How It Works-Amazing Vehicles

2

Frigate

Lightly armed, medium-sized ships

generally used to protect other militar y or

civilian vessels. Recently, frigates have

been re-focused to take out submarines.

Battleship types

3

Destroyer

Large and heavily armed, destroyers

are t ypically outfi tted for anti-submarine,

anti-aircraft and anti-surface warfare, and

can remain at sea for months on end.

5

Carrier

Ocean-going leviathans, carriers are

the largest battleship. Their primar y role

is as a seagoing airbase, launching combat

aircraft, but they also come heavily armed.

4

Cruiser

The cruiser is an armed-to-the-teeth

multi-role vessel akin to a modern

destroyer. While cruisers are still in use,

they have largely been superseded now.

1

Corvette

One of the smallest t ypes, the cor vette

is a lightly armed and manoeuvrable

vessel used for coastal operations. Stealth

cor vettes are now becoming popular too.

The key stages and technology that decide

the outcome of a modern naval battle

Rules of engagement

Threats

Modern battleships are

designed to engage a

number of threats,

including high-speed jet

aircraft, rival battleships

and deep-sea submarines.

Detection

To engage any of these

targets fi rst they need to

be detected – something

achieved via orbiting GPS

satellites, radar and sonar

communication systems.

Offensive

When on the offensive, a

battleship can engage

these targets with guided

or unguided missiles,

explosive shells and

deadly torpedoes.

Defensive

If attacked, a battleship can deploy

decoy systems like fl ares and

countering anti-missile munitions,

or directly engage incoming

threats with smart autocannons.

USS Iowa unloads a volley

of explosive shells from

its Mark 7 naval guns

A high-explosive guided

torpedo is projected

from a US battleship

More traditional 41cm

(16in) naval guns on board

the USS North Carolina

DID YOU KNOW? A Zumwalt-class destroyer costs around £2.4bn ($3.8bn) to build