top 10 weps that made the 21st cen

[mr_lewington]

after seeing the future wepons event, i was sorta outraged at some of the choices, so i thought this would b a good place to have ppl place there opinions
my vote is for the AK-47 as #1

 

[Knight-Dragon]

The atomic bomb. Whole strategic policies needed to be reevaluated and changed by its existense.

 

[Imrahil91]

I agree with Knight-Dragon.. the nuclear bomb changed our world.

 

[El Justo]

the maxim gun: it completely reaaranged tactics in the early 20th centrury

submarines: changed naval warfare forever

tanks: scared the be-jesus out of Jerry in WW1 and set in motion a whole new set of tactics

aircraft carriers: changed naval tactics and made mahan's theories obsolete

jet aircraft: made prop-driven aircraft obsolete

SSNs: revolutionized submarine warfare

SSBNs: added another twist in the MAD debate

 

[scherbchen]

how about paratroopers and helicopters?

 

[El Justo]

i would think that airborne insertions were novel for a short period until the Germans got smacked on Crete during ww2. the casualty rates for airborne operations were imo really high. but you raise a good point b/c this was indeed a pretty good 20th centrury inovation.

Med-Evac for the helos was definitely a great development and saved countless lives.

 

[mr_lewington]

i think that the airbourne and helicopters didnt have a tremendous impact on the way wars are fought. Without full land, sea/air support its a suicide run
helicopters as have saved countless lives but whats truly spectacular about them is there ability to support the ground troops
as for the nuclear bomb, i dont think it had a tremendous impact on the way wars are fought, but it did have an impact on this century.

 

[scherbchen]

actually, I came up with another one this afternoon.

SDI

while it never really came to fruition, the mere theoretical concept had impact on geopolitics.

 

[PredatorFett]

Bullcrap to all of those. The most influential weapon (more proper term would be tactic) is guerilla warfare. BAM!

 

[scherbchen]

tactic != weapon? O_o

idea for another thread though Mr ballcrup...

 

[mr_lewington]

SDI one would be good if there was a nuclear war, but since neither came it wouldnt/ didnt have much effect

 

[nc-1701]

Nuclear weapons
Simply the threat of there use has altered the modern world dramatically
Submarines
Compltely altered the concept of naval warfare
Machine Gun
Revolutionized warfare in the period up to the first world war. Caused the introduction of trench warfare and the tank.
Tanks
Completely altered warfare for the second world war. Forcing troops out of their trenches.
The gun
Totally altered medievil warfare. Obseleted the castle.
Aircraft
Totally revolutionized the concept of strategic and naval warfare.
Haxorz
we haven't seen it yet, but cyber warfare is quickly becoming more important...
Pike/Spear
A major part of the advance from tribal armies to organized ones.
ICBMs
Enabled nuclear weapons to be quickly deployed. Creating the MAD doctrine.
And I'll let one of you come up with number 10... (I'm outta' ideas sorry...)

 

[mr_lewington]

well id say ak-47, cuse half the countries in the world wouldnt b around w/o it

 

[Integral]

Let's see...I've married weapons to tactics, as new weapons and new techniques are mostly inseperable.

World War I
1. Machine gun - never-before-seen firepower decentralized to battalion and company level
2. Infantry mortar - while mortars had been around before, the light mortar was an incredible innovation: now the infantry can bring their own artillery with them!
3. hydraulic-recoil artillery - These guns did not have to be repositioned after firing, so their effective rate of fire and accuracy were phenomenal. Also, high-angled artillery could fire from impunity behind the "dead ground" on the reverse-slope of hills and such. This wasn't started in WWI, but it became mainstream practice there.

WWII
1. Atomic bombs. I think they're overhyped myself, but they do present destruction on a mass scale. Caused a revolution in geopolitics

Postwar
1. Tough, reliable infantry assault rifles - the AK series comes to mind.
2. Airpower as a major factor in war - America in particular has a tendancy to only go to the ground after they've secured air superiority.

That's six. If I forgot anything major, I'll add it in.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

Robotic Richard Simmons.

 

[Tee Kay]

Winner: The Atomic Bomb (obvious reasons).

Honourable mentions (20th century only):
Machine gun - secure European hegemony of the world (not for long though) and revolutionised warfare.
Aircrafts - Revolutionised warfare like never before.
Missiles - Allow you to rain destruction from a safe distance without the vulnerability of aircrafts. Plus they got us into space.
Tanks - blitzkrieg, anyone?

 

[Slaughter]

Hands down, Tanks. In the first war, war was very trenchy. In the second war, you had to be mobile and tanks had a good laugh from trenches.

 

[nonconformist]

Postwar:
2. Airpower as a major factor in war - America in particular has a tendancy to only go to the ground after they've secured air superiority.

That's not a postwar development, the Americnas perfected air superiority towards the end of WWII. In fact, German divisions in Normandy couldn't move during the day because of the volume of fire they got from American, English and other Allied pilots within minutes of moving.

 

[mr_lewington]

Rhubarbs (strafing enemy vehicles/troops) ftw lol

 

[PredatorFett]

Guerilla warfare is the only tactic that can call itself a weapon. (metaphorically speaking)
But if you're going to get all technical, then I'd have to say the atomic bomb.