IAI's BlueWhale uncrewed submarine to join NATO’s Dynamic Messenger exercise
BlueWhale USV took part in REPMUS. (Photo: IAI/Frederico Domingues)
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) announces that its autonomous BlueWhale uncrewed submarine will participate in the NATO Dynamic Messenger exercise, in an effort to demonstrate its capabilities in the maritime sector.
The announcement follows the platform’s involvement, together with Atlas Elektronik’s towed passive radar, in the 7th annual REPMUS (Robotic Experimentation and Prototyping using Maritime Unmanned Systems) military exercise.
BlueWhale anti-surface warfare USV, developed by IAI Elta, is an autonomous submarine that can conduct some of the missions of manned submarines, without the need for operators at sea. It can operate for several weeks at a time and has minimal operating costs.
The uncrewed submarine is equipped with a variety of sensors, including a telescopic mast with radar and electro-optical sensors, and Atlas Elektronik’s towed array sonar.
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A transmitter developed by Atlas Elektronik, deployed from a crewed surface vessel, enables the bistatic location and tracking of sea targets by BlueWhale ASW.
NATO’s Dynamic Messenger 2023 exercise runs from September 18-29 at the Maritime Operational Experimentation Centre near Troia, Portugal.
During this two-week exercise, participants will execute operational experiments to explore and implement its multi-domain operations concept and derive observations, analysis, and lessons learned that can feed the development of NATO’s tactics, techniques and procedures in the use of maritime uncrewed systems.
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