Stonetipsareoneoftheearliestformsofweaponsassumedbyarchaeo with the earliest surviving examples of stone tips with animal blood to around 64,000 years ago from the Natal, in what is now South These early arrows were just a stone tip, which is advantageous over o materials because it enables weapons to cut through tougher hid create larger wounds, killing more easily. There is as yet no direct ev for bows during the African Pleistocene, and the hypothesis that ver stone points were used to tip darts or arrows remains unsupported trace studies and contextual evidence. Some hypothesised concom such as the use of bow drills, also remain elusive. Bows and arrows had arrived in Europe by the Late Paleolithic period, a 9,000–11,000 BCE,andseemtohavearrivedintheAmericasbyatleas BCE. The oldest extant bows, from the Holmegård region in Denmar to around 6,000 BCE. The bows were quite effective against the enemi were far from the archer, and so archers were sought after in recruitm armies. When people started horse riding at around 2500 BCE, com bows were created. In 1200 BCE, the Hittites, originating from Anatol arrows using their bows on light chariots. In 1000 BCE some of these riding archers from Central Asia invented the recurve bow, which wa shape of a “W” and had an improved elasticity. Arrows, Stone Tips and Bows Pre-history and the ancient
ologists, d dating Africa. organic des and vidence ry early, by use- mitants, around st 6,000 rk, date ies that ment for mposite lia, shot e horse- as in the world
Fish was a major source of food in the ancient world, and the Egy lived on whatever the river Nile had to offer to them. Papyrus bo reported to have been first constructed in the predynastic period purpose of fishing. Most of the Egyptians used boats to transportwarr order to intercept a foreign boat, they used large stones, which they wou in the direction of enemy boats, by hand or using a catapult. The Egy traded with the Phoenicians in around 2200 BCE, For safety of their boa would fix a bow. The Egyptian New Kingdom re-organized the standin and also focused on making new and improved boats. During this Egypt’s navy was extensive, and bigger ships of seventy to eighty tons to long voyages became quite common. Many cargo ships were con into battle ships. Seafaring was not safe, and in order to have smooth t relations, they built a large fleet and took control of the sea. The tem Medinet Habu has reliefs depicting the fleet of Ramses III fighting a battle against the Sea Peoples. The Phoenicians are said to have dev the first war galley armed with a battering ram for attacking other s the ancient world. Ancient Naval weapons
yptians oats are for the riors. In uld hurl yptians ats they ng army period, s suited nverted trading mple of a naval veloped ships in
Chariots, a mode of transportation, were used as a weapon by peoples. The Hittites used chariots to crash into enemies, wher Egyptians used them to stay away from enemies and attack them by andspears.Thesevehicleswere firstmadeinMesopotamiabythe Sum as four-wheeled wagons each pulled by four donkeys. Every wago two individuals; a driver, and a warrior armed with a spear or an ax historians[who?] believe that chariots were first developed in the Eu steppes, somewhere near Russia and Uzbekistan. After the introd of horses, it was discovered that they were much faster and conseq chariots became more fierce weapons with the combination of speed, s and mobility. The Hyksos introduced chariots in Egypt, these chario later modified into the Egyptian style, parts were changed and de with Egyptian symbols and paintings. However, by the 15th centur TutmosesIII made1000 chariots formilitaryexpedition. Eachchariot two men, one to drive and one to shoot arrows. Much later, the Eg changed their strategy and divided the charioteers into five squadron twenty-five chariots in each and two men in each chariot: a driver soldier armed with bows and arrows, a shield, a sword, and a javelin War Chariots
ancient reas the y arrows merians, on held x. Some urasian duction quently strength ots were ecorated ry BCE, t carried gyptians ns, with r and a n.
