![Dangerous weapons seized from holiday flights at Manchester Airport](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Dangerous_weapons_seized_from_holiday_flights_at_Manchester_Airport.jpg)
A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as
hunting
Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/antler, ...
,
crime
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...
,
law enforcement
Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules
Rule or ruling may refer to:
Education ...
,
self-defense
Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force ...
,
war
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
fare, or
suicide. In broader context, weapons may be construed to include anything used to gain a tactical, strategic, material or mental advantage over an adversary or enemy target.
While ordinary objects – sticks, rocks, bottles, chairs, vehicles – can be
used as weapons, many objects are expressly designed for the purpose; these range from simple implements such as
clubs
Club may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Club'' (magazine)
* Club, a '' Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character
* Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards
* Club music
* "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea''
Brands and enterprises ...
,
axe
An axe ( sometimes ax in American English; see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has ma ...
s and
swords, to complicated modern
firearms,
tank
A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engi ...
s,
intercontinental ballistic missiles,
biological weapons
A biological agent (also called bio-agent, biological threat agent, biological warfare agent, biological weapon, or bioweapon) is a bacterium, virus, protozoan, parasite, fungus, or toxin that can be used purposefully as a weapon in bioterrorism ...
, and
cyberweapon
Cyberweapon is commonly defined as a malware agent employed for military, paramilitary, or intelligence objectives as part of a cyberattack. This includes computer viruses, trojans, spyware, and worms that can introduce corrupted code into existing ...
s. Something that has been re-purposed, converted, or enhanced to become a weapon of war is termed weaponized, such as a
weaponized virus or
weaponized laser.
History
The use of weapons is a major driver of
cultural evolution
Cultural evolution is an evolutionary theory of social change. It follows from the definition of culture as "information capable of affecting individuals' behavior that they acquire from other members of their species through teaching, imitation a ...
and
human history
Human history, also called world history, is the narrative of humanity's past. It is understood and studied through anthropology, archaeology, genetics, and linguistics. Since the invention of writing, human history has been studied throug ...
up to today, since weapons are a type of tool which is used to dominate and subdue autonomous agents such as animals and by that allow for an expansion of the cultural niche, while simultaneously other weapon users (i.e., agents such as humans, groups, cultures) are able to adapt to weapons of enemies by learning, triggering a continuous process of competitive technological, skill and cognitive improvement (
arms race).
Prehistoric
![Néolithique 0001](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/N%C3%A9olithique_0001.jpg)
The use of objects as weapons has been observed among
chimpanzees
The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative th ...
,
leading to speculation that early
hominids
The Hominidae (), whose members are known as the great apes or hominids (), are a taxonomic family of primates that includes eight extant species in four genera: '' Pongo'' (the Bornean, Sumatran and Tapanuli orangutan); ''Gorilla'' (the ...
used weapons as early as five million years ago. However, this can not be confirmed using physical evidence because wooden clubs, spears, and unshaped stones would have left an ambiguous record. The earliest unambiguous weapons to be found are the
Schöningen spears
The Schöningen spears are a set of ten wooden weapons from the Palaeolithic Age that were excavated between 1994 and 1999 from the 'Spear Horizon' in the open-cast lignite mine in Schöningen, Helmstedt district, Germany. They were found toget ...
, eight wooden throwing spears dating back more than 300,000 years. At the site of Nataruk in Turkana, Kenya, numerous human skeletons dating to 10,000 years ago may present evidence of traumatic injuries to the head, neck, ribs, knees and hands, including
obsidian projectiles embedded in the bones that might have been caused from arrows and clubs during conflict between two hunter-gatherer groups. But the evidence interpretation of warfare at Nataruk has been challenged.
Ancient history
![Ballista-quadrirotis](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Ballista-quadrirotis.jpeg)
The earliest
ancient weapons
This is a list of historical pre- modern weapons grouped according to their uses, with rough classes set aside for very similar weapons. Some weapons may fit more than one category (e.g. the spear may be used either as a polearm or as a project ...
were evolutionary improvements of late
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...
implements, but significant improvements in materials and crafting techniques led to a series of revolutions in
military technology
Military technology is the application of technology for use in warfare. It comprises the kinds of technology that are distinctly military in nature and not civilian in application, usually because they lack useful or legal civilian applicatio ...
