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Weapon

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Engineering; Military
History and War

   The bayonet is used as both knife and spear.
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   The bayonet is used as both knife and spear.

   A weapon is a tool that is intended or is used to injure, kill, or
   incapacitate, to damage or destroy, or to otherwise render resources
   non-functional or unavailable. Weapons may be used to attack and
   defend, and consequently also to threaten or protect. Metaphorically,
   anything used to damage (even psychologically) can be referred to as a
   weapon. A weapon can be as simple as a club or as complex as an
   intercontinental ballistic missile.

History

   Ancient Chinese cannon displayed in the Tower of London.
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   Ancient Chinese cannon displayed in the Tower of London.

   The weapon is any tool or object that is used to increase the
   destructive range or power of a human. From the earliest traces of
   mankind up to our modern civilization, weapons have been a facet of
   human development. Weapons development has accelerated along with other
   areas of technology in more modern times. In ancient times, from the
   dawn of humanity through the Classical civilizations of Greece and
   Rome, weapons were primarily extensions of an individual's strength,
   essentially making up for the human body's lack of natural weapons such
   as claws. These weapons allowed the bearer to be substantially more
   lethal than a similar human without such a weapon. The Medieval period,
   including the Middle Ages, marked a period of distinct advancement in
   weaponry. Due to some of the unique influences of the period, weapons
   revolved around two major areas. First was that of knights. These
   horsemen required new weapons, as well as promoting development of
   weapons to defeat them. Second was that of castles. The building of
   castles on a large scale necessitated new weapons to help defend and
   attack them.

   The Renaissance marked the beginning of the implementation of
   combustion based devices in warfare. The most long-lasting effect of
   this was the introduction of cannon and firearms to the battlefield,
   where they are still at the core of modern weaponry. However, many
   other machines of war were experimented with.

   From the American Revolution through the beginning of the 20th Century,
   human-powered weapons were finally excluded from the battlefield for
   the most part, as they were normally close-range & difficult to use.
   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.

   World War I marked the entry of fully industrialized warfare, and
   weapons were developed quickly to meet wartime needs. Many new
   technologies were developed, particularly in the development of
   military aircraft and vehicles. 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.
   Ultimately, the most powerful of all invented weapons was the nuclear
   bomb.

   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.

Ancient weapons

   The basic tasks a weapon must perform have not changed since ancient
   times. All weapons do one or more of the following:
    1. Concentrate pressure: the sharp end of a broken stone or pointed
       stick will apply more force per unit area, and do more harm, than
       the blunt end. A material's hardness determines its ability to
       apply or resist pressure.
    2. Store energy: an object accumulates kinetic energy as a person
       accelerates it, and releases this energy in a much shorter time
       frame upon impact, thus magnifying a person's power.
    3. Project force: a thrown rock or long stick allows a person to
       affect an adversary from a distance.

   As shown by the preceding examples, even simple items such as rocks and
   sticks can often serve these functions better than the human body. The
   usefulness of such tools made their development of paramount importance
   for a humanity consisting of small, thinly spread, hunter-gatherer
   communities. The first known traces of weapons are from the stone age
   with flint knives, handaxes and heads for large darts. There is no
   evidence for handaxes being thrown, but very good evidence for them
   having been used to butcher animals. Instead, darts seem to have been a
   powerful projectile weapon: anthropologists have thrown reconstructed
   darts through several inches of oak using atlatls. The broad,
   leaf-shaped heads penetrate deeply, and easily cut arteries.
   Bronze age weaponry.
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   Bronze age weaponry.

   Some weapons are probably much older than the dart, although little
   early evidence for them exists. These include the sling and the spear.
   Even though these weapons are quite simple, they were a major military
   weapon at least until Roman times; a unit of fast-moving skirmishers
   could be equipped with them at very little cost. Lack of early evidence
   is understandable, as slings are prone to decay, and it would be
   difficult to prove that a particular stone has been used as ammunition.
   Similarly, there is less incentive to put a stone point onto a spear
   than a dart. A weighted spear point is a liability rather than an
   asset, and the greater momentum imparted by stabbing makes sharpness
   less critical than toughness, so that points of bone, antler, or even
   fire-hardened wood can make more effective spear points. Once metal
   became available, its toughness made spears and pikes the core of most
   infantry forces.

