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107-674: A directed-energy weapon ( DEW ) is a ranged weapon that damages its target with highly focused energy without a solid projectile, including lasers , microwaves , particle beams , and sound beams. Potential applications of this technology include weapons that target personnel , missiles , vehicles, and optical devices. In the United States, the Pentagon , DARPA , the Air Force Research Laboratory , United States Army Armament Research Development and Engineering Center , and

214-401: A closed bolt for accuracy. Machine guns are often crewed by more than one soldier; the rifle is an individual weapon. The term "rifle" is sometimes used to describe larger rifled crew-served weapons firing explosive shells, for example, recoilless rifles and naval rifles . In many works of fiction "rifle" refers to any weapon that has a stock and is shouldered before firing, even if

321-561: A German immigrant. By 1750 there were a number of such manufacturers in the area. The longer barrel was a departure by local gunsmiths from their German roots, allowing bullets to achieve a higher speed (as the burning gunpowder was contained longer) before emerging from the barrel. During the 1700s (18th century), colonial settlers, particularly those immigrating from Germany and Switzerland, adapted and improved upon their European rifles. The improved long rifles were used for precise shooting, aiming, and firing at individual targets, instead of

428-489: A common point) to focus sunlight on ships of the Roman fleet as they invaded Syracuse , setting them on fire. Historians point out that the earliest accounts of the battle did not mention a "burning mirror", but merely stated that Archimedes's ingenuity combined with a way to hurl fire were relevant to the victory. Some attempts to replicate this feat have had some success; in particular, an experiment by students at MIT showed that

535-460: A crowd are unaffected, except by panic when they see people fainting, being sick, or running from the scene with their hands over their ears. The virtual inaudibility of the equipment is said to produce a 'spooky' psychological effect." The UK's Ministry of Defence denied the existence of such a device. It stated that it did have, however, an "ultra-loud public address system which [...] could be 'used for verbal communication over two miles, or put out

642-425: A firearm. The problem of proper seal creation had been solved with the use of brass cartridge cases, which expanded in an elastic fashion at the point of firing and effectively sealed the breech while the pressure remained high, then relaxed back enough to allow for easy removal. By the end of the 19th century, the leading bolt-action design was that of Paul Mauser , whose action—wedded to a reliable design possessing

749-451: A five-shot magazine —became a world standard through two world wars and beyond. The Mauser rifle was paralleled by Britain's ten-shot Lee–Enfield and America's 1903 Springfield Rifle models. The American M1903 closely copied Mauser's original design. Barrel rifling dramatically increased the range and accuracy of the musket. Indeed, throughout its development, the rifle's history has been marked by increases in range and accuracy. From

856-506: A greatly shortened length of pull, which is necessary to accommodate children. Youth stocks are available for many popular rifles, such as the Ruger 10/22 , a semi-automatic .22 LR rifle, allowing a youth rifle to be made from a standard rifle by simply changing the stock. The typical ages of shooters for such rifles vary from about age 5+. The usual form of rifling was helical grooves in a round bore. Some early rifled firearms had barrels with

963-582: A mirror-based weapon was at least possible, if not necessarily practical. The hosts of MythBusters tackled the Mirrors of Archimedes three times (in episodes 19, 57 and 172 ) and were never able to make the target ship catch fire, declaring the myth busted three separate times. In 1935, the British Air Ministry asked Robert Watson-Watt of the Radio Research Station whether a " death ray "

1070-485: A non-lethal directed-acoustic-energy weapon. LRAD systems are used for long-range communications in a variety of applications and as a means of non-lethal, non-projectile crowd control. They are also used on ships as an anti-piracy measure. According to the manufacturer's specifications, the systems weigh from 15 to 320 pounds (7 to 145 kg) and can emit sound in a 30°- 60° beam at 2.5 kHz. They range in size from small, portable handheld units which can be strapped to

1177-402: A person's chest, to larger models which require a mount. The power of the sound beam which LRADs produce is sufficient to penetrate vehicles and buildings while retaining a high degree of fidelity, so that verbal messages can be conveyed clearly in some situations. According to a legend, Archimedes created a mirror with an adjustable focal length (or more likely, a series of mirrors focused on

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1284-561: A platoon firing repeatedly could produce a 'beaten ground' effect similar to light artillery or machine guns. Currently, rifles are the most common firearm in general use for hunting (with the exception of bird hunting, where shotguns are favored). Rifles derived from military designs have long been popular with civilian shooters. During the Napoleonic Wars the British army created several experimental units known as "Rifles", armed with

1391-754: A ranged weapon can also be used as a melee weapon in close encounters , such as the buttstock of a rifle used for butt-stroking , a rifle with a bayonet fixed to the front end used as an improvised spear, a handgun used for pistol-whipping , and even an arrow being used as a hand pick in desperate situations. Early ranged weapons often included specifically designed hand-thrown weapons such as darts , javelins , slings , as well as elastic weapons such as slingshots , bows and crossbows ; and more complex siege engines like stone throwers , catapults , ballistas and trebuchets . These ranged weapons were extremely effective in ancient and early medieval warfare , especially when used en masse , as they gave