.
The development of metal tools began with
copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
during the
Copper Age (about 3,300 BC) and was followed by the
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...
, leading to the creation of the
Bronze Age sword
Bronze Age swords appeared from around the 17th century BC, in the Black Sea region and the Aegean, as a further development of the dagger. They were replaced by iron swords during the early part of the 1st millennium BC.
From an early time the ...
and similar weapons.
During the Bronze Age, the first defensive structures and
fortifications
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
appeared as well,
indicating an increased need for security. Weapons designed to breach fortifications followed soon after, such as the
battering ram
A battering ram is a siege engine that originated in ancient times and was designed to break open the masonry walls of fortifications or splinter their wooden gates. In its simplest form, a battering ram is just a large, heavy log carried b ...
, which was in use by 2500 BC.
The development of
iron-working
Ferrous metallurgy is the metallurgy of iron and its alloys. The earliest surviving prehistoric iron artifacts, from the 4th millennium BC in Egypt, were made from meteoritic iron-nickel. It is not known when or where the smelting of iron from ...
around 1300 BC in Greece had an important impact on the development of ancient weapons. It was not the introduction of early
Iron Age sword
Swords made of iron (as opposed to bronze) appear from the Early Iron Age (c. 12th century BC), but do not become widespread before the 8th century BC.
Early Iron Age swords were significantly different from later steel swords. They were work-har ...
s, however, as they were not superior to their bronze predecessors,
but rather the
domestication of the horse
A number of hypotheses exist on many of the key issues regarding the domestication of the horse. Although horses appeared in Paleolithic cave art as early as 30,000 BCE, these were wild horses and were probably hunted for meat.
How and when ho ...
and widespread use of
spoked wheels by c. 2000 BC. This led to the creation of the light, horse-drawn
chariot, whose improved mobility proved important during this era.
Spoke-wheeled chariot usage peaked around 1300 BC and then declined, ceasing to be militarily relevant by the 4th century BC.
Cavalry developed once horses were bred to support the weight of a human. The horse extended the range and increased the speed of attacks.
In addition to land based weaponry,
warship
A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster ...
s, such as the
trireme
A trireme( ; derived from Latin: ''trirēmis'' "with three banks of oars"; cf. Greek ''triērēs'', literally "three-rower") was an ancient vessel and a type of galley that was used by the ancient maritime civilizations of the Mediterranean S ...
, were in use by the 7th century BC.
Post-classical history
![Tower of London interior](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Tower_of_London_interior.jpg)
European warfare during the
Post-classical history
In world history, post-classical history refers to the period from about 500 AD to 1500, roughly corresponding to the European Middle Ages. The period is characterized by the expansion of civilizations geographically and development of trade ...
was dominated by elite groups of
knights supported by massed
infantry
Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...
(both in combat and ranged roles). They were involved in mobile combat and
sieges which involved various
siege weapon
A siege engine is a device that is designed to break or circumvent heavy castle doors, thick city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare. Some are immobile, constructed in place to attack enemy fortifications from a distance, while other ...
s and tactics. Knights on horseback developed tactics for charging with
lances
A lance is a spear designed to be used by a mounted warrior or cavalry soldier ( lancer). In ancient and medieval warfare, it evolved into the leading weapon in cavalry charges, and was unsuited for throwing or for repeated thrusting, unlike s ...
providing an impact on the enemy formations and then drawing more practical weapons (such as
swords) once they entered into the melee. By contrast, infantry, in the age before structured formations, relied on cheap, sturdy weapons such as
spear
A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fasten ...
s and billhooks in close combat and
bows from a distance. As armies became more professional, their equipment was standardized and infantry transitioned to
pikes. Pikes are normally seven to eight feet in length, and used in conjunction with smaller side-arms (short sword).
In Eastern and
Middle Eastern warfare, similar tactics were developed independent of European influences.
The introduction of
gunpowder
Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). Th ...
from the Asia at the end of this period revolutionized warfare. Formations of
musketeers
A musketeer (french: mousquetaire) was a type of soldier equipped with a musket. Musketeers were an important part of early modern warfare particularly in Europe as they normally comprised the majority of their infantry. The musketeer was a pr ...
