active Towed Array Sonar (ACTAS) platform, that is designed to function at depths traditionally exploited by submarines to avoid detection.
Following the conclusion of the German Navy trials, IAI President and CEO Boaz Levy stated in a company press release, “We are facing a new era in which submarines will change the situational picture and operational capabilities like the changes brought about by unmanned aircraft in the past. An autonomous submarine can perform a significant portion of the tasks of a manned submarine, without the need for operators on board, for up to several weeks. In addition to its intelligence-gathering capabilities, the BlueWhale system excels in detecting other submarines and covertly mapping mines on the seabed, using its advanced sonar systems, and is an important part of IAI’s range of maritime solutions.
“The current joint trials are a direct continuation of the deep security relationship with Germany, reflected in the recent Arrow missile air-defence-system deal, and through other activities that promote the security of both Israel and Germany,” Levy added.
On 26 September 2023 German and Israeli officials signed an USD 3.5 billion (3.3 billion) deal that will see IAI provide Germany with an Arrow-3 long-range air defence capability to be deployed by 2025.