1498-589: A removable seven-round tube magazine, enabling the rounds to be fired one after another. When the magazine was empty, it could be exchanged for another. In the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, military observers from Europe and the United States witnessed a major conflict fought with high velocity bolt-action rifles firing smokeless powder . The Battle of Mukden fought in 1905 consisted of nearly 343,000 Russian troops against over 281,000 Japanese troops. The Russian Mosin–Nagant Model 1891 in 7.62 mm

1605-517: A rifle from the earlier smoothbore long guns (e.g., arquebuses , muskets ) is the rifling within its barrel . The raised areas of a barrel's rifling are called lands ; they make contact with and exert torque on the projectile as it moves down the bore, imparting a spin. When the projectile leaves the barrel, this spin persists and lends gyroscopic stability to the projectile due to conservation of angular momentum , increasing accuracy and hence effective range. Historically, rifles only fired

1712-403: A scanning array. The MDT is a fixed grid of passive infrared (IR) cameras. The command and control system determines the missile launch point. The scanning array projects microwaves that disrupt the surface-to-air missile's guidance system, deflecting it from the aircraft. Vigilant Eagle was not mentioned on Raytheon's Web site in 2022. Bofors HPM Blackout is a high-powered microwave weapon that

1819-444: A senior US Air Force officer noted: "they aren't particularly suited to create weapons effects on missiles because of limited antenna size, power and field of view". Potentially lethal effects are produced only inside 100 meters range, and disruptive effects at distances on the order of one kilometer. Moreover, cheap countermeasures can be applied to existing missiles. A weapon often described as an "anti-drone rifle" or "anti-drone gun"

1926-441: A shorter barrel did not impair accuracy as much. As a result, cavalry saw limited, but noteworthy, usage in 20th-century conflicts. The advent of the massed, rapid firepower of the machine gun , submachine gun and rifled artillery was so quick as to outstrip the development of any way to attack a trench defended by riflemen and machine gunners. The carnage of World War I was perhaps the greatest vindication and vilification of

2033-655: A single projectile with each squeeze of the trigger. Modern rifles are commonly classified as single-shot, bolt-action, semi-automatic, or automatic. Single-shot, bolt-action, and semi-automatic rifles are limited by their designs to fire a single shot for each trigger pull. Only automatic rifles are capable of firing more than one round per trigger squeeze; however, some automatic rifles are limited to fixed bursts of two, three, or more rounds per squeeze. Modern automatic rifles overlap to some extent in design and function with machine guns . In fact, many light machine guns are adaptations of existing automatic rifle designs, such as

2140-464: A smoothbore musket to about 300 yards for a rifle using the Minié system. The expanding skirt of the Minié ball also solved the problem that earlier tight-fitting bullets were difficult to load as black powder residue fouled the inside of the barrel. The Minié system allowed conical bullets to be loaded into rifles just as quickly as round balls in smooth bores, which allowed rifle muskets to replace muskets on

2247-462: A stem at the bottom of the barrel that would deform and expand the base of the bullet when rammed, therefore enabling accurate contact with the rifling. However, the area around the stem clogged and got dirty easily. One of the most famous was the Minié system, invented by French Army Captain Claude-Étienne Minié , which relied on a conical bullet (known as a Minié ball) with a hollow skirt at

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2354-530: A stock, either fixed or folding, to be braced against the shoulder when firing. The adoption of cartridges and breech-loading in the 19th century was concurrent with the general adoption of rifles. In the early part of the 20th century, soldiers were trained to shoot accurately over long ranges with high-powered cartridges. World War I Lee–Enfield rifles (among others) were equipped with long-range 'volley sights' for massed firing at ranges of up to 1.6 km (1 mi). Individual shots were unlikely to hit, but

2461-533: A sustained or modulated sound blanket to make conversation, and thus crowd organisation, impossible.'" In East Germany in the 1960s, in an effort to avoid international condemnation for arresting and interrogating people for holding politically incorrect views or for performing actions deemed hostile by the state the state security service, the Stasi , attempted alternative methods of repression which could paralyze people without imprisoning them. One such alternative method

2568-419: A tighter bore with no space between bullet and barrel, and still used balls instead of conical bullets. The balls the long rifle used were smaller, allowing the production of more rounds for a given amount of lead. These rifles also had longer barrels, allowing more accuracy, which were rifled with a helical groove. These first started appearing sometime before 1740, one early example being made by Jacob Dickert,

2675-456: A twisted polygonal bore. The Whitworth rifle was the first such type designed to spin the round for accuracy. Bullets for these guns were made to match the shape of the bore so the bullet would grip the rifle bore and take a spin that way. These were generally large caliber weapons, and the ammunition still did not fit tightly in the barrel. Many different shapes and degrees of spiraling were used in experimental designs. One widely produced example

2782-504: Is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting and higher stopping power , with a barrel that has a helical or spiralling pattern of grooves ( rifling ) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with both hands and braced firmly against the shooter's shoulder via a buttstock for stability during shooting. Rifles have been used in warfare , law enforcement , hunting and target shooting sports . The term

2889-431: Is a 3D printed .22-caliber rifle created around August 2013. It was created using a Stratasys Dimension 1200es printer. It was created by a Canadian only known by the pseudonym "Matthew" who told The Verge that he was in his late 20s, and his main job was making tools for the construction industry. The original Grizzly fired a single shot before breaking. Grizzly 2.0 fired fourteen bullets before getting damaged due to