   Some of the earliest evidence for arrows are from ca. 20,000 BC in the
   Levant (the so-called 'Geometric Kebaran' period), made with several
   very small sharp pieces of stone embedded in an arrowshaft. Here again,
   far earlier examples may have been subject to decay: for instance, some
   cultures make weighted arrow points by cutting a hollow reed diagonally
   and filling the end segment with clay.

   Archery and swords have been crucial for warfare. Archery, because of
   the large amount of energy that can be easily stored and released using
   a bow, and short swords because of their lethality in close combat. Far
   greater energy can be stored in a composite bow than a wooden bow of
   the same weight due to clever mechanical design and choice of
   materials, but militarily such weapons were mostly limited to use in
   dry climates. Traditional designs are held together by animal glue
   (chemically similar to gelatin); moisture would weaken the glue and
   damage bows of this design. The long bow makes up for less exotic
   materials with its larger size. In another tradeoff, short swords can
   be optimized for either thrusting or cutting; the former focuses on
   pressure, the latter on energy. The gladius hispaniensis could slip
   through openings in armor, and Roman doctrine held that a stab wound as
   shallow as one inch could be lethal. The hatchet-like Greek kopis, by
   contrast, seems built to dismember, but its point-heavy balance might
   make it clumsy against comprehensive armor.

   The most effective defense to traditional weapons was a fortress. The
   doctrines to support fortresses in the age of edged weapons may have
   greatly influenced medieval and noble history. Medieval siege weapons
   were used in countervailing doctrines, but the stave-sling and even the
   bow often had superior range, making them unsafe to use.

Combustion-powered weapons

   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 are able to destroy any
   masonry fortress. 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.

   The most notable development in weaponry since World War II has been
   the combination and further development of two weapons first used in
   it—nuclear weapons and the ballistic missile, leading to its ultimate
   configuration: the ICBM. 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.

Information warfare

   In modern warfare, since all redoubts are traps, maneuver and
   coordination of forces is decisive, overshadowing particular weapons.
   The goal of every modern commander is therefore to "operate within the
   observation-decision-action cycle of the enemy." In this way, the
   modern commander can bring overwhelming force to bear on isolated
   groups of the enemy, and "tactically" overwhelm an enemy.

   Traditional military maneuvers tried to achieve this coordination with
   "fronts" made of lines of military assets. These were formerly the only
   way to prevent harm to friendly forces. Close-order marching and drill
   (a traditional military skill) was an early method to get relative
   superiority of coordination. Derivative methods (such as "leapfrogging
   units to advance a line") survived into combined arms warfare to
   coordinate aircraft, artillery, armor and infantry.

   Computers are changing this. The most extreme example so far (2003) is
   the use of " swarm" tactics by the U.S. military in Iraq. The U.S. had
   instantaneous, reliably encrypted communications, perfect navigation
   using GPS and computer-mediated communications to aim precision
   weapons.

   In swarm tactics, small units pass through possible enemy territory.
   When attacked they attempt to survive by calling down immediate
   overwhelming showers of precision-guided air-dropped munitions for
   armor, and cluster bombs for enemy troops. To consolidate such a
   region, nearby artillery begin bombardment, and ground units rush in on
   safe vectors through the bombardments, avoiding them by
   computer-mediated navigation aids.

   Thus in modern warfare, satellite navigation systems, digital radios
   and computers give decisive advantages to ordinary military personnel
   armed with weapons that are otherwise unremarkable.

Types of weapons

   An MP5K Personal defense weapon.
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   An MP5K Personal defense weapon.

   There are essentially three facets to classifying weapon types: who
   uses it, how it works, and what it targets.

