The Israeli navy has started to use an unmanned submarine developed by Israel aerospace industries (IAI). The new addition to the underwater capabilities of the navy ,will help confront the growing threat posed by Iran in the naval arena .
The new autonomous submarine has been developed by Elta the electronics subsidiary of IAI .
IAI has pioneered in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV’s) and in Unmanned ground vehicles (UGV) and now used all the building blocks to build according to Israeli experts one of the most advanced underwater submarine.
The Iranians are enhancing their presence in the seas of the Gulf and Middle East regions. This with help from Russia.
The BlueWhale is a large Autonomous Underwater Vehicle .
According to the company the new systems has successfully undergone thousands of autonomous operation hours, including intelligence-gathering for both maritime and coastal targets, acoustic intelligence, and identifying the presence of naval mines. The autonomous submarine can perform a significant portion of the operations of a manned submarine, for periods of several weeks, at minimal cost and maintenance, without the need for operators on board.
Like manned submarines, BlueWhale performs covert intelligence-gathering above the sea surface, can detect submarines, underwater targets and gather acoustic intelligence, and also search for and detect naval mines on the seabed.
BlueWhale is equipped with a telescopic mast, like the periscope of a manned submarine, several meters high, on which are mounted radar and electro-optical systems for detecting sea and coastal targets.
By using a satellite communications antenna on the mast, the gathered data can be transferred in real-time to command posts, anywhere in the world, at sea or on land. Submarine detection and acoustic intelligence-gathering data is enabled using a sonar, several tens of meters long, towed by the BlueWhale, and by flank array sonar with receiver arrays attached to both sides of the platform.”
According to the IAI in parallel, mine detection is performed using a dedicated synthetic aperture sonar, attached to the sides of the vessel. The BlueWhale has a sensor suite to help ensure its safe transit underwater or near the surface. In recent years, a number of international patents have been registered regarding development of the system.
The BlueWhale is 12 meters long and can stay underwater “for weeks”.
Company sources said that the unmanned submarine can conclude one mission and then “rest” on the bottom of the sea until it is needed for a new one.
The periscope of the BlueWhale is equipped with an EO systems for day and night. In addition the submarine is equipped with a special radar that makes the location of the unmanned submarine very complicated A company source added that the special radar emits signals in a frequency that makes it almost immune to systems that are capable to detect radar emitting platforms.
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