Italian MoD provides first details of its new long-range ISR/ASW AUV programme, an Italian-Israeli solution based on an Israeli platform and Italian payloads - EDR Magazine
Unveiled with the release of the Italian MoD’s Multi-year Planning Document (Documento Programmatico Pluriennale) 2023-2025 in October 2023, the programme for a long-range autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) platform capable to conduct intelligence surveillance reconnaissance (ISR) and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) missions has been submitted for approval to the Italian Parliament, providing first details
To strengthen the presence, surveillance and data collection in areas of direct national strategic interest, as well as uncrewed ASW capabilities in support of force projection from the sea, together with the control of off-shore platforms and underwater infrastructures that convey energy and data flows, the Italian Navy General Staff has proposed to procure three Large Displacement Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (LDAUV) together with a remote command and control station as well as launch and recovery system, to be deployed from surface and underwater platforms with advanced capabilities in terms of modularity, endurance and flexibility. The programme also includes payloads and systems as well as logistic support and training of the personnel for the system use and maintenance.
The programme is based on the international cooperation between Italy and Israel on the specific topic, which is regulated by the framework arrangement and memorandum of understanding (MoU) that was signed between to the two nations’ procurement bodies in December 2021. This has taken to the current Italian-Israeli BlueWhale (IIBW) LDAUV solution based on the BlueWhale platform developed by IAI/Elta Systems with the integration of payloads and systems developed by the Italian industry. The international cooperation at industrial level is managed through the memorandum of collaboration that was signed in February 2022 and which defines the perimeter of industrial cooperation and workshare between the involved companies.
The document was signed by Elta Systems and the Italian companies Elettronica, FAAM, CABI Cattaneo, BATS Italia and ICS Technologies. According to first information released to the Parliament,
- CABI Cattaneo will develop the vehicle integration with the surface and underwater platforms,
- FAAM will provide lithium ion batteries,
- ICS Technologies the sonar suite integration and
- BATS Italia the logistic support.
Although no details has been provided for Elettronica, the latter is expected to supply the EW suite including signal and communication intelligence equipment. The programme aims at developing sovereign technological competences, which could find in prospect potential export applications, according to the accompanying documentation. It also highlights that no national solutions exist to satisfy the operational requirement set by the Italian Navy.
The cooperation scope regards the joint research and development activities with the aim of developing an IIBW with the equal contribution of Israeli and Italian companies.
According to the document presented to the Parliament the programme, which will last 13 years, has an overall estimated cost of 254.3 million Euro of which 6 million have already been allocated for the first two years also called “first phase”.
The accompanying documentation specifies that “these vehicles will be used in a coastal environment, as precursor sensors of underwater or surface launching platforms, or in the open sea, as an extension of the organic sensor suite of the launching platform, ensuring a particular benefit especially in the case of submarines.
The Italian Navy is currently not equipped with autonomous assets capable of actively contributing to the achievement of advanced maritime situation awareness (AMSA), in particular underwater awareness (UWSA).
First details of New Long-Range Submarine Drone for Italian Navy - Naval News
IAI BlueWhale Autonomous Submarine System (XLUUV) at UDT 2023
Unveiled with the release of the Italian MoD’s Multi-year Planning Document (Documento Programmatico Pluriennale) 2023-2025, the submission to the Parliament provides first details on the programme.
To satisfy the requirements for enforced persistence, surveillance and data collection in areas of direct national strategic interests, as well as the uncrewed ASW capabilities in support of force projection from the sea, alongside the control of underwater infrastructures such as pipelines, cables and offshore platforms, as reported by the accompanying submission documentation, the Italian Navy General Staff has requested the procurement of new long-range ISR/ASW AUV platforms with advanced capabilities in terms of modularity, endurance and flexibility. The latter package comprises three Large Displacement Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (LDAUVs) alongside their remote command and control station as well as launch and recovery system to be deployed on board surface and underwater platforms. The programme also includes payloads and systems in addition to training of operators and maintainers and logistic support.
