Israeli drone submarine tested by German Navy in Baltic Sea

The German Navy has finished evaluating an Israeli-made submarine in the Baltic Sea.

The unmanned submarine, known as the BlueWhale, underwent two weeks of testing by the German Navy, according to a press release by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).

BlueWhale is an autonomous submarine system developed by the state-owned IAI.

Germany’s recently updated naval objectives indicate that “the Baltic Sea must be integrated into NATO’s maritime security,” though noting that this “puts them in potential conflict with Russia.”

Former Israeli Ambassador to Germany Jeremy Issacharoff said that he does not believe Germany’s use of the Israeli-made submarine would escalate tensions between Russia and Germany, or Russia and Israel.

“It's clear Germany is not looking to provoke Russia by buying these defensive systems from Israel,” he said. “Israel respects the German need to defend itself.”

IAI, which is owned by the State of Israel, presented the submarine for the first time in 2023.

he BlueWhale submarine was “engineered for stealth and endurance,” and “specializes in a suite of critical missions from anti-submarine warfare (ASW) to mine countermeasures (MCM), and excels in the clandestine gathering of intelligence in the open seas and challenging littoral waters,” according to IAI.