The Khopesh, also called the Canaanite “sickle-sword”, was used by the tribes who lived near Mesopotamia. These tribes, who attack the Egyptians occasionally, used the Khopesh as their main w These tribes later started trading with Egyptians and the Egyptians impressed by the shape and make of the sword that they decided to it themselves. Ramses II was the first pharaoh to have used the k in warfare during the battle of Kadesh. The Khopesh was designe that it could be used as an axe, a sword or a sickle. The Khopesh eve became the most popular sword in all of Egypt and a symbol of roya and strength. The Assyrian king Adad-nirari I (r. 1307–1275 BCE) display this sword during ritual ceremonies, and such curved sword be seen in Mesopotamian art and paintings. Some of these Khopesh were black in colour and came with a full tang. The average length Khopesh was around 40 to 60 cm, which is likely why the Mamluk Su based their sword, the Scimitar, off it. This weapon later spread all the Muslim Empires and to Eastern Europe. The Khopesh Sword
d mostly used to weapon. were so o adopt khopesh ed such entually al power used to ds could h swords h of the ultanate around
The classical Greek civilization had mastered the art of making The trident, a three pronged spear used for fishing, was a form o popular with the Greeks[clarification needed]. This weapon was used in the east by the Indians who called it Trishu spears) and by gladiators in Rome known as retarii, or ‘net-fight keeping with the historical use of the trident in fishing. These net fighters would cast the net onto their enemies and onc enemies were trapped and helpless in the net, would then use the tri kill them or inflict serious injuries. The trident is also associated with various gods: Poseidon and his R counterpart Neptune were both associated with and often depicted trident, and the Hindu god Shiva also wields the trident. Trident
spears. of spear ul (three ters’, in ce their ident to Roman d with a
The Macedonians emerged as a power in Greece after the cripp Sparta at the Battle of Leuctra, the ascent to power of King Ph who, through a combination of military power and diplomacy, unifi Greek City-states and formed the Corinthian League to fight the Per The Macedonians followed the traditional military strategy adopted Greek city-states, the phalanx, though unlike other Greeks the Maced infantry was equipped with the “sarissa”, a spear as long as 15 feet leaf-shaped spearhead. Unlike the cities of Greece proper, the Maced army also had a dedicated cavalry, as the flat plains of Macedon were suited to cavalry combat than the mountainous country to the south The Macedonians engineers had developed heavy weapons and a pieces, with enough power to breach the gates and walls of a fortifica Torsioncatapultswerealsodevelopedalittlelateraswellasheavyweapon as the ballistae, and the smaller, and more portable weapons, cheirob were improved by King Philip II and Alexander the Great. The Macedonians
pling of hillip II fied the rsians. d by the donian t with a donian e better h. artillery ation. nssuch ballistra
In addition to short swords, Roman infantry typically carried a sp other type of pole weapon. The most common was known as the javelin, a heavy spear that co either thrown or thrusted. Similar in function to the javelin was the fuscina. Although not used Roman military, this fork-like trident was one of the most popular gla weapons. A version of the javelin that had a much longer and thinner tip w pilum, which could pierce armor or shields when thrown. Several pila be thrown to initiate combat, disrupting the structure and defense of armies and providing an opportunity for close combat, where the g would take over. The design of the pilum allowed it to become lodged in an enemy Removing a pilum from a shield was often difficult and time-cons during combat. In fact, most were not reusable after removal. Spears
pear or ould be d by the adiator was the a could enemy gladius shield. suming
Siege warfare gave the Roman army significant offensive advantag their enemies. Though the catapult was developed in ancient G the Romans were able to replace the traditional Greek catapult m wood making the most stressed components out of iron or bronz allowed for a reduction in size and also the ability to increase the levelstoprovidemorepower. Sinceadetailedunderstandingof mathe and mechanics was required to design the catapult, it stands as a example of cooperation between ancient science and technology. Add knowledge in topics like metallurgy and machine design helped to im the performance of catapults. One example is the addition of m elements like springs and copper bearings. Itwasknownthatthesizeofthecatapult’scomponentsshouldbepropo to the weight of its intended projectile. As a result, tables relating sta part sizes and common projectile weights were assembled, which dra increased the efficiency and production rate of catapults.The Roman ca could be moved and operated by a single soldier, which allowed a efficient use of soldiers and resources. These machineswere torsion-p and most were used to launch large spherical or dart-like projectiles.Ho more creative optionswere often used.These included poisonous snak of bees, and dead bodies that were infected with diseases like the pla Catapults
ges over Greece, made of ze. This e stress ematics a prime ditional mprove machine ortional andard astically atapult a more powered owever, kes, jars ague.
