A photonics mast (or '' optronics mast''

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

Scotland,
A vision of evolving technologies
'' 30 August 2007, 13:06 GMT) is a sensor on a

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

which functions similarly to a

periscope A periscope is an instrument for observation over, around or through an object, obstacle or condition that prevents direct line-of-sight observation from an observer's current position. In its simplest form, it consists of an outer case with ...

without requiring a periscope tube, thus freeing design space during construction and limiting risks of water leakage in the event of damage. A photonics mast replaces the mechanical, line-of-sight viewing system with digital equipment, similar to a

digital camera A digital camera, also called a digicam, is a camera that captures photographs in Digital data storage, digital memory. Most cameras produced today are digital, largely replacing those that capture images on photographic film or film stock. Dig ...

array, and it has fewer locational and dimensional constraints than a traditional periscope. Unlike a periscope, it needs not be located directly above its user, and it requires only a small

pressure hull A submarine hull has two major components, the ''superstructure'' and the ''pressure hull''. The external portion of a submarine’s hull—that part that does not resist sea pressure and is free-flooding—is known as the “superstructure” i ...

penetration for cabling. This allows the photonics mast to fit entirely within the

sail A sail is a tensile structure, which is made from fabric or other membrane materials, that uses wind power to propel sailing craft, including sailing ships, sailboats, windsurfers, ice boats, and even sail-powered land vehicles. Sails may b ...

of the submarine and means the control room need not be placed directly below the sail. A photonics mast operates by rising above the water in a manner similar to a telescoping antenna and provides information through an array of sensors, such as high-definition low-light and

thermographic Infrared thermography (IRT), thermal video or thermal imaging, is a process where a Thermographic camera, thermal camera captures and creates an image of an object by using infrared radiation emitted from the object in a process, which are exa ...

cameras. Images and information can appear on display panels for analysis. The photonics mast can also support the

navigation Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the motion, movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navig ...

, electronic warfare, and communications functions of a conventional optical-periscope mast.

Photonics masts by country

Chinese Navy

At least the Type 039B/C submarines are fitted with photonics masts.

French Navy

The

Marine Nationale The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in the world recognised as being a blu ...

's new nuclear attack submarines, the ''Suffren'' class, comes with an optronics mast with the following sensors: * High resolution day camera * 3rd generation MWIR camera in 3-5 μm band * Low light level camera (LLLTV) for night use in the visible spectrum with anti-glare system *

Laser rangefinder A laser rangefinder, also known as a laser telemeter or laser distance meter, is a rangefinder that uses a laser beam to determine the distance to an object. The most common form of laser rangefinder operates on the time of flight principle by ...

The mast is manufactured by Sagem (now

Safran Safran S.A. () is a French Multinational corporation, multinational aerospace, defence industry, defence and computer security, security corporation headquartered in Paris. It designs, develops and manufactures both commercial and military airc ...

). The same mast can be found on the export oriented conventional attack submarines made by

Naval Group Naval Group is a major French industrial Corporate group, group specializing in navy, naval defense industry, defense design, development and shipbuilding, construction. Its headquarters are located in Paris. Heir to the French naval dockyards ...

Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force

The Sōryū-class submarine is equipped with the CM010 optronics mast.

Royal Navy

The

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

tested an optronic mast on the in 1998. nuclear attack submarines are equipped with two

Thales Thales of Miletus ( ; ; ) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek Pre-Socratic philosophy, pre-Socratic Philosophy, philosopher from Miletus in Ionia, Asia Minor. Thales was one of the Seven Sages of Greece, Seven Sages, founding figure ...

CM010 optronics mast similar in capabilities to the Sagem model in French use.

Russian Navy

The Yasen and

Borei-class submarine The Borei class, alternate transliteration Borey, Russian designation Project 955 ''Borei'' and Project 955A ''Borei-A'' (, NATO reporting name Dolgorukiy), are a series of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines being constructed by Sevma ...

s are fitted with photonics masts developed by Shvabe, a subsidiary of

Rostec Rostec, formally trading as State Corporation "Rostec", fully the State Corporation for the Promotion of the Development, Manufacture, and Export of High Tech Products "Rostec" and formerly Rostekhnologii, is a Russian State corporation (Russia), ...

. The Elektropribor Central Research Institute has also developed the ''Parus-98'' photonics mast for the conventional Lada-class submarines and the export market (''Parus-98E'').

United States Navy

In 2004, the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

began fitting photonics masts to s. According to the US Navy:

In ''Virginia''-class boats, traditional periscopes have been supplanted by two Photonics Masts that house color, high-resolution black and white, and infrared digital cameras atop telescoping arms. With the removal of the barrel periscopes, the ships’
control room A control room or operations room is a central space where a large physical facility or physically dispersed service can be monitored and controlled. It is often part of a larger command center. Overview A control room's purpose is produc ...
has been moved down one deck and away from the hull’s curvature, affording it more room and an improved layout that provides the
commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...
with enhanced
situational awareness Situational awareness or situation awareness, often abbreviated as SA is the understanding of an environment, its elements, and how it changes with respect to time or other factors. It is also defined as the perception of the elements in the envi ...
.

References

External links

US Navy Fact Sheet, Attack Submarines
- from

HowStuffWorks HowStuffWorks is an American commercial infotainment website founded by professor and author Marshall Brain, to provide its target audience an insight into the way many things work. The site uses various media to explain complex concepts, term ...

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