Implement or device used to inflict damage, harm, or kill
A
weapon
,
arm
, or
armament
is any implement or device that is used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or
kill
. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as
hunting
,
crime
(e.g.,
murder
),
law enforcement
,
self-defense
,
warfare
, or
suicide
. In a 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 such as
sticks
,
rocks
,
bottles
,
chairs
, and
vehicles
can be
used as weapons
, many objects are expressly designed for the purpose; these range from simple implements such as
clubs
,
axes
,
spears
, and
swords
to complicated modern
firearms
,
tanks
,
intercontinental ballistic missiles
,
biological weapons
, and
cyberweapons
. Something that has been repurposed, converted, or enhanced to become a weapon of war is termed
weaponized
, such as a
weaponized virus
or
weaponized laser
.
History
[
edit
]
The use of weapons has been a major driver of
cultural evolution
and
human history
up to today since weapons are a type of tool that is used to dominate and subdue autonomous agents such as animals and, by doing so, allow for an expansion of the cultural niche, while simultaneously other weapon users (i.e., agents such as humans, groups, and cultures) are able to adapt to the weapons of enemies by learning, triggering a continuous process of competitive technological, skill, and cognitive improvement (
arms race
).
[1]
Prehistoric
[
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]
The use of objects as weapons has been observed among
chimpanzees
,
[2]
leading to speculation that early
hominids
used weapons as early as five million years ago.
[3]
However, this cannot 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
Schoningen spears
, eight wooden throwing spears dating back more than 300,000 years.
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
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 by arrows and clubs during conflict between two hunter-gatherer groups.
[9]
But the interpretation of warfare at Nataruk has been challenged due to conflicting evidence.
[10]
Ancient history
[
edit
]
The earliest
ancient weapons
were evolutionary improvements of late
Neolithic
implements, but significant improvements in materials and crafting techniques led to a series of revolutions in
military technology
.
The development of metal tools began with
copper
during the
Copper Age
(about 3,300 BC) and was followed by the
Bronze Age
, leading to the creation of the
Bronze Age sword
and similar weapons.
During the Bronze Age, the first defensive structures and
fortifications
appeared as well,
[11]
indicating an increased need for security. Weapons designed to breach fortifications followed soon after, such as the
battering ram
, which was in use by 2500 BC.
[11]
The development of
ironworking
around 1300 BC in Greece had an important impact on the development of ancient weapons. It was not the introduction of early
Iron Age swords
, however, as they were not superior to their bronze predecessors, but rather the
domestication of the horse
and widespread use of
spoked
wheels by
c.
2000 BC
.
[12]
This led to the creation of the light, horse-drawn
chariot
, whose improved mobility proved important during this era.
[13]
Spoke-wheeled chariot usage peaked around 1300 BC and then declined, ceasing to be militarily relevant by the 4th century BC.
[14]
Cavalry
developed once horses were bred to support the weight of a human.
[15]
The horse extended the range and increased the speed of attacks.
Alexander’s conquest saw the increased use of spears and shields in the Middle East and Western Asia as a result Greek culture spread which saw many Greek and other European weapons be used in these regions and as a result many of these weapons were adapted to fit there new use in war
In addition to land-based weaponry,
warships
, such as the
trireme
, were in use by the 7th century BC.
[16]
When the first Punic war happened one of the main reasons the Romans won was because they had developed a warship much more advanced then the Carthaginian's had and they had many weapons from other nations such as the Spanish short sword which was very effective against iron armour .
After Rome had fallen , Europe was dominated by Germanic and Celts due to them having the most advanced weapons in Europe
Post-classical history
[
edit
]
European warfare during
post-classical history
was dominated by elite groups of
knights
supported by massed
infantry
(both in combat and ranged roles). They were involved in mobile combat and
sieges
, which involved various
siege weapons
and tactics. Knights on horseback developed tactics for charging with
lances
, providing an impact on the enemy formations, and then drawing more practical weapons (such as
swords
) once they entered melee. By contrast, infantry, in the age before structured formations, relied on cheap, sturdy weapons such as
spears
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 sidearms (short swords).
In Eastern and
Middle Eastern
warfare, similar tactics were developed independent of European influences.
The introduction of
gunpowder
from Asia at the end of this period revolutionized warfare. Formations of
musketeers
, protected by
pikemen
, came to dominate open battles, and the
cannon
replaced the
trebuchet
as the dominant
siege weapon
.
The Ottoman used the cannon to destroy much of the fortifications at Constantinople which would change warfare as gunpowder became more available and technology improved
Modern history
[
edit
]
Early modern
[
edit
]
The European
Renaissance
marked the beginning of the implementation of firearms in western warfare.
Guns
and
rockets
were introduced to the battlefield.
