TKMS’ Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW) unit in Kiel, Germany, is also leading a two-year, $100 million upgrade of the Israeli navy’s three Dolphin submarines at Israeli shipyards. Dolphin, Leviathan and Tekuma will be joined by two more subs, enhanced with AIP, under construction at HDW, while acquisition of a sixth is being negotiated.
The upgrade includes 10 launchers per boat for Rafael’s
Torbuster, a fourth-generation, hard-kill decoy that seduces incoming torpedoes using technology based on the Rafael’s decoys for surface ships. Upon detection of an incoming torpedo, the sub releases the decoy from an external launcher, which propels itself to a safe distance before attracting the incoming torpedo by transmitting acoustic signals, using reactive acoustic deception.
Torbuster actively engages the torpedo as it closes in, activating an explosive warhead when the target is at the closest proximity, inflicting sufficient damage to the torpedo to neutralize it. The system is operated from a single console, a launcher control unit. The operator is able to monitor the decoys in the launchers, to follow and activate the launchers, and to control the system’s safety interlocks and devices.
Another element of the upgrade is Rafael’s Sea-Com, a hardened, secure, Internet protocol-based communications suite integrating internal voice, data and video communications, as well as external radio and satellite links. Sea-Com reduces sensor-to-shooter time through efficient collaboration of multidisciplinary systems and real-time access to information resources
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