A
weapon is a
tool used to apply
force for the purpose of
hunting, attack,
self-defense, or defense in
combat.
Weapons can be as simple as a
club, or as complex as an
intercontinental ballistic missile, and include those that damage individual or group
morale.
History
Prehistoric weapons
An array of Neolithic artifacts, including bracelets, axe heads, chisels, and polishing tools.
Very simple weapon use has been seen in some communities of
chimpanzees.
[Jill D. Pruetz1 and Paco Bertolani, , Current Biology, March 6, 2007], leading to speculation that early
hominids may have first used weapons five million years ago. but these would probably have been wooden clubs, spears and unshaped stones—none of which would leave an unambiguous record.
The earliest unambiguous examples of weapons are:
- Eight wooden throwing spears, the Schöninger Speere, which have been dated as 400,000 years ago.
- By 250,000 years ago wooden spears were made with fire-hardened points
- The oldest atlatl (a spear-throwing weapon) dates back to 27,000 years ago.
Ancient world weapons
Ancient weapons were initially simply improvements of the late
neolithic versions, but then significant improvement in materials and techniques created a series of revolutions in
military technology:
- The domestication of the horse - and the invention of the spoked wheel by the Andronovo culture - led to the light, horse-drawn chariot. Chariots for use in battle were important in this era. The earliest spoke-wheeled chariots date to ca. 2000 BC and their usage peaked around 1300 BC (see Battle of Kadesh), then declined, ceasing to have military importance by the 4th century BC
- Iron ore is much more common than the copper and tin required for bronze, so although the early Iron Age sword was not necessarily superior to their bronze predecessors, once iron-working developed - around 1200 BC in the ancient Near East, and India and much later 800 BC in Europe - iron began to be used widely in weapons.
- Aggressive, militaristic empires
Weapons of the Middle Ages
In the west, warfare in the
middle ages was dominated by elite groups of
knights supported by massed
infantry (both in combat and ranged roles) and by
sieges which involved varying
siege weapons and tactics. Knights on horseback developed tactics for charging with
lances and drawing more practical weapons (such as
swords) once they are delivered the impact of their charge, whereas infantry, in the age before military organisation, relied on cheap, sturdy weapons such as
spears and billhooks in close combat and
bows at range. As time passed and armies grew more professional, equipment was more standardised and infantry switched to carrying
pikes with smaller weapons as side-arms. The introduction of
Gunpowder revolutionised warfare, as formations of
musketeers, protected by
pikemen came to dominate open battles, while sieges were revolutionised by the advent of
cannons.
Early modern period weapons
The
Renaissance marked the beginning of the implementation of firearms in warfare, with the introduction of
guns and
rockets to the battlefield.
Firearms are qualitatively different from earlier weapons because they store energy in a combustible
propellant such as
gunpowder, rather than in a weight or spring. This energy is released quite rapidly, and can be restored without much effort by the user, so that even early firearms such as the
arquebus were much more
powerful than human-powered weapons. They became increasingly important and effective during the 16th century to 19th century, with progressive improvements in
ignition mechanisms followed by revolutionary changes in
ammunition handling and propellant. During the
U.S. Civil War various technologies including the
machine gun and
ironclad warship emerged that would be recognizable and useful military weapons today, particularly in lower-technology conflicts. In the 19th century
warship propulsion changed from
sail power to
fossil fuel-powered
steam engines.
The age of edged weapons ended abruptly just before
World War I with rifled
artillery, such as
howitzers which were able to destroy any masonry fortress, as well as destroy other fortifications. This single invention caused a revolution in military affairs and doctrines that continues to this day.
See Technology during World War I for a detailed discussion.An important feature of
industrial age warfare was
technological escalation - an innovation could, and would, be rapidly matched by copying it, and often with yet another innovation to counter it. The
technological escalation during World War I was profound, producing armed
aircraft and
tanks.
This continued in the period between the end of that war and
the next, with continuous improvements of all weapons by all major powers. Many modern military weapons, particularly ground-based ones, are relatively minor improvements on those of
World War II.
See military technology during World War II for a detailed discussion.Modern weapons
The
Maxim gun and its successor the
Vickers (shown here) remained in British military service for 79 consecutive years.
