U.S. Navy to Use Xbox Controllers Aboard Submarines

The U.S. Navy will save money and training time by giving young naval officers aboard submarines video game controllers to operate periscopes.

Awash in the pale glow of numerous cutting-edge tactical displays, the next generation of our Navy will control the periscopes of our most advanced underwater warships with a controller you can get for $30 at your local gaming store.

Rather than the specialized $38,000 control stick that Virginia-class submarines typically use to operate their sophisticated 360-degree periscopes, the Navy thought to employ something with which many of their junior officers were already intimately familiar: an Xbox 360 controller.

The USS John Warner took a demonstration model aboard during transit between Naval Station Norfolk and Groton, Connecticut. According to its Assistant Weapons Officer, Lt. j.g. Kyle Leonard:

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.

The results were immediate. Rather than hours spent in training to get even a rudimentary level of competence with the submarine’s high-tech array, the young officers were able to teach themselves how to effectively manipulate the craft’s dual photonic masts within minutes. The USS John Warner’s Senior Chief Mark Eichenlaub highlighted the stark difference:

That joystick is by no means cheap, and it is only designed to fit on a Virginia-class submarine. [However] I can go to any video game store and procure an Xbox controller anywhere in the world, so it makes a very easy replacement.

After extensive testing, the controller-based system will make its debut with the USS Colorado, intended to be commissioned by November 2017.

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