The programme is centred, according to the accompanying documentation presented in Parliament, on the international cooperation developed by Italy and Israel on the autonomous capability, which is regulated by the memorandum of understanding (MoU) and framework arrangement signed between to the two procurement agecies in December 2021. The result is the to be developed “Italian-Israeli BlueWhale” (IIBW) LDAUV solution based on the BlueWhale (ELI-3325) platform by IAI/Elta Systems with the integration of payloads and systems developed by the Italian industry. The international industrial cooperation is based on the memorandum of collaboration that was signed in February 2022 and “defines the perimeter of industrial cooperation and workshare between the involved companies.” The document was signed by Elta Systems and the Italian companies Elettronica, FAAM, CABI Cattaneo, BATS Italia and ICS Technologies. Based on information released to the Parliament, CABI Cattaneo will develop the vehicle integration with the surface and underwater platforms, FAAM will provide the lithium ion batteries package while Elettronica, even if no details have been disclosed, is expected to supply the EW suite including signal and communication intelligence equipment. ICS Technologies will provide the sonar suite integration and BATS Italia the logistic support.
According to the accompanying documentation, the cooperation regards the joint research and development activities with the aim of developing an IIBW with the equal contribution of Israeli and Italian companies. Based on these agreements, the programme is aimed to develop sovereign technological competences, which could find in prospect potential export applications. The same documentation also highlights that no national solutions exists to meet the operational requirement set by the Italian Navy. The programme, according to the document presented to the Parliament has an overall estimated cost of 254.3 million Euro of which 6 million have already been allocated for the first two years of the programme, which will last 13 years.
IAI Introduces: BLUE WHALE Large AUV - Defense Update:
Updated – 10 May 2023: Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has developed a large Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) called “BLUE WHALE,” designed for covert intelligence gathering in the open sea and coastal waters. The system incorporates Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) sonars developed in partnership with Atlas Elektronik and was unveiled at the Undersea Defence Technology (UDT) event held this week at Rostock, Germany.
The system incorporates ATLAS ELEKTRONIK’s unique, towed passive sonar triplet array. In contrast to existing towed sonars, the combined system is designed to function at depths traditionally exploited by submarines to avoid detection. A transmitter developed by ATLAS ELEKTRONIK, deployed from an autonomous or crewed surface vessel, enables the bistatic location and tracking of submarine targets by BlueWhale ASW. The towed sonar array is based on Atlas’ proven ACTAS (Active Towed Array Sonar) platform, a deep-water sonar system originally designed for surface vessel deployment. The system utilizes a low frequency sonar system that facilitates excellent area coverage while maintaining high sensitivity at depths previously beyond the reach of conventional sonar systems.
This AUV has undergone thousands of autonomous operation hours, including acoustic intelligence, identifying the presence of naval mines, and intelligence gathering for maritime and coastal targets.
The AUV measures 10.9 meters long and 1.12 m’ in diameter. It weighs 5.5 tons and can perform missions up to 30 days long. It can move at an optimal speed of 2-3 knots, with a maximum speed of 7 knots when required. BLUE WHALE has an integrated sensor payload mounted on an articulated telescopic mast that extends several meters high when fully opened, enabling the submarine to remain submerged throughout its mission, spanning two to four weeks. The AUV can descend to the bottom of the sea, where it can lurk and hide while using some of its sensors to collect intelligence for days. When submerged, the mast is stored in a container protecting the sensors and equipment. An intelligent, on-board controller manages the mission and sensors, sensors, communications, and power resources, enabling the operators to focus on the mission.
The sensors are mounted on the sail and telescopic mast. The mast mounts a small radar, designed for low-probability of intercept (LPI), and electro-optical payload providing visual intelligence (VISINT) just as a submarine does. An electronic support measures (ESM) sensor array is tasked with COMING and ELINT.
A broadband satellite communications antenna is also mounted on the mast, transferring the gathered data in real-time to command posts worldwide, either at sea or on land. To detect submarines and mines and gather acoustic intelligence, the AUV uses two types of sonars – a bi-static towed array for acoustic surveillance and submarine detection and flank sonar arrays for mine detection and seafloor mapping. The autonomous submarine can perform a significant portion of the operations of manned submarines, at minimal cost and maintenance, without the need for personnel on board. The AUV can be shipped in a standard 40-foot shipping container and deployed from a port or a support ship at sea. In addition, the Blue Whale can be used as a forward scout for manned submarines, special forces, and naval commandoes.
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