Since the mid-18th century North American French-Indian war through the beginning of the 20th century, human-powered weapons were reduced from the primary weaponry of the battlefield yielding to gunpowder-based weaponry. Sometimes referred to as the "Age of Rifles", this period was characterized by the development of firearms for infantry and cannons for support, as well as the beginnings of mechanized weapons such as the
machine gun, the
tank and above all the wide introduction of
aircraft into
warfare, including naval warfare with the introduction of the
aircraft carriers.
World War I marked the entry of fully industrialized warfare as well as weapons of mass destruction (e.g. chemical and biological), and weapons were developed quickly to meet wartime needs. Above all it promised to the military commanders the independence from the
horse and the resurgence in
maneuver warfare through extensive use of motor vehicles. The changes that these
military technologies underwent before and during the
Second World War were evolutionary, but defined the development for the rest of the century. World War II however, perhaps marked the most frantic period of weapons development in the history of humanity. Massive numbers of new designs and concepts were fielded, and all existing technologies were improved between 1939 and 1945. The most powerful weapon invented during this period was the
atomic bomb.
Weapon development since the Second World War
After World War II, with the onset of the
Cold War, the constant technological development of
new weapons was institutionalized, as participants engaged in a constant race to develop weapons and counter-weapons. This constant state of weapons development continues into the modern era, and remains a constant draw on the resources of most nations.
Notable development in weaponry since World War II has been the combination and further development of weapons like
nuclear weapons and the
ballistic missile, leading to the configuration: the
ICBM. The Cold War race for bigger and more effective weapons lead to the development of the H-bomb (or hydrogen bomb) and multiple warhead missiles. The mutual possession of these by the
United States and the
Soviet Union ensured that either nation could inflict terrible damage on the other; so terrible, in fact, that neither nation was willing to instigate direct, all-out war with the other (a phenomenon known as
Mutually Assured Destruction). The indiscriminate nature of the destruction has made nuclear-tipped missiles essentially useless for the smaller wars fought since. However computer-guided weaponry of all kinds, from
precision-guided munitions (or "smart bombs") to computer-aimed tank rounds, has greatly increased weaponry's accuracy.
Being able to prepare, maneuver and attack before the enemy can detect the threat and respond can be a decisive advantage. The element of surprise has long been recognized as a tactical advantage. Modern technology can increase this, such as when one side has sophisticated
night vision technology allowing maneuvering and combat at night when the enemy, not so equipped, is limited. High tech surveillance and
intelligence gathering methods such as
unmanned aerial vehicles can prevent surprise or identify targets. Coordination of forces is necessary in order to utilize separated forces effectively, modern communications, if unjammed and unintercepted are substantial advantages. Even once targets or strategic objectives are identified, it is necessary to prepare detailed plans for individual forces to follow, a time consuming process that modern armies are trying to computerize to achieve an advantage of speed over the enemy.
Since interfering with enemy infrastructure, intelligence and communications yields an advantage, and a weapon is defined as something that grants such an advantage, new targets and weapons such as
cyberwarfare are becoming possible.
Classification of weapons
It is useful to look at three facets when classifying weapon systems: Who uses it; How it works, and What it targets:
Who uses it
- what person or unit uses the weapon
- Fortification weapons - mounted in a permanent installation, or used primarily within a fortification.
- Mountain weapons - for use by mountain forces or those operating in difficult terrain.
- Railway weapons - designed to be mounted on railway cars, including armored trains.
- Space weapons - are designed to be used in or launched from space.
How it works
- the construction of the weapon and principle of operation
- Archery weapons operate by using a tensioned string to launch a projectile.
- Artillery are capable of launching heavy projectiles over long distances.
- Energy weapons rely on concentrating forms of energy to attack, such as lasers or sonic attack.
- Firearms use a chemical charge to launch projectiles.
- Magnetic weapons use magnetic fields to propel projectiles, or to focus particle beams.
- Mêlée weapons operate as physical extensions of the user's body and directly impact their target.
- Missiles are rockets which are guided to their target after launch. (Also a general term for projectile weapons).
- Primitive weapons make little or no use of technological or industrial elements.
- Rockets use chemical propellant to accelerate a projectile
- Suicide weapons exploit the willingness of their operator to not survive the attack.
- Trojan weapons appear on face value to be gifts, though the intent is to in some way to harm the recipient.
What it targets
''- the type of target the weapon is designed to attack
- Anti-aircraft weapons target missiles and aerial vehicles in flight.
- Anti-radiation weapons target sources of electronic radiation, particularly radar emitters.
See also
Citations and notes