2996-436: Is a battery-powered electromagnetic pulse weapon held to an operator's shoulder, pointed at a flying target in a way similar to a rifle , and operated. While not a rifle or gun, it is so nicknamed as it is handled in the same way as a personal rifle. The device emits separate electromagnetic pulses to suppress navigation and transmission channels used to operate an aerial drone , terminating the drone's contact with its operator;

3103-431: Is a ground-based airport defense system that directs high-frequency microwaves towards any projectile that is fired at an aircraft. It was announced by Raytheon in 2005, and the effectiveness of its waveforms was reported to have been demonstrated in field tests to be highly effective in defeating MANPADS missiles. The system consists of a missile-detecting and tracking subsystem (MDT), a command and control system, and

3210-415: Is also used both tactically and strategically in the form of long-range artilleries , rockets , guided missiles , and unmanned aerial vehicles (aka drones) . The maximum effective range of a weapon is the greatest distance from which the weapon can be fired while still consistently inflicting casualties or damage. When a modern missile can be launched from beyond the effective range of counterattack, it

3317-521: Is capable of engaging multiple targets, including drone swarms, and reportedly costs less than 10 pence (13 cents ) per shot, making it a cheaper alternative to traditional missile-based air defense systems. A laser weapon is a directed-energy weapon based on lasers . An example of a laser directed-energy weapon is the DragonFire currently being developed by the United Kingdom. It is reportedly in

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3424-426: Is propelled by the contained deflagration of a combustible propellant compound (originally black powder and now nitrocellulose and other smokeless powders ), although other propulsive means are used, such as compressed air in air rifles , which are popular for vermin control , small game hunting, competitive target shooting and casual sport shooting ( plinking ). The distinct feature that separates

3531-474: Is rare on rifles designed for extreme accuracy, as the plating process is difficult and liable to reduce the effect of the rifling.) Modern ammunition has a hardened lead core with a softer outer cladding or jacket, typically of an alloy of copper and nickel – cupro-nickel . Some ammunition is coated with molybdenum disulfide to further reduce internal friction – the so-called 'moly-coated' bullet. Rifles were initially single-shot, muzzle-loading weapons. During

3638-739: Is said to be able to destroy at short distance a wide variety of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) electronic equipment and is purportedly non-lethal. The effective radiated power (ERP) of the EL/M-2080 Green Pine radar makes it a hypothetical candidate for conversion into a directed-energy weapon, by focusing pulses of radar energy on target missiles. The energy spikes are tailored to enter missiles through antennas or sensor apertures where they can fool guidance systems, scramble computer memories or even burn out sensitive electronic components. AESA radars mounted on fighter aircraft have been slated as directed energy weapons against missiles, however,

3745-435: Is termed a standoff missile . Most modern projectile weapons fall into the broader category of either direct fire or indirect fire , with the former often being regarded as guns and the latter as artillery . While some are small and light enough to be operated by individuals (i.e. small arms and grenade launchers ), most require a team of individuals to service, maneuver and operate. Rifle A rifle

3852-587: The Wunderwaffe . Among the directed-energy weapons the Nazis investigated were X-ray beam weapons developed under Heinz Schmellenmeier, Richard Gans and Fritz Houtermans. They built an electron accelerator called Rheotron to generate hard X-ray synchrotron beams for the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM). Invented by Max Steenbeck at Siemens-Schuckert in the 1930s, these were later called Betatrons by

3959-481: The 1969 Sino-Soviet border clashes , though William Colby doubted that they had actually been employed. In 1973, New Scientist magazine reported that a sonic weapon known as a "squawk box" underwent successful field trials in Northern Ireland, using soldiers as guinea pigs. The device combined two slightly different frequencies which when heard would be heard as the sum of the two frequencies (ultrasonic) and

4066-627: The 7.92×33mm Kurz (short) round, the MKb-42 , and ultimately, the assault rifle . Today, an infantryman's rifle is optimized for ranges of 300 m or less, and soldiers are trained to deliver individual rounds or bursts of fire within these distances. Typically, the application of accurate, long-range fire is the domain of the marksman and the sniper in warfare, and of enthusiastic target shooters in peacetime. The modern marksman rifle and sniper rifle are usually capable of accuracy better than 0.3 mrad at 100 yards (1 arcminute ). The Grizzly

4173-585: The Baker rifle . These Rifle Regiments were deployed as skirmishers during the Peninsular war in Spain and Portugal, and were more effective than skirmishers armed with muskets due to their accuracy and long range. Gradually, rifles appeared with cylindrical barrels cut with helical grooves, the surfaces between the grooves being "lands". The innovation was shortly followed by the mass adoption of breech-loading weapons , as it

4280-460: The Battle of Saratoga , and in the southern states where General Morgan commanded as well. Taking advantage of the rifle's improved accuracy, Morgan's sharpshooters picked off cannoneers and officers, reducing the impact of enemy artillery. This kind of advantage was considered pivotal in many battles, such as the battles of Cowpens , Saratoga, and King's Mountain . Later during the Napoleonic Wars ,

