Israel Aerospace to sell autonomous submarines to Greek Navy

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - State-run Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) said on Wednesday it signed a deal to sell its BlueWhale autonomous submarine system to the Greek Navy.

IAI did not disclose financial details.

BlueWhale is a large uncrewed underwater vehicle weighing 5.5 tons and can perform a wide range of covert maritime missions, including intelligence-gathering above the sea surface, submarine and underwater target detection, acoustic intelligence collection and searching for and detecting naval mines on the seabed, IAI said.

It said that the autonomous submarine can perform a significant portion of a crewed submarine’s operations for several weeks and that the system has been successfully deployed for thousands of diving hours.

As part of the partnership, the Hellenic Aerospace Industry (HAI) will take on a role in the production and technological evolution of BlueWhale.

The HAI, IAI said, will have access to IAI's technology, with opportunities for technology transfer and active involvement in projects of substantial operational significance.

(Reporting by Steven Scheer; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)