Kategoria BISAC: History >> Military - Weapons

The Soviet T-80 Standard Tank was the last tank fielded before the Soviet collapse, and the most controversial. Like the US M1 Abrams tank, the T-80 used a turbine power plant rather than a conventional diesel. Although the design was blessed with some of the most sophisticated armament, fire controls, and multi-layer armor ever fielded on a Soviet tank, its power plant remained a source of considerable trouble through its career. It saw very little service in the Chechen War, though T-80 tanks were used in some of the regional conflicts in the former Soviet Union in the 1990s....

The Sengoku Jidai or "Age of Warring States" is the time of the samurai - Japan's military aristocracy. A period of endemic warfare where the absence of unifying central control led to constant struggles between the daimyo (or "Great Names") who sought to protect and extend the influence of their respective families through political and military means. However, it was also a time of great military change, as technology advanced rapidly, and the introduction of European gunpowder revolutionized infantry tactics and fortification technology.

This title provides a highly detailed...

The patrol vehicles used by Special Operations Forces in Afghanistan and Iraq vary quite dramatically between the theaters as well as amongst the Coalition members, and have been developed and upgraded to meet the demands of the deployment. Covering all the major Coalition nations, Leigh Neville continues his look at the elite forces deployed in Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom with this analysis of their vehicles.

Tracing the evolution of the vehicle types, from their historical precedents, through their designs to their operational developments, he discusses their...

First used in combat during the Punitive Expedition into Mexico and then extensively during both World War I (1914-1918) and World War II (1939-1945), the Colt Government Model (1911) pistol remained the standard issue handgun in the US armed forces for nearly 80 years and has continued in service with some units to this day. In fact, the M1911 has seen a resurgence among US Special Operations units, as US Marine MARSOC and MEUSOC personnel are issued current generation 1911-type pistols.

In addition, the pistol has seen service with famous law enforcement agencies such as the...

Throughout the Napoleonic Wars, there was a growing perception that a muzzle-loading rifle was more practical compared to the limitations of rifles then currently in use. This thinking ultimately resulted in the 1853 Enfield Pattern, a rifle which, for the first time, was issued to every soldier in the British Army instead of the few trained marksmen. Its use during the Crimean War and later the Indian Mutiny would vindicate this policy when it became clear that the infantry were now capable of outgunning artillery.

In addition, this was the first British weapon manufactured using...

The Sten submachine gun - officially the 'Carbine, Machine, Sten' - was developed to fulfil the pressing British need for large quantities of cheaply produced weapons after Dunkirk, when German invasion was a very real possibility. Over four million were built during World War II, and the Sten was widely used by airborne troops, tankers, and others who needed a compact weapon with substantial firepower. It proved especially popular with Resistance fighters as it was easy to conceal, deadly at close range, and could fire captured German ammunition. Using stamped-metal parts that required...

For nearly fifty years the hard-hitting, mobile Browning Automatic Rifle, or BAR, served in US infantry units as a light squad automatic "base of fire" weapon, providing quick bursts of concentrated fire. It was developed in response to the central dilemma of infantry combat in World War I - the need for a squad-level weapon that could suppress emplaced machine-gun positions. Designed by the renowned firearms manufacturer John M. Browning, the BAR could be fired from the shoulder or the hip while on the move. Unfortunately, initial production difficulties and commanders' reluctance to feed...

The Lee-Enfield is one of the 20th century's most recognizable and longest-serving military rifles. It was adopted by the British Army in 1895 and only replaced by the L1A1 SLR in 1957; even then a sniper variant, the L42A1, was used until 1989, giving a service life of nearly a century. It saw combat from the Boer War onwards, and thousands are still in use today, notably by the Taliban in Afghanistan; it is estimated that 17 million have been produced.

The Lee-Enfield featured an innovative detachable ten-round magazine; this large capacity, together with the weapon's...

The Webley .455in service revolver is among the most powerful top-break revolvers ever produced and has a claim to be the first 'tactical fighting pistol'. First adopted in 1887, in various marques it was the standard-issue service pistol for British and Commonwealth armed forces for nearly fifty years; later versions in .38in calibre went on to see further service in World War II and beyond, as well as in a host of law-enforcement roles around the world into the 1970s.
Developed to give British service personnel the ability to incapacitate their opponents in 'small wars' around the...

The US M60 Machine Gun, known as "the Pig," was developed in the years after World War II from two revolutionary German designs, combining the effective belt-feed system of the MG 42 machine gun with the bolt-operating design of the FG 42 rifle. Chambered for the standard NATO 7.62mm round, the M60 was the first US-issue machine gun to have a true quick-change barrel; it was capable of firing 100 rounds per minute in a sustained-fire role, with the gun team only having to change barrels every few minutes.

Adopted in 1957, the M60 came into its own in the jungles, hamlets, and city...