Firearms
are qualitatively different from earlier weapons because they release energy from combustible
propellants
, such as
gunpowder
, rather than from a counterweight 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
were much more powerful than human-powered weapons. Firearms became increasingly important and effective during the 16th?19th centuries, with progressive improvements in
ignition mechanisms
followed by revolutionary changes in
ammunition
handling and propellant. During the
American Civil War
, new applications of firearms, including the
machine gun
and
ironclad warship
, emerged that would still be recognizable and useful military weapons today, particularly in
limited conflicts
. In the 19th century,
warship
propulsion changed from
sail
power to
fossil fuel
-powered
steam engines
.
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 to yielding gunpowder-based weaponry. Sometimes referred to as the "Age of Rifles",
[17]
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
. Artillery pieces such as
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
[
edit
]
An important feature of
industrial age
warfare was
technological escalation
? innovations were rapidly matched through replication or countered by another innovation.
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. The
technological escalation during World War I
was profound, including the wide introduction of
aircraft
into
warfare
and naval warfare with the introduction of
aircraft carriers
. Above all, it promised the military commanders independence from horses and a resurgence in
maneuver warfare
through the extensive use of motor vehicles. The changes that these military technologies underwent were evolutionary but defined their development for the rest of the century.
[
This paragraph needs citation(s)
]
Interwar
[
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]
This period of innovation in weapon design continued in the interwar period (between WWI and WWII) with the continuous evolution of weapon systems by all major industrial powers. The major armament firms were
Schneider-Creusot
(based in France),
?koda Works
(Czechoslovakia), and
Vickers
(Great Britain). The 1920s were committed to disarmament and the 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, Poland, Finland, the Baltic States, and the Soviet Union.
[18]
Criminalizing poison gas
[
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]
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 percent of French ammunition supplies, 25 percent of British, and 20 percent of 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
, 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.
[19]
[20]
World War II and postwar
[
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]
Many modern military weapons, particularly ground-based ones, are relatively minor improvements to weapon systems developed during World War II. World War II marked perhaps the most frantic period of weapon 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 aircraft
and
radar
, but were overshadowed by the visibility of nuclear weapons and long-range rockets.
[
This paragraph needs citation(s)
]
Nuclear weapons
[
edit
]
Since the realization of
mutual assured destruction
(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
. 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 by 100 fold, 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 wars
rather than
total war
.
[21]
Types
[
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]
By user
[
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]
- ? what person or unit uses the weapon
By function
[
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]
- ? the construction of the weapon and the principle of operation
By target
[
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]
- ? the type of target the weapon is designed to attack
Manufacture of weapons
[
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]
The arms industry is a global industry that involves the sale and manufacture of weaponry. It consists of a
commercial
industry
involved in the
research and development
,
engineering
, production, and servicing of
military
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 their citizens for self-defense, 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 of a "
military?industrial complex
", 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?2014 was 16 percent higher than in 2005?2009,
[23]
and the arms sales of the world's 100 largest private arms-producing and military services companies totaled $420 billion in 2018.
[24]
Legislation
[
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]
The production, possession, trade, and use of many weapons are controlled. This may be at a
local
or
central government
level or by international treaty. Examples of such controls include:
Gun laws
[
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]
All countries have laws and policies regulating aspects such as the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, and use of small arms by civilians.
Countries that 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
[
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]
International treaties and agreements place restrictions on the development, production, stockpiling, proliferation, and usage of weapons, from
small arms
and
heavy weapons
to
weapons of mass destruction
. 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
[
edit
]
| This section
needs expansion
. You can help by
adding to it
.
(
May 2018
)
|
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
[
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]
There are a number of issues around the potential ongoing risks from deployed weapons, the safe storage of weapons, and their eventual disposal when they are no longer effective or safe.
- Ocean dumping
of unused weapons such as bombs, ordnance, landmines, and chemical weapons has been common practice by many nations and has created hazards.
[25]
[26]
[27]
[28]
- Unexploded ordnance
(UXO) are bombs, land mines, naval mines, and similar devices that did not explode when they were employed and still pose a risk for many years or decades.
- Demining
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.
[29]
- Nuclear terrorism
was a serious concern after the fall of the
Soviet Union
, with the prospect of "loose nukes" being available.
[30]
While this risk may have receded,
[31]
similar situations may arise in the future.
In science fiction
[
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]
Strange and exotic weapons are a recurring feature or theme in
science fiction
. In some cases, weapons first introduced in science fiction have now become a reality. Other science fiction weapons, such as
force fields
and
stasis fields
, 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
guns
and
swords
. Among the best-known of these are the
phaser
used in the
Star Trek
television series, films, and novels, and the
lightsaber
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 becomes a theme when it touches on deeper concerns, often motivated by contemporary issues. One example is science fiction that deals with
weapons of mass destruction
like
doomsday devices
.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
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External links
[
edit
]
- The dictionary definition of
weapon
at Wiktionary
- Quotations related to
Weapon
at Wikiquote
- Media related to
Weapons
at Wikimedia Commons