, protected by
pikemen
A pike is a very long thrusting spear formerly used in European warfare from the Late Middle Ages and most of the Early Modern Period, and were wielded by foot soldiers deployed in pike square formation, until it was largely replaced by bayon ...
came to dominate open battles, and the
cannon
A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...
replaced the
trebuchet
A trebuchet (french: trébuchet) is a type of catapult that uses a long arm to throw a projectile. It was a common powerful siege engine until the advent of gunpowder. The design of a trebuchet allows it to launch projectiles of greater weight ...
as the dominant
siege weapon
A siege engine is a device that is designed to break or circumvent heavy castle doors, thick city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare. Some are immobile, constructed in place to attack enemy fortifications from a distance, while other ...
.
Modern history
Early modern
The European
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...
marked the beginning of the implementation of firearms in western warfare.
Gun
A gun is a ranged weapon designed to use a shooting tube (gun barrel) to launch projectiles. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns/cannons, spray guns for painting or pressure washing, p ...
s and
rocket
A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely fr ...
s were introduced to the battlefield.
Firearms are qualitatively different from earlier weapons because they release energy from combustible
propellants such as
gunpowder
Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). Th ...
, rather than from a counter-weight or spring. This energy is released very rapidly and can be replicated without much effort by the user. Therefore even early firearms such as the
arquebus
An arquebus ( ) is a form of long gun that appeared in Europe and the Ottoman Empire during the 15th century. An infantryman armed with an arquebus is called an arquebusier.
Although the term ''arquebus'', derived from the Dutch word ''Haakbus ...
were much more powerful than human-powered weapons. Firearms 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
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
new applications of firearms including the
machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) ar ...
and
ironclad warship
An ironclad is a steam-propelled warship protected by iron or steel armor plates, constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships to explosive or incendiary shells. Th ...
emerged that would still be recognizable and useful military weapons today, particularly in
limited conflicts. In the 19th century
warship
A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster ...
propulsion changed from
sail power to
fossil fuel-powered
steam engines.
![Prussian bayonet clean](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Prussian_bayonet_clean.jpg)
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
A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) ar ...
. Of particular note,
howitzers were able to destroy masonry fortresses and other fortifications, and this single invention caused a
revolution in military affairs, establishing tactics and doctrine that are still in use today.
World War I
![Vickers machine gun in the Battle of Passchendaele - September 1917](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Vickers_machine_gun_in_the_Battle_of_Passchendaele_-_September_1917.jpg)
An important feature of
industrial age warfare was
technological escalation Technological escalation describes the situation where two parties in competition tend to employ continual technological improvements in their attempt to defeat each other. Technology is defined here as a creative invention, either in the form of a ...
– innovations were rapidly matched through replication or countered by another innovation.
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
marked the entry of fully industrialized warfare as well as
weapons of mass destruction
A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or any other weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to numerous individuals or cause great damage to artificial structures (e.g., buildings), natu ...
(''e.g.'',
chemical
A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., w ...
and
biological weapons
A biological agent (also called bio-agent, biological threat agent, biological warfare agent, biological weapon, or bioweapon) is a bacterium, virus, protozoan, parasite, fungus, or toxin that can be used purposefully as a weapon in bioterrorism ...
), and new weapons were developed quickly to meet wartime needs. The
technological escalation during World War I was profound, including the wide introduction of
aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engine ...
into
warfare
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regul ...
, and naval warfare with the introduction of
aircraft carriers. Above all, it promised to the military commanders the independence from the horse and the resurgence in
maneuver warfare
Maneuver warfare, or manoeuvre warfare, is a military strategy which seeks to shatter the enemy's overall
cohesion and will to fight.
Background
Maneuver warfare, the use of initiative, originality and the unexpected, combined with a rut ...
through extensive use of motor vehicles. The changes that these military technologies underwent were evolutionary, but defined the development for the rest of the century.
Interwar
This period of innovation in weapon design continued in the inter-war period (between WWI and WWII) with continuous evolution of weapon systems by all major industrial powers. The major armament firms were
Schneider-Creusot
Schneider et Cie, also known as Schneider-Creusot for its birthplace in the French town of Le Creusot, was a historic French iron and steel-mill company which became a major arms manufacturer. In the 1960s, it was taken over by the Belgian Empain ...
