A period illustration of the
Battle of Crécy. English longbowmen figure prominently in the
foreground at right where they drive away the French
crossbowmen.
A
ranged weapon or
missile weapon is any
weapon that launches a
projectile or that is a projectile itself. In contrast, a weapon intended to be used in man-to-man combat is called a
melee weapon.
Early ranged weapons include thrown weapons such as
javelins,
slings,
darts, the
bow and arrow, and
medieval siege engines like
catapults,
ballistas and
trebuchets. These ranged weapons were extremely effective in combat in comparison to close-combat weapons, as they gave the wielder opportunity to launch multiple projectiles before an enemy armed with melee weapons or shorter ranged missile weapon posed a threat to him. Siege engines were also used for passing or hitting obstacles like
fortifications.
After the invention of
gunpowder and the development of
firearms, ranged weapons became the weapon of choice. In
modern warfare, ranged weaponry is used in the form of
cruise and
ballistic missiles. Maximum effective range of a weapon is the greatest distance fired and able to produce casualties or damage consistently.
List of missile weapons
Pre-modern missile weapons
Trebuchet at Château des Baux,
France.
Modern missile weapons
Exocet missile in flight
See also
