Thyssenkrupp\u2019s Atlas Elektronik subsidiary developed BlueWhale\u2019s towed array sonar, making it a joint project between the German shipbuilder and IAI.<\/p>\n
BlueWhale joins a swiftly growing array of unmanned underwater vehicles developed over the last several years as navies around the world scramble to upgrade their naval defense technologies and protect offshore assets, such as undersea pipelines and cables.<\/p>\n
\t The German navy confirmed it had taken delivery of BlueWhale, saying the drone was intended for reconnaissance and detecting \u201chybrid threats at sea.\u201d<\/p>\n BlueWhale is the navy\u2019s \u201clargest and most advanced unmanned underwater vehicle to date,\u201d the German military said.<\/p>\n The Baltic Sea, where BlueWhale was tested and is likely to be deployed, has been a flashpoint for tensions between Russia and NATO since Moscow\u2019s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Military experts and European leaders say Russia has ramped up its \u201chybrid war\u201d in the strategic region \u2014 now bordered entirely by NATO members, with the exception of Russia \u2014 through airspace incursions and suspected sabotage of undersea cables.<\/p>\n According to Thyssenkrupp, BlueWhale is capable of \u201cconducting reconnaissance operations, detecting targets above and below the sea surface, collecting acoustic information, and locating sea mines on the seabed.\u201d<\/p>\n Israel and Germany have upped their defense cooperation in recent months and in January signed a security pact to expand joint work on counterterrorism and cyber defense.<\/p>\n In December, Germany approved a $3.1 billion expansion of a contract for the Arrow 3 anti-ballistic missile defense system, which is Israeli-made and developed with US support.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t(R-L): Ambassador Ron Prosor, Israel\u2019s Ambassador to Germany; Michael Ozegowski, EVP of TKMS ATLAS ELEKTRONIK; Boaz Levy, President & CEO of IAI; Vice Adm. Jan Christian Kaack, chief of the German Navy; and Jens Pl\u00f6tner, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Defence, during the handover of a BlueWhale large autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) to the German Navy at Eckernf\u00f6rde naval base in Germany, February 25, 2026. (Israel Aerospace Industries)<\/p>\n
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