(based in France),
Škoda Works
The Škoda Works ( cs, Škodovy závody, ) was one of the largest European industrial conglomerates of the 20th century, founded by Czech engineer Emil Škoda in 1859 in Plzeň, then in the Kingdom of Bohemia, Austrian Empire. It is the predece ...
(Czechoslovakia), and
Vickers
Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public i ...
(Great Britain). The 1920s were committed to disarmament and outlawing of war and poison gas, but rearmament picked up rapidly in the 1930s. The munitions makers responded nimbly to the rapidly shifting strategic and economic landscape. The main purchasers of munitions from the big three companies were Romania, Yugoslavia, Greece, and Turkey—and, to a lesser extent, in Poland, Finland, the Baltic States, and the Soviet Union.
=Criminalizing poison gas
=
Realistic critics understood that war could not really be outlawed, but its worst excesses might be banned. Poison gas became the focus of a worldwide crusade in the 1920s. Poison gas did not win battles, and the generals did not want it. The soldiers hated it far more intensely than bullets or explosive shells. By 1918, chemical shells made up 35 per cent of French ammunition supplies, 25 per cent of British, and 20 per cent of the American stock. The “Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous, or Other Gases and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare”, also known as the
Geneva Protocol
The Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare, usually called the Geneva Protocol, is a treaty prohibiting the use of chemical and biological weapons in ...
, was issued in 1925, and was accepted as policy by all major countries. In 1937 poison gas was manufactured in large quantities, but not used except against nations that lacked modern weapons or gas masks.
World War II and postwar
Many modern military weapons, particularly ground-based ones, are relatively minor improvements of weapon systems developed during World War II. World War II marked perhaps 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
nuclear bomb, however many other weapons influenced the world, such as jet planes and radar, but were overshadowed by the visibility of nuclear weapons and long-range rockets.
Nuclear weapons
Since the realization of
mutual assured destruction
Mutual assured destruction (MAD) is a doctrine of military strategy and national security policy which posits that a full-scale use of nuclear weapons by an attacker on a nuclear-armed defender with second-strike capabilities would cause the ...
(MAD), the nuclear option of all-out war is no longer considered a survivable scenario. During the
Cold War in the years following World War II, both the United States and the Soviet Union engaged in a
nuclear arms race
The nuclear arms race was an arms race competition for supremacy in nuclear warfare between the United States, the Soviet Union, and their respective allies during the Cold War. During this same period, in addition to the American and Soviet nuc ...
. Each country and their allies continually attempted to out-develop each other in the field of nuclear armaments. Once the joint technological capabilities reached the point of being able to ensure the destruction of the Earth x100 fold, then a new tactic had to be developed. With this realization, armaments development funding shifted back to primarily sponsoring the development of conventional arms technologies for support of
limited war
A limited war is one in which the belligerents do not expend all of the resources at their disposal, whether human, industrial, agricultural, military, natural, technological, or otherwise in a specific conflict. This may be to preserve those res ...
s rather than
total war
Total war is a type of warfare that includes any and all civilian-associated resources and infrastructure as legitimate military targets, mobilizes all of the resources of society to fight the war, and gives priority to warfare over non-combata ...
.
Types
By user
:''– what person or unit uses the weapon''
*
Personal weapon
A service pistol, also known as a personal weapon or an ordnance weapon, is any handgun issued to regular military personnel or law enforcement officers. Typically, service pistols are revolvers or semi-automatic pistols issued to officers, non- ...
s (or
small arms) – designed to be used by a single person.
*
Light weapons – 'man-portable' weapons that may require a small team to operate.
* Heavy weapons –
artillery
Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...
and similar weapons larger than light weapons (see
SALW
Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) refers in arms control protocols to two main classes of man-portable weapons.https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_52142.htm NATO, Small arms and light weapons (SALW) and mine action (MA)
* "Small arms", ...
).
*
Crew served weapon
A crew-served weapon is any weapon system that is issued to a crew of two or more individuals performing the same or separate tasks to run at maximum operational efficiency, as opposed to an individual-service weapon, which only requires one per ...
s – larger than personal weapons, requiring two or more people to operate correctly.
*
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.
*
Vehicle weapons
A vehicle (from la, vehiculum) is a machine that transports people or cargo. Vehicles include wagons, bicycles, motor vehicles (motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, mobility scooters for disabled people), railed vehicles (trains, trams), wat ...