Many barbarians had served in the Roman army and so used weapons to those in that army. However, after a brief perio barbarian tribes including the Vandals, the Ostrogoths, Visigoth Franks started to develop and make their own weapons. Archers be fire iron-tipped arrows, the cavalry and infantry both initiated the longer two-edged swords. Meanwhile, the Franks used a variety of we they chose not to wear their armor and instead carried more weapon In 470 Sidonius Apollinaris recalls his first meeting with Frankish s and according to him, the Franks hung their swords onto their sho they also carried with them barbed lances and throwing axes. Many Fr warriors also did not wear helmets. They carried their traditional d edged axe and never carried any missile weapons. Amongst all the barbarian tribes, Merovingian kingdom of the became the most powerful realm in Western Europe. Most of the was exercised by the military lords who eventually gained total con the Merovingian kingdom in late 600 AD. Pippin II, who had gaine control of the Merovingian kingdom passed Mayorships to his illeg son, Charles Martel, in 714. Weapons of the barbarians Early Middle Ages
similar od, the hs, and egan to e use of eapons, ns. soldiers oulders, rankish double- Franks e power ntrol of ed total gitimate
During the reign of Justinian, the emperor of Constantinop Byzantine empire became military active. He sent a huge arm capture the North African provinces from the Vandals, and by 534 A Byzantine general Belisarius had destroyed the Vandal power and pro to march through Italy to conquer Rome from the Ostrogoths. By 5 Byzantines wiped the Ostrogoths from Italy. The Byzantines were witnessing great advances in military engin possessing a highly disciplined military force and military technicia contributed to the development of siegeweapons that the civilizedwor neverseen. In around 672, an incendiary substance known as Greek F invented. Greek fire was sprayed from early flamethrowers on ships as dromons. Researchers have been unable to duplicate this substance ships were set alight by the Greek fire and it had the capability to ki number of warriors inside the ship with one shot. Some of the early devices used by the Byzantines were torsion p engines used to shoot arrows with greater intensity. The Byzantine m engineers were learning and developing more sophisticated siege we and by the 10th century they had adopted engineering techniques u the Muslims. The Byzantine armoury
ple, the my to re- AD, the oceeded 565, the neering, ans who rld had Fire was known e today, ill large powered military eapons, used by
The Islamic world had already advanced way ahead of others in m engineering which, according to historians, was due to trade re with China. The Islamic world had learned that the Chinese tech was known to be superior to that of the Greeks or the Romans. Ara generals were encouraging the use of new technology and inherited a sophisticated tradition of siege warfare. The Trebuchet, capable of throwing huge stones and piles of rocks w to have been invented in the Middle East by the Muslim enginee Trebuchet was probably copied from the Chinese huo-pa’o, which ha adopted by the Mongols and carried west by them. Some Trebuchets were used to throw dead horses into a besieged city to disease. The Muslims had adopted the technology and traditions o whom they conquered. Like the Syrians, the Iranians and later the Byza the Muslims had also attacked Byzantine using the most advance weapons.Inthemid-8thcentury,CaliphMarwanIIof Syriahadmoret stone-throwing machines stored with him. The Abbasid Caliphate w set their capital in Baghdad rather than Syria had specialized in ma operations and stationed these devastation military geniuses in a fortresses. Weapons of the Mediterranean
military elations hnology, ab army a highly was said ers. The ad been o spread of those antines, ed siege than 80 who had angonel all their
Chinese people had witnessed conflicts and constant warfare all China. Fifty years after the fall of the Tang Dynasty, China wit five successive dynasties in the north along with a dozen small nat the south in a short timespan. The quick rise and fall of these co and the fragmented nature is a result of the rise of warlords towar later half of the Tang dynasty. In 960, Zhao Kuangyin staged a coup own to take over the dominant northern dynasty of the later Zho founded the Song dynasty. He was able to finally reunite all the fragm states of the south and put an end to the problem of military coup had plagued China for the last century. The Song established its cap Kaifeng on the Yellow river. It was during the reign of this dynasty th Chinese started to produce gunpowder using saltpeter, sulfur and c bnvSome historians believe that the Chinese did not consider gunpo particularly important weapon, though in fact they were the first pe systematically use gunpowder as weapons on a wide scale. Even the who had probably been using gunpowder much earlier than the Euro referred to potassium nitrate as ‘Snow from China’ Chinese gunpowder weapons