4387-634: The Minié rifle and beyond, the rifle has become ever more potent at long-range strikes. In recent decades, large-caliber anti-materiel rifles, typically firing between 12.7 mm and 20 mm caliber cartridges, have been developed. The US Barrett M82A1 is probably the best-known such rifle. A second example is the AX50 by Accuracy International . These weapons are typically used to strike critical, vulnerable targets such as computerized command and control vehicles, radio trucks, radar antennae, vehicle engine blocks and

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4494-611: The Naval Research Laboratory are researching directed-energy weapons to counter ballistic missiles , hypersonic cruise missiles , and hypersonic glide vehicles . These systems of missile defense are expected to come online no sooner than the mid to late-2020s. China, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Russia, India, Israel, and Pakistan are also developing military-grade directed-energy weapons, while Iran and Turkey claim to have them in active service. The first use of directed-energy weapons in combat between military forces

4601-550: The Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions of 1977." Some common bio-effects of non-lethal electromagnetic weapons include: Interference with breathing poses the most significant, potentially lethal results. Ranged weapon Ranged weapons give the attacker an advantage (especially when performing an ambush ) because the target is often getting hit from beyond immediate visual range, therefore making it more difficult for

4708-492: The RPK and M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle . A military's light machine guns are typically chambered for the same caliber ammunition as its service rifles. Generally, the difference between an automatic rifle and a machine gun comes down to weight, cooling system, and ammunition feed system. Rifles, with their relatively lighter components (which overheat quickly) and smaller capacity magazines , are incapable of sustained automatic fire in

4815-692: The Shiva Star project (a high energy capacitor bank which provided the means to test weapons and other devices requiring brief and extremely large amounts of energy) to accelerate a toroid of plasma at a significant percentage of the speed of light. Additionally, the Russian Federation claims to be developing various plasma weapons. The Long Range Acoustic Device ( LRAD ) is an acoustic hailing device developed by Genasys (formerly LRAD Corporation) to send messages and warning tones over longer distances or at higher volume than normal loudspeakers , and as

4922-529: The heart , stomach and intestines .) Lung tissue was affected at only the closest ranges as atmospheric air is highly compressible and only the blood rich alveoli resist compression. In practice, the weapon was highly vulnerable to enemy fire. Rifle , bazooka and mortar rounds easily deformed the parabolic reflectors, rendering the wave amplification ineffective. In the later phases of World War II , Nazi Germany increasingly put its hopes on research into technologically revolutionary secret weapons,

5029-426: The 18th century, breech-loading weapons were designed, which allowed the rifleman to reload while under cover, but defects in manufacturing and the difficulty in forming a reliable gas-tight seal prevented widespread adoption. During the 19th century, multi-shot repeating rifles using lever , pump or linear bolt actions became standard, further increasing the rate of fire and minimizing the fuss involved in loading

5136-632: The 1980s, with the participation of noted physicists including Edward Teller . A notable example of a directed energy system which came out of the SDI program is the Neutral Particle Beam Accelerator developed by Los Alamos National Laboratory . This system is officially described (on the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum website) as a low power neutral particle beam (NPB) accelerator, which was among several directed energy weapons examined by

5243-498: The 50 kW class and is capable of engaging any target within line-of-sight at a currently classified range. It has been tested against drones and mortar rounds and is expected to equip ships, aircraft and ground vehicles from 2027. Particle-beam weapons can use charged or neutral particles, and can be either endoatmospheric or exoatmospheric. Particle beams as beam weapons are theoretically possible, but practical weapons have not been demonstrated yet. Certain types of particle beams have

5350-727: The Americans. The intent was to pre-ionize ignition in aircraft engines and hence serve as anti-aircraft DEW and bring planes down into the reach of the flak. The Rheotron was captured by the Americans in Burggrub on April 14, 1945. Another approach was Ernst Schiebolds 'Röntgenkanone' developed from 1943 in Großostheim near Aschaffenburg . Richert Seifert & Co from Hamburg delivered parts. The Central Intelligence Agency informed Secretary Henry Kissinger that it had twelve reports of Soviet forces using laser weapons against Chinese forces during

5457-465: The British 95th Regiment (Green Jackets) and 60th Regiment, (Royal American) , as well as sharpshooters and riflemen during the War of 1812 , used the rifle to great effect during skirmishing. Because of a slower loading time than a musket, they were not adopted by the whole army. Since rifles were used by sharpshooters who did not routinely fire over other men's shoulders, long length was not required to avoid

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5564-887: The Central Intelligence Agency issued an interim assessment concluding that the syndrome is not the result of "a sustained global campaign by a hostile power." Foreign involvement was ruled out in 976 cases of the 1,000 reviewed. In February 2022, the State Department released a report by the JASON Advisory Group, which stated that it was highly unlikely that a directed-energy attack had caused the health incidents. The cause of Havana syndrome remains unknown and controversial. LRADs are often fitted on commercial and military ships. They have been used on several occasions to repel pirate attacks by sending warnings and by producing intolerable levels of sound. For example, in 2005

5671-563: The French Chassepot in 1866. Breech-loading was to have a major impact on warfare, as breech-loading rifles can be fired at a rate many times faster than muzzle-loaded rifles and significantly can be loaded from a prone rather than standing position. Firing prone (i.e., lying down) is more accurate than firing from a standing position, and a prone rifleman presents a much smaller target than a standing soldier. The higher accuracy and range, combined with reduced vulnerability generally benefited