– to be mounted on any type of
combat vehicle
A combat vehicle, also known as a ground combat vehicle, is a self-propelled, weaponized military vehicle used for combat operations in mechanized warfare. Combat vehicles can be wheeled or tracked.
History Ancient
The chariot is a type o ...
.
*
Railway weapons – designed to be mounted on railway cars, including armored trains.
*
Aircraft weapons
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines ...
– carried on and used by some type of
aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engine ...
,
helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...
, or other aerial vehicle.
*
Naval weapons
A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...
– mounted on
ship
A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...
s and
submarines.
*
Space weapon
Space weapons are weapons used in space warfare. They include weapons that can attack space systems in orbit (i.e. anti-satellite weapons), attack targets on the earth from space or disable missiles travelling through space. In the course of the ...
s – are designed to be used in or launched from space.
*
Autonomous weapon
Military robots are autonomous robots or remote-controlled mobile robots designed for military applications, from transport to search & rescue and attack.
Some such systems are currently in use, and many are under development.
History
Broad ...
s – are capable of accomplishing a mission with limited or no human intervention.
By function
:''– the construction of the weapon and principle of operation''
*
Antimatter weapon
An antimatter weapon is a theoretically possible device using antimatter as a power source, a propellant, or an explosive for a weapon. Antimatter weapons are currently too costly and unreliable to be viable in warfare, as producing antimatter i ...
s (theoretical) would combine matter and
antimatter
In modern physics, antimatter is defined as matter composed of the antiparticles (or "partners") of the corresponding particles in "ordinary" matter. Antimatter occurs in natural processes like cosmic ray collisions and some types of radioac ...
to cause a powerful explosion.
*
Archery weapons operate by using a tensioned string and bent solid to launch a projectile.
*
Artillery
Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...
are firearms capable of launching heavy projectiles over long distances.
*
Biological weapon
A biological agent (also called bio-agent, biological threat agent, biological warfare agent, biological weapon, or bioweapon) is a bacterium, virus, protozoan, parasite, fungus, or toxin that can be used purposefully as a weapon in bioterroris ...
s spread biological agents, causing disease or infection.
*
Chemical weapon
A chemical weapon (CW) is a specialized munition that uses chemicals formulated to inflict death or harm on humans. According to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), this can be any chemical compound intended as a ...
s, poisoning and causing reactions.
*
Energy weapons rely on concentrating forms of energy to attack, such as lasers or sonic attack.
*
Explosive weapon
An explosive weapon is a weapon that uses high explosive to project blast and/or fragmentation from a point of detonation.
In the common practice of states, explosive weapons are generally the preserve of the military, for use in situations of ...
s use a physical explosion to create blast concussion or spread
shrapnel
Shrapnel may refer to:
Military
* Shrapnel shell, explosive artillery munitions, generally for anti-personnel use
* Shrapnel (fragment), a hard loose material
Popular culture
* ''Shrapnel'' (Radical Comics)
* ''Shrapnel'', a game by Adam C ...
.
*
Firearms use a chemical charge to launch projectiles.
*
Improvised weapons are common objects, reused as weapons, such as crowbars and kitchen knives.
*
Incendiary weapon
Incendiary weapons, incendiary devices, incendiary munitions, or incendiary bombs are weapons designed to start fires or destroy sensitive equipment using fire (and sometimes used as anti-personnel weaponry), that use materials such as napalm, th ...
s cause damage by fire.
*
Non-lethal weapon
Non-lethal weapons, also called nonlethal weapons, less-lethal weapons, less-than-lethal weapons, non-deadly weapons, compliance weapons, or pain-inducing weapons are weapons intended to be less likely to kill a living target than conventiona ...
s are designed to subdue without killing.
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Magnetic weapon
A magnetic weapon is one that uses magnetic fields to accelerate or stop projectiles, or to focus charged particle beams. There are many hypothesised magnetic weapons, such as the railgun and coilgun which accelerate a magnetic (in the case of rai ...
s use magnetic fields to propel projectiles, or to focus particle beams.
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Melee weapon
A melee weapon, hand weapon or close combat weapon is any handheld weapon used in hand-to-hand combat, i.e. for use within the direct physical reach of the weapon itself, essentially functioning as an additional (and more impactful) extension of th ...
s operate as physical extensions of the user's body and directly impact a close target.