l across tnessed tions in ountries rds the p of his ou, and mented ps that pital at hat the carbon. owder a eople to Arabs, opeans,
The Norman knights that invaded England, and defeated the S at Hastings in 1066, dressed in chainmail and swinging swords horseback, made history. William the Conqueror had successfully landed with his army of Nor consisting of an infantry composed of spearmen, swordsmen, and a in Britain to claim his authority over the throne of England, Norman c was well equipped with maces, axes, swords and boiled leather armo The Normans Later Middle Ages
Saxons s from rmans archers cavalry ours.
Western Europe by this time had already reached a level of m sophistication, the Arabs had even started to adopt Ifran known as Frankish , a stone throwing engine. The Europeans were means trying to outclass the Byzantines, the Indians and the Arabs in technology. The Mongols on the other hand had brought about a revo in siege warfare. They had learned the art of making siege weapons conquering northern China, recovering some mangonels, trebuche rams from Chinese engineers. Advanced Warfare
military nji also e by all n siege olution s while ets and
TheNormansandtheByzantinesweresuccessfulindrivingouttheM invaders from the Greek Islands, Southern Italy and Sicily. Though were little military operations the Europeans, assuming that the M were vulnerable, embarked on a mission to recapture the holy lan by them centuries before. However, a powerful tribe from the mid steppes, the Seljuk Turks emerged and started to massacre the Ch pilgrims in Syria. Responding to these attacks, the Byzantines fought a against the Seljuk Turks, the battle of Manzikert, where they were de resulting in the Byzantines pulling back all their armies from Asia Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus, requested for aid from Chri he petitioned Pope Urban II to aid the Byzantines in regaining the territories. Pope Urban II summoned the Christian armies in 1095 an them to recapture the holy Land from the hands of the Muslims. Not is known about the weapons that were being produced in Western E at the time of Crusades, but it is evident that their cavalry used lance Europeans armies also used crossbows excessively, it was said to be th known infantry weapon used by the Europeans. By the late 13th centu power of crossbows increased, infantry weapons of the Crusaders va shape, sizes and quality. The Crusades
Muslim h these Muslims nd lost d-Asian hristian a battle efeated Minor. istians, eir lost nd sent t much Europe es. The he best ury, the aried in
The English longbow was greatly responsible for making E a major military power in the late medieval period, the Engli introduced this deadly longbow during the Battle of Crecy. King Edw was ravaging the countryside during the invasion of France, King P of France intercepted the English near the town of Crecy. The Fren easily outnumbered the English. Apart from armoured knights the army also had nearly 4,000 Genoese crossbowmen. But the English outnumbered the Genoese and rained arrows, the English could sh times faster than the Genoese crossbowmen. When the French m knights tried to infiltrate into the English lines, the longbowmen their attention to them and started to shoot, resulting in chaos. The started to crash into each other, cavalry was destroyed and the Frenc annihilated. The longbow was made of a simple piece of wood, but its was fairlysophisticated.Thebow’sback,thepart facingawayfromthe was the more flexible sapwood, that allowed the bow to be bent more without breaking or causing any further damage. Longbow
England ish had ward III Philip VI nch had French archers hoot five mounted turned e horses ch army s design e archer, sharply