5778-609: The Strategic Defense Initiative Organization for potential use in missile defense. In July 1989, the accelerator was launched from White Sands Missile Range as part of the Beam Experiment Aboard Rocket (BEAR) project, reaching an altitude of 200 kilometers (124 miles) and operating successfully in space before being recovered intact after reentry. The primary objectives of the test were to assess NPB propagation characteristics in space and gauge

5885-627: The Ukrainian KVS G-6, with a 3.5 km range and able to operate continuously for 30 minutes. The manufacturer states that the weapon can disrupt remote control, the transmission of video at 2.4 and 5 GHz, and GPS and Glonass satellite navigation signals. Ukraine has also used the EDM4S anti drone rifle to shoot down Russian Eleron-3 drones. Due to the threat posed by drones in regard to terrorism, several police forces have carried anti-drone guns as part of their equipment. For example, during

5992-399: The action and bore of the musket frequently, either through the action of repeated bore scrubbing, or a deliberate attempt to create "soot grooves" that would allow for more shots to be fired from the firearm. While many people contributed to the development of the concept of rifling and rifles, Friedrich Engels claimed it as a German invention in his extensive writings about the history of

6099-528: The advantage of being self-focusing in the atmosphere. Blooming is also a problem in particle-beam weapons. Energy that would otherwise be focused on the target spreads out and the beam becomes less effective: Plasma weapons fire a beam, bolt, or stream of plasma , which is an excited state of matter consisting of atomic electrons and nuclei, and free electrons if ionized , or other particles if pinched . The MARAUDER ( Magnetically Accelerated Ring to Achieve Ultra-high Directed-Energy and Radiation ) used

6206-491: The barrel and because they took longer to reload and fire than muskets. Rifles were created as an improvement in the accuracy of smoothbore muskets. In the early 18th century, Benjamin Robins , an English mathematician, realized that an elongated bullet would retain the momentum and kinetic energy of a musket ball, but would slice through the air with greater ease. The black powder used in early muzzle-loading rifles quickly fouled

6313-698: The barrel, it inserts itself into the rifling, a process that gradually wears down the barrel, and also causes the barrel to heat up more rapidly. Therefore, some machine guns are equipped with quick-change barrels that can be swapped every few thousand rounds, or in earlier designs, were water-cooled. Unlike older carbon steel barrels, which were limited to around 1,000 shots before the extreme heat caused accuracy to fade, modern stainless steel barrels for target rifles are much more resistant to wear, allowing many thousands of rounds to be fired before accuracy drops. (Many shotguns and small arms have chrome -lined barrels to reduce wear and enhance corrosion resistance. This

6420-573: The barrel, making loading slower and more difficult. The greater range of the rifle was considered to be of little practical use since the smoke from black powder quickly obscured the battlefield and made it almost impossible to aim the weapon from a distance. Since musketeers could not afford to take the time to stop and clean their barrels in the middle of a battle, rifles were limited to use by sharpshooters and non-military uses like hunting. Muskets were smoothbore, large caliber weapons using spherical ammunition fired at relatively low velocity. Due to

6527-413: The base of the bullet. When fired, the skirt would expand from the pressure of the exploding charge and grip the rifling as the round was fired. The better seal gave more power, as less gas escaped past the bullet. Also, for the same bore ( caliber ) diameter a long bullet was heavier than a round ball. The extra grip also spun the bullet more consistently, which increased the range from about 50 yards for

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6634-532: The battlefield. Minié system rifles, notably the U.S. Springfield and the British Enfield of the early 1860s featured prominently in the U.S. Civil War , due to their enhanced power and accuracy. At the time of the Crimean War (1853-1856) the Minié rifle was considered the "best in military use". Over the 19th century, bullet design also evolved, the bullets becoming gradually smaller and lighter. By 1910

6741-525: The collapse of the SED (Socialist Unity Party of Germany) system. In the 1980s, U.S. President Ronald Reagan proposed the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) program, which was nicknamed Star Wars . It suggested that lasers, perhaps space-based X-ray lasers , could destroy ICBMs in flight. Panel discussions on the role of high-power lasers in SDI took place at various laser conferences, during

6848-454: The cruise liner Seabourn Spirit used a sonic weapon to defend itself from Somali pirates in the Indian ocean. A few years later, the cruise liner Spirit of Adventure also defended itself from Somali pirates by using its LRAD to force them to retreat. The TECOM Technology Symposium in 1997 concluded on non-lethal weapons , "determining the target effects on personnel is the greatest challenge to

6955-554: The defenders to react and hit back effectively. It also puts distance between the attacker and the opponent, which is a safer combat option since the close physical contact during melee fights often puts the attacker within the immediate striking range of enemy counterattacks and thus at an equal risk of getting hurt or killed. The line between ranged and melee weapons is not entirely definite; for instance, spears , axes , daggers , and knives can be used for both throwing and hand-to-hand combat, depending on purpose and situation, and