**
Blade weapon
An edged weapon, or bladed weapon, is a melee weapon with a cutting edge. Bladed weapons include swords, daggers, knives, and bayonets. Edged weapons are used to cut, hack, or slash; some edged weapons (such as many kinds of swords) may also permit ...
s, designed to pierce through flesh and cause bleeding.
**
Blunt instrument
A blunt instrument is any solid object used as a weapon, which damages its target by applying direct mechanical force, and has no penetrating point or edge, or is wielded so that the point or edge is not the part of the weapon that inflicts the i ...
s, designed to break bones, concuss or produce
crush injuries.
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Missile
In military terminology, a missile is a guided airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight usually by a jet engine or rocket motor. Missiles are thus also called guided missiles or guided rockets (when a previously unguided rocke ...
s are rockets which are guided to their target after launch. (Also a general term for
projectile weapons).
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Loitering munition
A loitering munition (also known as a suicide drone[Loitering Muniti ...](_blank)
s, designed to
loiter
Loitering is the act of remaining in a particular public place for a prolonged amount of time without any apparent purpose.
While the laws regarding loitering have been challenged and changed over time, loitering is still illegal in various j ...
over a battlefield, striking once a target is located.
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Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...
s use radioactive materials to create
nuclear fission and/or
nuclear fusion
Nuclear fusion is a reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei are combined to form one or more different atomic nuclei and subatomic particles ( neutrons or protons). The difference in mass between the reactants and products is manife ...
detonations.
*
Primitive weapons
Primitive may refer to:
Mathematics
* Primitive element (field theory)
* Primitive element (finite field)
* Primitive cell (crystallography)
* Primitive notion, axiomatic systems
* Primitive polynomial (disambiguation), one of two concepts
* Pri ...
make little or no use of technological or industrial elements.
*
Ranged weapons (unlike
melee weapon
A melee weapon, hand weapon or close combat weapon is any handheld weapon used in hand-to-hand combat, i.e. for use within the direct physical reach of the weapon itself, essentially functioning as an additional (and more impactful) extension of th ...
s), target a distant object or person.
*
Rockets
A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely ...
are self-propelled projectiles.
*
Suicide weapon
A suicide weapon is a weapon designed to be used in a suicide attack, typically based on explosives.
History
Suicide weapons have been used both in conventional warfare, as well as in terrorism.
In the Second Sino-Japanese War, Chinese used ...
s exploit the willingness of their operator not surviving the attack.
By target
:''– the type of target the weapon is designed to attack''
*
Anti-aircraft weapons target missiles and aerial vehicles in flight.
*
Anti-fortification weapons are designed to target enemy installations.
*
Anti-personnel weapon
An anti-personnel weapon is a weapon primarily used to maim or kill infantry and other personnel not behind armor, as opposed to attacking structures or vehicles, or hunting game. The development of defensive fortification and combat vehicles ga ...
s are designed to attack people, either individually or in numbers.
*
Anti-radiation weapons target sources of electronic radiation, particularly radar emitters.
*
Anti-satellite weapon
Anti-satellite weapons (ASAT) are space weapons designed to incapacitate or destroy satellites for strategic or tactical
purposes. Several nations possess operational ASAT systems. Although no ASAT system has been utilised in warfare, a few ...
s target orbiting satellites.
*
Anti-ship weapons target ships and vessels on water.
*
Anti-submarine weapon
An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapo ...
s target submarines and other underwater targets.
*
Anti-tank weapon
Anti-tank warfare originated from the need to develop technology and Military tactics, tactics to destroy tanks during World War I. Since the Triple Entente deployed the first tanks in 1916, the German Empire developed the first anti-tank weapon ...
s are designed to defeat armored targets.
*
Area denial weapons
An area denial weapon is a defensive device used to prevent an adversary from occupying or traversing an area of land, sea or air. The specific method used does not have to be totally effective in preventing passage (and sometimes is not) as lo ...
target territory, making it unsafe or unsuitable for enemy use or travel.
*
Hunting weapons are weapons used to hunt
game animal
Game or quarry is any wild animal hunted for animal products (primarily meat), for recreation (" sporting"), or for trophies. The species of animals hunted as game varies in different parts of the world and by different local jurisdictions, tho ...
s.
