History of Weapons

presentation of a brief history of how weapons have changed over time across various human civilizations.From Egypt to Romans to modern day.

1. History of weapons Saswat Das

2. A weapon is a tool or instrument used with the aim of causing damage or harm (either physical or mental) to living beings or artificial structures.

3. National defense Self defense Terrorism Other criminal activities Sports

4. People used clubs, axes and spears. Weapons were made from wood, stones and metal. Used for protection and hunting.

5. They fought with chariots pulled by donkeys. They also used bows and arrows, spears, axes and clubs. They wore copper helmets and carried rectangular shields.

6. They fought with spears, swords, axes, daggers and clubs or maces. From about 1,700 BC the army also had chariots. Important soldiers wore armour made of bronze.

7. The first people to use only iron weapons. They used a combination of chariots, cavalry and infantry. The Assyrians also equipped their soldiers with sturdy boots.

8. Protected by helmets, breastplates and backplates and shin guards called greaves. Thry carried two throwing spears and a sword. They carried round, bronze shields, long spears made of wood with a metal point.

9. A Roman legion naire wore a helmet, segmented armour, a curved shield made of layers of wood covered in leather. He carried a throwing spear called a pilum but his main weapon was a short sword called a gladius.

10. Saxon tactic was to form a 'shield wall' by standing side-by-side holding their shields in a line. The Vikings fought with spears, axes and swords.they use to built forts also.

11. Castles were built of stone. In the centre was a stone tower. Surrounding it was a curtain wall. The weakest part of a castle was its gate. Around the curtain wall were arrow slits and openings through which boiling liquids could be poured or stones could be dropped .

12. Attackers could use a variety of siege weapons like battering ram. To climb the castle walls you could use ladders. The attackers could also hurl missiles using siege engines

13. In the 16th century guns transformed warfare. Handguns were increasingly used. Forts and walled towns had bastions. Solid cannonballs (called shot) were useful for firing at walls during sieges and for firing at enemy ships.

14. In the early 16th century the Aztecs were fearsome warriors. They fought with slings and spears made of wood with blades edged with pieces of sharp obsidian

15. Samurai were hereditary warriors who followed a code of behaviour called bushido. Samurai fought with long swords, spears, daggers, skewers and small knive.

16. Indian soldiers fought with a curved sword called tulwar. Indian warriors carried a round shield called a dhal made of steel. Indians also fought with matchlock muskets, which they called bandukh toradas.

17. In the early 17th century firearms were either matchlocks or wheel locks. In 17th century the cartridge was invented. About 1680 the ring bayonet was invented

18. 19th Century Weapons The industrial revolution transformed warfare. Railways meant armies could be transported much faster than before. Sir William Congreve (1772-1828) developed the Congreve rocket. 1807 a Scot named Alexander Forsyth patented the percussion cap. In 1837 Johann von Dreyse invented the first breech loading firearm, the needle-gun.

19. 1835 Samuel Colt invented the revolver, the revolver made swords obsolete. In the 19th century many people experimented with machine guns. In the 19th century new explosives were invented to replace gunpowder. TNT was invented in 1863 and dynamite followed in 1867.

20. September 1916 the British introduced the tank. Submarines were used during the First and Second World Wars. 1915 the Germans began using Zeppelin airships

21. World War I World War I marked the entry of fully industrialized warfare as well as weapons of mass destruction (e.g., chemical and biological weapons), and new weapons were developed quickly to meet wartime needs. Above all, it promised to the military commanders the independence from the horse and the resurgence in maneuver warfare through extensive use of motor vehicles

22. World War 2 Armoured vehicles: The Tank destroyer, Specialist Tanks for Combat engineering including mine clearing Flail tanks, Flame tank, and amphibious designs Aircraft: Glide bombs – the first "smart bombs", such as the Fritz X anti-shipping missile, had wire or radio remote control; the world's first jet fighter (Messerschmitt 262) and jet bomber ( Arado 234), the world's first operational military helicopters ( Flettner Fl 282), the world's first rocket-powered fighter (Messerschmitt 163) Missiles: The Pulse jet-powered V-1 flying bomb was the world's first cruise missile, Rockets progressed enormously: V-2 rocket, Katyusha rocket artillery and air-launched rockets. Specialised bombs: cluster bombs, blockbuster bombs, Bouncing bombs, and bunker busters. HEAT, and HESH anti- armour warheads.

23. Proximity fuze for shells, bombs and rockets. This fuze is designed to detonate an explosive automatically when close enough to the target to destroy it, so a direct hit is not required and time/place of closest approach does not need to be estimated. Magnetic torpedoes and mines also had a sort of proximity fuse.[clarification needed] Guided weapons (by radio or trailing wires): glide bombs, crawling bombs and rockets – the precursors of today's precision-guided munitions existed between 1942–45, in the German Fritz X and Henschel Hs 293 anti-ship ordnance designs, which along with the American Azon , were all MCLOS radio-guided ordnance designs in World War II service. Self-guiding weapons: torpedoes (sound-seeking, compass-guided and looping), V1 missile (compass- and timer-guided), and the U.S. Navy's Bat air-launched anti-ship glide ordnance, using active radar homing for the first time anywhere.

24. Aiming devices for bombs, torpedoes, artillery and machine guns, using special purpose mechanical and electronic analog and (perhaps) digital "computers". The mechanical analog Norden bomb sight is a well-known example. The first generation of nerve agents was invented and produced in Germany, but wasn't used as a weapon Napalm was developed, but did not see wide use until the Korean War Plastic explosives like Nobel 808, Hexoplast 75, Compositions C and C2

25. The war aircraft technology changed rapidly. During the Second World War aircraft realised their full potential. .In 1944 jet engines were introduced and planes became still faster. The Germans began using rockets.

26. The other development was the atomic bomb. In 1952 American scientists invented the much more powerful hydrogen bomb. The USSR expl During the Vietnam War the Americans experimented with laser guided missiles.

27. Although many sophisticated weapons were seen in World war 2…It was 75 years ago.today in the 21 st century we have unmanned combat air vehicles, weaponized Drones and what not. With todays computerized machines, with precise accuracy, long rage snipers,Automatic assault rifles,Anti arcraft missiles,nuclear weapons ,we have come too far from swords and shields and also from bolt action rifles of 1940s for that matter. But we are still not satisfied n we will never be .