On February 26, the Inspector of the Navy, Vice Admiral Jan Christian Kaack, took delivery of the first BlueWhale. This Large Unmanned Underwater Vehicle was handed over by the Executive Vice President of TKMS ATLAS ELEKTRONIK, Mr. Michael Ozegowski and the CEO IAI, Mr. Boaz Levy.
The takeover took place in the presence of State Secretary Jens Plötner.
“With today’s handover of the first BlueWhale, we are clearly showing that we are serious about the statement “time is the decisive factor” in the field of procurement. This success is based on the flexible use of all available instruments and the close, goal-oriented cooperation of all those involved. Now it is important to enter series production on this basis to cover the operational needs of the Navy as quickly as possible,” said State Secretary Plötner.
“With the acquisition of the first BlueWhale, we are consistently implementing the marine course in terms of the introduction of unmanned systems under water. We have relied on the tried and tested on the market, radically shortened decision-making processes and involved the troops in the requirements from the very beginning. And that in a few months instead of years – the speed of light in procurement, so to speak. The construction of a hybrid fleet is starting right now,” said the Inspector of the Navy, Vice Admiral Jan Christian Kaack.
In the Marine course, the Inspector of the Navy outlines the vision for the transformation towards a hybrid branch of the armed forces, in which unmanned systems are a natural part of maritime operations. In addition to manned submarines, unmanned underwater vehicles will take over tasks in underwater reconnaissance in the future.
The BlueWhale is designed for exactly this purpose. Developed for maritime reconnaissance and submarine hunting, the system was intensively tested by the Navy and WTD 71 at the end of 2024 as part of the OPEX BlueWhale experimental campaign. The results of these sea trials were so convincing that the accelerated procurement of the system took place.