7062-481: The defense while making the traditional battle between lines of standing and volleying infantrymen obsolete. Revolving rifles were an attempt to increase the rate of fire of rifles by combining them with the revolving firing mechanism that had been developed earlier for revolving pistols. Colt began experimenting with revolving rifles in the early 19th century, and other manufacturers like Remington later experimented with them as well. The Colt Revolving Rifle Model 1855

7169-683: The development of ruby and carbon dioxide lasers as anti-ballistic missile systems, and later as a tracking and anti-satellite system. There are reports that the Terra-3 complex at Sary Shagan was used on several occasions to temporarily "blind" US spy satellites in the IR range. It has been claimed that the USSR made use of the lasers at the Terra-3 site to target the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1984. At

7276-403: The difference between the two frequencies (infrasonic) e.g. two directional speakers emitting 16,000 Hz and 16,002 Hz frequencies would produce in the ear two frequencies of 32,002 Hz and 2 Hz. The article states: "The squawk box is highly directional which gives it its appeal. Its effective beam width is so small that it can be directed at individuals in a riot. Other members of

7383-460: The dish reflectors, caused vertigo and nausea at 200–400 meters (220–440 yd) by vibrating the middle ear bones and shaking the cochlear fluid within the inner ear . At distances of 50–200 meters (160–660 ft), the sound waves could act on organ tissues and fluids by repeatedly compressing and releasing compressive resistant organs such as the kidneys , spleen , and liver . (It had little detectable effect on malleable organs such as

7490-521: The effects on spacecraft components. Despite continued research into NPBs, no known weapon system utilizing this technology has been deployed. Though the strategic missile defense concept has continued to the present under the Missile Defense Agency , most of the directed-energy weapon concepts were shelved. However, Boeing has been somewhat successful with the Boeing YAL-1 and Boeing NC-135 ,

7597-527: The first of which destroyed two missiles in February 2010. Funding has been cut to both of the programs. During the Iraq War , electromagnetic weapons, including high power microwaves, were used by the U.S. military to disrupt and destroy Iraqi electronic systems and may have been used for crowd control. Types and magnitudes of exposure to electromagnetic fields are unknown. The Soviet Union invested some effort in

7704-401: The forward line. A shorter length made a handier weapon in which tight-fitting balls did not have to be rammed so far down the barrel. The invention of the Minié ball in the 1840s solved the slow loading problem, and in the 1850s and 1860s rifles quickly replaced muskets on the battlefield. Many rifles, often referred to as rifled muskets , were very similar to the muskets they replaced, but

7811-479: The high cost and great difficulty of precision manufacturing, and the need to load readily from the muzzle, the musket ball was a loose fit in the barrel. Consequently, on firing the ball bounced off the sides of the barrel when fired and the final direction on leaving the muzzle was unpredictable. The performance of early muskets defined the style of warfare at the time. Due to the lack of accuracy, soldiers were deployed in long lines (thus line infantry ) to fire at

7918-684: The incident. However, this story is comprehensively denied by the crew members of STS-41-G and knowledgeable members of the US intelligence community. After the end of the Cold War , the Terra-3 facility was found to be a low-power laser testing site with limited satellite tracking capabilities, which is now abandoned and partially disassembled. Havana syndrome is a disputed medical condition reported by US personnel in Havana, Cuba and other locations, originally suspected to be caused by microwave radiation . In January 2022,

8025-522: The jet engines of enemy aircraft. Anti-materiel rifles can be used against human targets, but the much higher weight of rifle and ammunition, and the massive recoil and muzzle blast, usually make them less than practical for such use. The Barrett M82 is designed with a maximum effective range of 1,800 m (1.1 mi), although it has a confirmed kill distance of 2,430 m (1.51 mi) in Afghanistan during Operation Anaconda in 2002. The record for

8132-404: The microwave frequency is commonly defined as being between 300 MHz and 300 GHz (wavelengths of 1 meter to 1 millimeter), which is within the radiofrequency (RF) range. Some examples of weapons which have been publicized by the military are as follows: Active Denial System is a millimeter wave source that heats the water in a human target's skin and thus causes incapacitating pain. It

8239-424: The military also experimented with other designs. Breech-loading weapons proved to have a much faster rate of fire than muzzleloaders, causing military forces to abandon muzzle loaders in favor of breech-loading designs in the late 1860s. In the later part of the 19th century, rifles were generally single-shot, breech-loading guns, designed for aimed, discretionary fire by individual soldiers. Then, as now, rifles had

8346-625: The modern German state was investigating the possibility that this X-ray equipment was being used as weaponry and that it was a deliberate policy of the Stasi to attempt to give prisoners radiation poisoning, and thereby cancer, through the use of directed X-rays. The negative effects of the radiation poisoning and cancer would extend past the period of incarceration. In this manner someone could be debilitated even though they were no longer imprisoned. The historian Mary Fulbrook states, The subsequent serious illnesses and premature deaths of dissidents such as

8453-634: The musket's use for imprecise fire. During the American Revolution, the colonist troops favoured these more accurate rifles while their use was resisted by the British and Hessian troops. By the time of the American Revolutionary War , these rifles were commonly used by frontiersmen, and Congress authorized the establishment of ten companies of riflemen. One of the most critical units was Morgan's Riflemen , led by Daniel Morgan . This sharpshooting unit eventually proved itself integral to