   Who uses it essentially determines how it can be employed:
     * Personal weapons (or Small Arms) are designed to be used by an
       individual person.
     * Crew served weapons are larger than personal weapons, requiring
       more than one crew member to operate correctly.
     * Fortification weapons are designed to be mounted in a permanent
       installation, or used primarily within a fortification.
     * Mountain weapons are designed for use by mountain forces or those
       operating in difficult terrain and harsh climates.
     * Vehicle weapons are designed to be mounted on any type of military
       vehicle.
     * Railway weapons are designed to be mounted on railway cars,
       including armored trains.
     * Aircraft weapons are designed to be carried on and used by some
       type of aircraft, helicopter, or other aerial vehicle.
     * Naval weapons are designed to be mounted on ships and submarines.
     * Space weapons are designed to be used in or launched from space.

   How it works refers to the construction of the weapon and how it
   operates:
     * Antimatter weapons (still theoretical) combine matter and
       antimatter to cause a powerful explosion. Unfortunately (or
       fortunately), antimatter is hard to make and harder to store.
     * Archery related weapons operate by using a tensioned string to
       launch a projectile at some target.
     * Artillery are large firearms capable of launching heavy projectiles
       (normally explosive) over long distances.
     * Biological weapons spread biological agents, attacking humans (or
       livestock) by causing disease and infection.
     * Chemical weapons spread chemical agents, attacking humans by
       poisoning and causing reactions.
     * Energy weapons rely on concentrating forms of energy to attack,
       such as lasers, electrical shocks, and thermal or sonic attack.
     * Explosive weapons use a physical explosion to create blast
       concussion or spread shrapnel.
     * Firearms use a chemical charge to launch one or more projectiles
       down a rifled or smoothbore barrel.
     * Future weapons make use of futuristic high tech weapon systems and
       advanced materials.
     * Incendiary weapons rely on combustible materials and an ignition
       mechanism to cause damage by fire.
     * Non-lethal weapons are used to attack and subdue humans, but are
       designed to minimize the risk of killing the target.
     * Magnetic weapons is one that uses magnetic fields to accelerate and
       propel projectiles, or to focus charged 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.
       This is also a general term for projectile weapons.
     * Nuclear weapons use radioactive materials to create nuclear fission
       and/or nuclear fusion detonations above a target ("air-burst") or
       at ground-level.
     * Primitive weapons make no use of technological or industrial
       elements, instead being purely constructed of easily obtainable
       natural materials.
     * Ranged weapons cause a projectile to leave the user and (ideally)
       strike a target afterwards.
     * Rockets use chemical propellant to accelerate a projectile (usually
       with an explosive warhead) towards a target and are typically
       unguided once fired.
     * Suicide weapons are typically explosive in nature and exploit the
       willingness of their operator to not survive the attack to reach
       their target.

   What it targets refers to what type of target the weapon is designed to
   attack:
     * Anti-aircraft weapons target enemy aircraft, helicopters, missiles
       and any other aerial vehicles in flight.
     * Anti-fortification weapons are designed to target enemy
       installations, including bunkers and fortifications. The American
       bunker buster bomb is designed to travel almost 10 metres
       underground before detonating, toppling underground installations.
     * Anti-personnel weapons are designed to attack people, either
       individually or in numbers.
     * Anti-radiation weapons target enemy sources of electronic
       radiation, particularly radar emitters.
     * Anti-ship weapons target enemy ships and vessels on water.
     * Anti-submarine weapons target enemy submarines and other underwater
       targets.
     * Anti-tank weapons are primarily used to defeat armored targets, but
       may be targeted against other less well armored targets.
     * Area denial weapons are designed to target territory, making it
       unsafe or unsuitable for enemy use or travel.
     * Hunting weapons are designed particularly for use against animals
       for hunting purposes.
     * Infantry support weapons are designed to attack various threats to
       infantry units, supporting the infantry's operations, including
       heavy machine guns, mortars and pinpoint airstrikes ordered by the
       infantry, often to strike heavily defended positions, such as enemy
       camps or extensively powerful machine-gun nests.

Weapons by era

     * Ancient
     * Medieval
     * Military technology during the Napoleonic wars
     * Technology during World War I
     * Military technology during World War II
     * Military technology of the late 20th century
     * Modern weapons
     * All eras

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weapon"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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