The USS John Warner is the cutting edge in submarine technology and features some of the Navy's most advanced computers complete with flat-screen monitors and sailors born into a digital world to oversee them.
Now, it seems that the digital operation of these high tech war machines is becoming even more like video games since the Navy has adopted the use of Xbox 360 controllers just like the ones you see in nearly every living room in America.
<img src="https://8ch.net/file_store/33aadc4bd0753e0673617e81ddffe11eaa930de6b45107094d9563aa2a145b0d.jpg" style="max-height:640px;max-width:360px;">
<span style="margin-top:15px;rgba(42,51,6,0.7);font-size:12px;">Credit: U.S. Navy</span>
The Navy is introducing the use of the Xbox controllers to operate the high tech periscope on top of the submarine although they no longer look like they used to in movies. The latest periscopes use two photonics masts that rotate 360 degrees and feature high-resolution cameras whose images are displayed on flat screen monitors for the crew to see. Lt. j.g. Kyle Leonard is the USS John Warner's assistant weapons officer and says, "The Navy got together and they asked a bunch of J.O.s and junior guys, 'What can we do to make your life better?' And one of the things that came out is the controls for the scope. It's kind of clunky in your hand; it's real heavy."
Lockheed Martin has been working with Navy officials to use commercial technology to cut back on costs where they can as well as take advantage of the technological abilities sailors gained while growing up. The result of this idea is most recent integration of video-games and warfare. The Xbox controller costs $30 compared to the $38,000 price tag that would go along with the typical costs to create the photonic mast hand grip and imaging control panel.
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whattt?? weird..