8560-498: The novelist Jürgen Fuchs, and the author of the critical analysis of 'The Alternative in Eastern Europe', Rudolf Bahro, have been linked by some to the suspicion of exposure to extraordinarily high and sustained levels of X-rays while waiting for interrogations, and being strapped to unpleasant chairs in small prison cells in front of mysterious closed boxes- boxes that, along with their mysterious apparatus, curiously disappeared after

8667-498: The opposing forces. Precise aim was thus not necessary to hit an opponent. Muskets were used for comparatively rapid, imprecisely aimed volley fire, and the average soldier could be easily trained to use them. In the Province of Pennsylvania USA, one of the most successful early rifles, the long rifle , was developed over the course of the 18th century. Compared to the more common Brown Bess , these Pennsylvania and Kentucky rifles had

8774-545: The out-of-control drone then crashes. The Russian Stupor is reported to have a range of two kilometers, covering a 20-degree sector; it also suppresses the drone's cameras. Stupor is reported to have been used by Russian forces during the Russian military intervention in the Syrian civil war . Both Russia and Ukraine are reported to use these devices during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine . The Ukrainian army are reported to use

8881-591: The policing of the Commonwealth Games in 2018, the Australian Queensland Police Service carried anti-drone guns with an effective range of 3 km (2 mi). In Myanmar, police have been equipped with anti-drone guns "ostensibly to defend VIPs". This UK-developed system was unveiled in May 2024 and uses radio waves to fry the electronic components of its targets, rendering them inoperable. It

8988-418: The problem, usually by resorting to an under-bore bullet that expanded upon firing. The original muzzle-loading rifle, with a closely fitting ball to take the rifling grooves, was loaded with difficulty, particularly when foul, and for this reason was not generally used for military purposes. With the advent of rifling, the bullet itself did not initially change but was wrapped in a greased, cloth patch to grip

9095-489: The rifle as a military weapon. The M1 Garand was a semi-automatic rapid-fire rifle developed for modern warfare use in World War II. During and after World War II it became accepted that most infantry engagements occurred at ranges of less than 300 m; the range and power of the large full-powered rifle cartridges were "overkill", requiring weapons heavier than otherwise necessary. This led to Germany's development of

9202-505: The rifle, and the evolution and use of the technology. Some of the earliest examples of European grooved gun barrels were reportedly manufactured during 1440, and further developed by Gaspard Kollner of Vienna c.  1498 , although other scholars allege they were a joint effort between Kollner and Augustus Kotter of Nuremberg c.  1520 . Military commanders preferred smoothbore weapons for infantry use because rifles were much more prone to problems due to powder fouling

9309-502: The rifling grooves. The first half of the 19th century saw a distinct change in the shape and function of the bullet. In 1826 Delvigne , a French infantry officer, invented a breech with abrupt shoulders on which a spherical bullet was rammed down until it caught the rifling grooves. Delvigne's method, however, deformed the bullet and was inaccurate. Soon after, the Carabine à tige was invented by Louis-Etienne de Thouvenin , which had

9416-731: The spiral grooves without "stripping" them in the same way that a screw or bolt thread would be stripped if subjected to extreme forces. From 1836, breech-loading rifles were introduced with the German Dreyse Needle gun , followed by the French Tabatière in 1857, and the British Calisher and Terry carbine made in Birmingham and later in 1864 and the better known British Snider–Enfield . Primitive chamber-locking mechanisms were soon replaced by bolt-action mechanisms, exemplified by

9523-616: The standard blunt-nosed bullet had been replaced by the pointed, 'spitzer' bullet , an innovation that increased range and penetration. Cartridge design evolved from simple paper tubes containing black powder and shot, to sealed brass cases with integral primers for ignition, and black powder was replaced by cordite , and then other nitro-cellulose-based smokeless powder mixtures, propelling bullets to higher velocities than before. The increased velocity meant that new problems arrived, and so bullets went from being soft lead to harder lead, then to copper-jacketed , in order to better engage

9630-522: The strain. In October 2020, another 3D-printed 9mm rifle known as the "FGC-9mm" was created. It is reported that it can be made in 2 weeks with $ 500 of tools. A second model was later made in April 2021. A youth rifle is a rifle designed or modified for fitting children or other small-framed shooters. A youth rifle is often a single-shot .22 caliber rifle, or a bolt-action rifle, although some youth rifles are semi-automatic. They are usually very light, with

9737-484: The testing community", primarily because "the potential of injury and death severely limits human tests". Also, "directed-energy weapons that target the central nervous system and cause neurophysiological disorders may violate the Certain Conventional Weapons Convention of 1980. Weapons that go beyond non-lethal intentions and cause 'superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering' may also violate

9844-467: The time, the Soviet Union was concerned that the shuttle was being used as a reconnaissance platform. On 10 October 1984 ( STS-41-G ), the Terra-3 tracking laser was allegedly aimed at Challenger as it passed over the facility. Early reports claimed that this was responsible for causing "malfunctions on the space shuttle and distress to the crew", and that the United States filed a diplomatic protest about