*
Infantry support weapons are designed to attack various threats to infantry units.
*
Siege engine
A siege engine is a device that is designed to break or circumvent heavy castle doors, thick city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare. Some are immobile, constructed in place to attack enemy fortifications from a distance, while oth ...
is designed to break or circumvent heavy fortifications in siege warfare.
Manufacture of weapons
![Pantex ordance plant 1944-01-26](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/Pantex_ordance_plant_1944-01-26.jpg)
The arms industry is a global industry that involves the sales and manufacture of weaponry. It consists of a
commercial
Commercial may refer to:
* a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television)
** Radio advertisement
** Television advertisement
* (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...
industry
Industry may refer to:
Economics
* Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity
* Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery
* The wider industrial sector ...
involved in the
research and development,
engineering
Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...
, production, and servicing of
military
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
material, equipment, and facilities. Many
industrialized countries have a domestic arms-industry to supply their own military forces - and some also have a substantial trade in weapons for use by its citizens, for self-defence, hunting or sporting purposes.
Contracts to supply a given country's military are awarded by governments, making arms contracts of substantial political importance. The link between politics and the arms trade can result in the development a "
military–industrial complex
The expression military–industrial complex (MIC) describes the relationship between a country's military and the defense industry that supplies it, seen together as a vested interest which influences public policy. A driving factor behind the r ...
", where the armed forces, commerce, and politics become closely linked.
According to research institute SIPRI, the volume of international transfers of major weapons in 2010–14 was 16 percent higher than in 2005–2009, and the arms sales of the world’s 100 largest private arms-producing and military services companies totalled $420 billion in 2018.
Legislation
The production, possession, trade and use of many weapons are controlled. This may be at a
local
Local may refer to:
Geography and transportation
* Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand
* Local, Missouri, a community in the United States
* Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administrat ...
or
central government
A central government is the government that is a controlling power over a unitary state. Another distinct but sovereign political entity is a federal government, which may have distinct powers at various levels of government, authorized or dele ...
level, or international treaty. Examples of such controls include:
* The
right of self-defense
The right of self-defense (also called, when it applies to the defense of another, alter ego defense, defense of others, defense of a third person) is the right for people to use reasonable or defensive force, for the purpose of defending one' ...
*
Knife legislation
Knife legislation is defined as the body of statutory law or case law promulgated or enacted by a government or other governing jurisdiction that prohibits, criminalizes, or restricts the otherwise legal manufacture, importation, sale, transfer, p ...
*
Air gun laws
This is a list of laws concerning air guns by country.
Most countries have laws about air guns, but these vary widely. Often each jurisdiction has its own unique definition of an air gun; and regulations may vary for weapons of different bore, ...
*
Gun law
Gun laws and policies, collectively referred to as firearms regulation or gun control, regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, and use of small arms by civilians. Laws of some countries may afford civilians a right to ...
*
Arms trafficking
Arms trafficking or gunrunning is the illicit trade of contraband small arms and ammunition, which constitutes part of a broad range of illegal activities often associated with transnational criminal organizations. The illegal trade of small arm ...
laws
*
Arms control treaties
*
Space Preservation Treaty
Gun laws
All countries have laws and policies regulating aspects such as the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification and use of small arms by civilians.
Countries which regulate access to firearms will typically restrict access to certain categories of firearms and then restrict the categories of persons who may be granted a license for access to such firearms. There may be separate licenses for hunting, sport shooting (a.k.a. target shooting), self-defense, collecting, and concealed carry, with different sets of requirements, permissions, and responsibilities.
Arms control laws
International treaties and agreements place restrictions upon the development, production, stockpiling, proliferation and usage of weapons from
small arms and
heavy weapons to
weapons of mass destruction
A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or any other weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to numerous individuals or cause great damage to artificial structures (e.g., buildings), natu ...
. Arms control is typically exercised through the use of diplomacy which seeks to impose such limitations upon consenting participants, although it may also comprise efforts by a nation or group of nations to enforce limitations upon a non-consenting country.
Arms trafficking laws
Arms trafficking is the trafficking of contraband weapons and
ammunition. What constitutes legal trade in firearms varies widely, depending on local and national laws.
