A TETHERED FLOATING FIBER OPTIC PERISCOPE FOR SUBMARINES

A REMOTE PERISCOPE IS PROPOSED THAT CAN BE DEPLOYED FROM A SUBMARINE. THE DEVICE REPLICATES THE FUNCTIONS OF A CONVENTIONAL PERISCOPE WHILE MAINTAINING ITS UNIQUE FEATURES. PRELIMINARY REQUIREMENTS ON THE NEW DEVICE HAVE BEEN SET. THE DEVICE SHOULD RISE TO ABOUT 4 M ABOVE THE WATERLINE FOR VIEWING OVER WAVES. THE RANGE SHOULD BE GREATER THAN 10 KM. THE PERFORMANCE AT RANGE SHOULD BE SUFFICIENT TO DETECT AND RECOGNIZE SMALL OBJECTS. THE PERISCOPE SHOULD HAVE A +60 TO -5 DEG FIELD OF REGARD IN ELEVATION AND 360 DEG IN AZIMUTH. A MAXIMUM POSSIBLE FIELD-OF-VIEW (FOV) IS DESIRABLE. DIRECT OPTICS FOVS ARE OPTIMISTIC GOALS FOR IMAGING DEVICES. THE OPTICAL ELEMENT DIAMETER, D, HAS DIRECT BEARING ON THE PERFORMANCE. THE LARGER D, THE LARGER EFFECTIVE RANGE. HOWEVER, OBSERVABILITY, SIZE, AND COST OF THE PACKAGE ALSO GROW WITHD. AFTER RELEASE FROM A STORAGE TRUNK, THE DEVICE (PROPORTIONED LIKE A TORPEDO) SWIMS TO A REMOTE STATION JUST UNDER THE SURFACE, FAR FROM THE SUBMARINE. HERE, THE AFT PORTION IS FLOODED, CAUSING A ROTATION TO VERTICAL. THE FORWARD PART IS THEN RAISED IN A MANNER SIMILAR TO THAT OF A CONVENTIONAL PERISCOPE. TWO STABILIZATION SYSTEMS WILL BE USED. THE FIRST (COARSE) SYSTEM WILL KEEP THE DEVICE VERTICAL AND WILL HOLD STATION AGAINST SURFACE SURRENTS. THE FINE SYSTEM WILL STABILIZE THE LINE-OF-SIGHT (LOS) TO A TARGET BY MOVING A MIRROR IN THE PERISCOPE HEAD. THE FINE SYSTEM WILL MOVE THE MIRROR IN PITCH AND YAW. ROLL ABOUT THE LOS WILL BE STABILIZED ELECTRONICALLY.