Medieval weapons continued to be used during the Renaissanc as in the Islamic gunpowder empires and the English Civil War weapons included the guisarme, halberd, sword, mace, and partisa halberd was a traditional weapon used by the Swiss, consisting of a blade topped with a spike, with a hook or pick on the back, on top of pole.This weapon was mostly used by foot soldiers against cavalry. Ha became obsolete when improved pikes started to be produced in numbers. Meanwhile, the partisan was introduced in England in th century and was used excessively and extensively in Europe and esp in France. The original partisan was spear with small wings added b The sword remained the most popularweapon during Renaissance, h it underwent many changes. Various extensions were added desig protect the hands of its owner. The two-handed sword was widely u Western Europe, being employed both by the rich and the poor. The during this period were usually equipped with double edged swords, h arquebus, crossbows and improvised axes. Early-Modern Period
ce, such r. These an. The an axe- f a long alberds n huge he 14th pecially below it. however gned to used in armies halberd,
Chinawasthefirstplacewherecannonswereusedforbattle.Metalca were manufactured and mounted on the Great Wall of China to it from the Mongolian hordes, the Mongols learned this technology an cannons to invade Korea. In 1593 cannons were used most effectivel Siege of Pyongyang, Ming warriors made cannons to fight the Japan battle was won by the Ming warriors because the Japanese lacked ca or any sort of gunpowder weapons. During the siege of Constantin 1453, Mohammed the Conqueror, sultan of Turkey, ordered his Hun engineer,Urbantodevelopthebiggestgunseverseen. Oncethesehug cannons or bombards were in position, the walls of Constantinopl tumbling down. The introduction of such bombards had a profoun on the European society, engineers started to design their walls kee mind the danger the walls could have when facing the newly intr bombards. Siege guns
annons o protect nd made ly in the nese, the annons nople in ngarian ge guns, le came nd effect eping in roduced
The use of the bayonet in starting in the 17th century allowed sold use muskets as pikes in close combat. The flintlock, invented s earlier, made firearms more reliable. Cartridges were also invented a this time, and made existing firearms easier to load. Submarinetechnologygraduallyadvancedduringthe17thand18thcen Early submarines were mounted with spars and powered by hand c By the mid-19th century, self-propelled torpedoes started to be used were largely ineffective until the end of the 19th century, when electric internal combustion engines could make them more powerful. The ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore’s based in South India, Tipu pioneered a number of advanced weapons, including the rocket art and the Mysorean rockets, which were later used by Napoleone Bon and the British Empire. In 1803, the British began using shrapnel. Rifling was invented in 1498, but it was not practical until the 19th c Rifling was invented in 1498, but it was not practical until the 19th century. Modern Era
diers to slightly around nturies. cranks. d. They city and Sultan tirellery naparte century.
This century saw a large increase in weapons innovation, but a ability to adversely affect the entire planet. Chemical weapons were first used on a large scale on the battlefield i War I, starting from 1914, despite existing international conventi prohibited the use of such weapons. In 1915, the first propeller plane that could safely fire a machine gun the propeller blades was invented. This led to later dogfights durin War I. Tanks were also used for the first time during World War I, were often slow and unreliable at first. However, they did allow more in the war. Early tanks were mounted with machine guns and light Armored vehicles with wheels had been used earlier, but they could n trenches. Tanks were used a lot more and in greater numbers in Wo II. The first weapon designed to be guided to target is the German Frit ship bomb. Ever since, more and more armed forces adopted weapons guided by electronics, human assistance or inertial guidance for wi of purposes, including UCAVs. The first weapon confirmed to reach outer space were the German V- in 1944, which were also among the first long-range ballistic miss rockets also led to the Space Race and eventually the Apollo 11 moon 20th century
also their in World ions that n through ng World but they e mobility artillery. not cross orld War tz-X anti- s that are ide range -2 rockets siles. V-2 landing.
This century saw increased use of guided weapons, to reduce the soldier fatalities and to increase effectiveness. The first practical laser weapon, called the Laser Weapon System, wa by the United States Navy and installed on the USS Ponce. It is desig destroy fast and small targets such as incoming missiles, fast attac and aircraft. 21th century
risk of as built gned to ck craft
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