Lifecycle problems
There are a number of issue around the potential ongoing risks from deployed weapons, the safe storage of weapons, and their eventual disposal when no longer effective or safe.
*
Ocean dumping
The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the worl ...
of unused weapons such as bombs, ordnance, landmines, and chemical weapons has been common practice by many nations, and has created hazards.
*
Unexploded ordnance (UXO) are bombs, land mines and naval mines and similar that did not explode when they were employed and still pose a risk for many years or decades.
*
Demining
Demining or mine clearance is the process of removing land mines from an area. In military operations, the object is to rapidly clear a path through a minefield, and this is often done with devices such as mine plows and blast waves. By cont ...
or mine clearance from areas of past conflict is a difficult process, but every year, landmines kill 15,000 to 20,000 people and severely maim countless more.
*
Nuclear terrorism
Nuclear terrorism refers to any person or persons detonating a nuclear weapon as an act of terrorism (i.e., illegal or immoral use of violence for a political or religious cause). Some definitions of nuclear terrorism include the sabotage of a ...
was a serious concern after the fall of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
, with the prospect of "loose nukes" being available. While this risk may have receded,
similar situation may arise in the future.
In science fiction
Strange and exotic weapons are a recurring feature or theme in
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
. In some cases, weapons first introduced in science fiction have now been made a reality. Other science fiction weapons remain purely fictional, and are often beyond the realms of known physical possibility.
At its most prosaic, science fiction features an endless variety of
sidearms, mostly variations on real weapons such as
gun
A gun is a ranged weapon designed to use a shooting tube (gun barrel) to launch projectiles. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns/cannons, spray guns for painting or pressure washing, p ...
s and
swords. Among the best-known of these are the
phaser used in the ''
Star Trek'' television series, films and novels and the
lightsaber
A lightsaber is a fictional energy sword featured throughout the '' Star Wars'' franchise. A typical lightsaber is depicted as a luminescent plasma blade about in length emitted from a metal hilt around in length. First introduced in the o ...
and
blaster featured in the ''
Star Wars'' movies, comics, novels and TV series.
In addition to adding action and entertainment value, weaponry in science fiction sometimes become themes when they touch on deeper concerns, often motivated by contemporary issues. One example is science fiction that deals with
weapons of mass destruction
A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or any other weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to numerous individuals or cause great damage to artificial structures (e.g., buildings), natu ...
.
See also
*
Arms industry
The arms industry, also known as the arms trade, is a global industry classification, industry which manufacturing, manufactures and sells weapons and military technology. It consists of a commerce, commercial Private industry, industry involved ...
*
Improvised explosive device
An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached to a detonating mecha ...
*
List of martial arts weapons
Weapons used in the world's martial arts can be classified either by type of weapon or by the martial arts school using them.
By weapon type Melee weapons
* List of melee weapons
** Bladed weapons
***Swords: see Types of swords
***Knives
***Dagge ...
*
List of practice weapons
This list of practice weapons, is of weapons specifically designed for practice in different martial arts from around the world. Unlike those in the list of martial arts weapons article, many of which are designed to be effective weapons, generally ...
*
Lists of weapons
This is an index of lists of weapons.
By time period
*List of medieval weapons
*List of premodern combat weapons
* List of American Civil War weapons
* List of World War I weapons
*List of World War II weapons
* List of Korean War weapons
* List ...
*
Military technology
Military technology is the application of technology for use in warfare. It comprises the kinds of technology that are distinctly military in nature and not civilian in application, usually because they lack useful or legal civilian applicatio ...
*
Riot control
Riot control measures are used by law enforcement, military, paramilitary or security forces to control, disperse, and arrest people who are involved in a riot, unlawful demonstration or unlawful protest.
If a riot is spontaneous and irratio ...
*
Toy weapon
Toy guns are toys which imitate real guns, but are designed for recreational sport or casual play by children. From hand-carved wooden replicas to factory-produced pop guns From Gilroy Gardens and cap guns, toy guns come in all sizes, price ...
*
Weapon mount
A weapon mount is an assembly or mechanism used to hold a weapon (typically a gun) onto a platform in order for it to function at maximum capacity. Weapon mounts can be broken down into two categories: static mounts and non-static mounts.
Sta ...
*
"Offensive" weapons
References
External links
*
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