9951-472: The vicinity for the twenty minutes or so needed for a test. Reversing the order of events in retelling the story created a "tale" where tourists car engine stopped first and then were approached by a German soldier who told them that they had to wait. The soldier returned a short time later to say that the engine would now work and the tourists drove off. Such stories were circulating in Britain around 1938 and during

10058-526: The war British Intelligence relaunched the myth as a "British engine-stopping ray," trying to spoof the Germans into researching what the British had supposedly invented in an attempt to tie up German scientific resources. During the early 1940s Axis engineers developed a sonic cannon that could cause fatal vibrations in its target body. A methane gas combustion chamber leading to two parabolic dishes pulse-detonated at roughly 44 Hz . This sound, magnified by

10165-434: The way that machine guns are; they trade this capability in favor of increased mobility. Modern military rifles are fed by magazines, while machine guns are generally belt-fed . Many machine guns allow the operator to quickly exchange barrels in order to prevent overheating, whereas rifles generally do not. Most machine guns fire from an open bolt in order to reduce the danger of " cook-off ", while almost all rifles fire from

10272-435: The weapon is not rifled or does not fire solid projectiles (e.g. "laser rifle"). The origins of rifling are difficult to trace, but some of the earliest European experiments seem to have been carried out during the 15th century. Archers had long realized that a twist added to the tail feathers of their arrows gave them greater accuracy. Early muskets produced large quantities of smoke and soot, which had to be cleaned from

10379-409: The wielder an opportunity to launch multiple rounds of attack before an enemy armed with melee weapons or shorter-ranged missile weapons could even get close enough to pose a threat. After the invention of gunpowder and the development of firearms , gun -type pneumatic ranged weapons became the dominant weapon of choice in armed conflicts , even in close combat . In modern warfare , ranged weaponry

10486-469: Was an early repeating rifle and the first one to be used by the U.S. Government and saw some limited action during the American Civil War . Revolvers, both rifles and pistols, tend to spray fragments of metal from the front of the cylinder. The Winchester repeating rifle was invented in 1866. The firer pulled on a lever to reload the rifle with a stored cartridge. An important area of development

10593-504: Was called decomposition (transl. Zersetzung ). In the 1970s and 1980s it became the primary method of repressing domestic "hostile-negative" forces. Some of the victims of this method suffered from cancer and claimed that they had also been targeted with directed X-rays . In addition, when the East German state collapsed, powerful X-ray equipment was found in prisons without there being any apparent reason to justify its presence. In 1999,

10700-620: Was claimed to have occurred in Libya in August 2019 by Turkey, which claimed to use the ALKA directed-energy weapon . After decades of research and development , most directed-energy weapons are still at the experimental stage and it remains to be seen if or when they will be deployed as practical, high-performance military weapons. Directed energy weapons could have several main advantages over conventional weaponry: Some devices are described as microwave weapons;

10807-413: Was developed by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory and Raytheon for riot-control duty. Though intended to cause severe pain while leaving no lasting damage, concern has been voiced as to whether the system could cause irreversible damage to the eyes. There has yet to be testing for long-term side effects of exposure to the microwave beam. It can also destroy unshielded electronics . Vigilant Eagle

10914-417: Was not practical to push an overbore bullet down through a rifled barrel. The dirt and grime from prior shots were pushed down ahead of a tight bullet or ball (which may have been a looser fit in the clean barrel before the first shot), and loading was far more difficult, as the lead had to be deformed to go down in the first place, reducing the accuracy due to deformation. Several systems were tried to deal with

11021-414: Was originally rifled gun , with the verb rifle referring to the early modern machining process of creating grooves with cutting tools. By the 20th century, the weapon had become so common that the modern noun rifle is now often used for any log-shaped handheld ranged weapon designed for well-aimed discharge activated by a trigger . Like all typical firearms, a rifle's projectile ( bullet )

11128-494: Was pitted against the Japanese Arisaka Type 30 bolt-action rifle in 6.5 mm; both had velocities well over 2,000 feet per second (610 m/s). Until the late 19th century rifles tended to be very long, some long rifles reaching approximately 2 m (7 ft) in length to maximize accuracy, making early rifles impractical for use by cavalry. However, following the advent of more powerful smokeless powder,

11235-586: Was possible. He and colleague Arnold Wilkins quickly concluded that it was not feasible, but as a consequence suggested using radio for the detection of aircraft and this started the development of radar in Britain. Stories in the 1930s and World War II gave rise to the idea of an "engine-stopping ray". They seemed to have arisen from the testing of the television transmitter in Feldberg , Germany. Because electrical noise from car engines would interfere with field strength measurements, sentries would stop all traffic in

11342-552: Was the Metford rifling in the Pattern 1888 Lee–Metford service rifle. Although uncommon, polygonal rifling is still used in some weapons today, one example being the Glock line of pistols (which fire standard bullets). Many of the early designs were prone to dangerous backfiring, which could lead to the destruction of the weapon and serious injury to the person firing it. As the bullet enters

11449-484: Was the way that cartridges were stored and used in the weapon. The Spencer repeating rifle was a breech-loading manually operated lever-action rifle that was adopted by the United States. Over 20,000 were used during the American Civil War. It was the first adoption of a removable magazine -fed infantry rifle. The design was completed by Christopher Spencer in 1860. It used copper rimfire cartridges stored in

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