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Do modern submarines still use periscopes?
Modern submarines are no longer built with the single rotating, one-person-at-a-time periscope that we’re used to seeing in the movies. Instead, periscopes aboard the U.S. Navy’s Virginia-class subs consist of two 360-degree rotating photonics masts with high-resolution cameras.
Do Virginia-class submarines have periscopes?
Instead of the traditional periscopes, Virginia-class boats are the first US subs with photonic masts. Each boat has two AN/BVS-1 photonic masts.
How tall is a periscope on a submarine?
60 feet
A traditional periscope is up to 60 feet long, so that the hull can remain hidden underwater while the periscope lifts up hydraulically to poke up out of the waves.
What’s the looking thing on submarine?
Periscopes allow a submarine, when submerged at a relatively shallow depth, to search visually for nearby targets and threats on the surface of the water and in the air. When not in use, a submarine’s periscope retracts into the hull.
What is the purpose of a submarine’s periscope?
A periscope is the only way to see what is going on in the surface from underwater. Modern submarines don’t have traditional periscopes. new ones like the Virginia Class of the US Navy have what we call as ‘Photonic Masts’. These are high tech sensor units which look like a periscope,…
What’s new in submarines?
The US and UK are both fielding submarines equipped with new photonic and optronic masts that replace the periscope entirely while ensuring submariners can still see their targets on the surface. Lenses, mirrors, and prisms are being replaced with sensors, cameras, and fiber optics, and it is changing submarine designs for the better.
What is a photonic submarine mast?
The US and UK are both are fielding submarines equipped with new photonic and optronic masts that replace the periscope entirely while ensuring submariners can still see their targets on the surface. Lenses, mirrors, and prisms are being replaced with sensors, cameras, and fiber optics, and it is changing submarine designs for the better.
What is a Virginia-class submarine?
Instead of the traditional periscopes, Virginia-class boats are the first US subs with photonic masts. Each boat has two AN/BVS-1 photonic masts.