Present Military Tech

Now on to the cool stuff that the military uses today! Enjoy

Drifting Contact Mines-the original torpedoes

David Bushnell created the original naval mines back in January of 1778 to help protect good old Philadelphia from the British. They were originally kegs filled with gun powder and a slow burning fuse.

In the Early 20th century the slow burning fuses were removed and replaced with a device that would make the bombs explode on contact. They were used as a form of defense from attacking navies.

The Minie Ball

The minie ball was invented to allow riflemen to load their rifles faster. Which would eventually bring about the popularity of rile use in combat. The bullets would be packed with gunpowder and than stuffed inside the rifle. When shot the powder and other gases would allow the bullet to spin. Which in turn increased the bullets accuracy and velocity.

Aireial spying usuing baloons was used by both the union and the south. These baloons were first used to spot approaching armies, but soon comanders and leaders realized they could command their armies.

Being able to see the whole picture was a great advantage. The baloons were targeted near the end of the war when both sides realized they could gain an advantage by downing them.

This lead to Blimbs being used during WWI to see the trenches and movments of oposing armies.

"http://centenialofflight.gov/"

Medieval Armour

Medieval Armour was designed to protect vital areas of the body, and to deflect weapon blows while allowing for freedom of movement in the joints. In the present, scientists are working on "futuristic" armour that may actually have some similarities to original medieval suites of armour.

The First Torpedo

The first self propelled Torpedo was tested in 1868. It was tested by Robert Whitehead. Compressed air was used in this test.

This was following the semi sucess the Uss Hunley had against the North during the civil war. After sinking a union blockade ship the hunley sank due to a faulty rudder killing the entire crew.

In WWI the German wolf packs that were groups of submarines that were used to sink allied '
ips, the torpedo used were short range, but powerfull and sank countelll allied ships. This continued during WWII, when the Germans had even more sucess againt allied ships.

Many people felt the torpedo and submarine were not gentleman like and was against the rules of war. After seeing the success it had though other countries copied the sub and torpedo and soon forgot any issues they had w ith them.

Work cited:

Https://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWtorpedo.htm

Origins of U.S. Naval Special Warfare

The Navy SEALS were commissioned in 1962 by JFK to conduct guerrilla warfare on the enemy's turf and bring the war to them.

Their origins however extend back to WWII. The navy was conducting numerous beach landings in both the European and Pacific theaters of battle. In both instances they were running into countless underwater obstructions in order to keep us craft from landing troops. To counter these the U.S. Navy created what they called UDT or Underwater Demolition Teams, or Frog Men. With no more then fins and masks these brave sailors charted tides, destroyed underwater obstructions, and paved the way fro beach invasions.

After WWII these teams were decomissioned only to be reactivate, and then rolled into what became the U.S. Navy Seals.

"Navy SEAL Historynavyseals.com-experience the SEAl EDGE." NavySeals.com-experience the SEAL Edge Gear, Fitness, info. 22 June, 2009

http://www.navyseals.com/navy-seal-history.

The Telegraph and the Military

The electronic telegraph was extremely vital to military efforts in the Civil War. 15,000 miles of lines were built just for military use. They also took over commercial lines as well. The operators worked at great risk to them selves. So the military could keep the guise that they were not using the telegraph system, the operators were not actually part of the military. Because of this when one of them died, the military denied that they worked for them thus their families recieved no military benefits. This tecnology far surrpassed the usefulness of the horse when relaying messages.






A. W. Greely, Major-General, United States Army THE MILITARY-TELEGRAPH SERVICE
http://www.civilwarhome.com/telegraph.htm

Radios In Vietnam

Prototypes of the AN/PRC-25 were initially tested in 1959 and it was ready for issue to Army units during 1962. In July 1965, responding to General Westmoreland's complaints about the AN/PRC-10, the new, transistorized FM radios of the AN/VRC-12 and AN/PRC-25 families were diverted from Europe and were shipped to Vietnam.
The first AN/PRC-25's in Southeast Asia (mid-1965) were intended for advisers. With their initial distribution came the first NET Team (new equipment training) from the Electronics Command to begin instruction on the operation and maintenance of the VRC-12 and the PRC-25. Those radios soon became the mainstay of tactical communications in Southeast Asia. In three and a half years, 20,000 VRC-12 and 33,000 PRC-25 radios were delivered to Southeast Asia. The PRC-25 was, according to General Creighton Abrams, "the single most important tactical item in Vietnam."

Starks, Dennis AN/PRC-25 and AN/PRC-77 Backpack Radio

http://www.olive-drab.com/od_electronics_anprc25.php

First Nuclear Submarine

The USS Nautilus (SSN-571) was the first nuclear submarine. This signaled a major change in military submarine technology. Instead of having to surface for fresh air, and to recharge batteries, the Nautilus could stay deep for months. Admiral Hyman G. Rickover was instrumental in ensuring this technological endeavor did not fail. This leap also allowed the submarine to travel under the arctic ice, this is important for the fact that the quickest way to launch a nuclear strike against the USSR is over the poles. Having a ship that only needed to refuel every 10+ years allowed it to loiter and only return to port or land when it’s crew ran out of food.

Works Cited
"USS Nautilus (SSN-571)." National Museum of American History. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 June 2009. .

Bulletproof Silk

In 1881, Dr George Emery Goodfellow accidentally discovered that silk could stop bullets from penetrating the skin. He eventually developed a Gambeson that used silk folded thirty times to successfully protect the human body from bullets.


Other deigns that used silk as the medium were brought about before the start of World War I. After the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, who was wearing a silk protective vest during his assassination, scientists began testing other materials. Eventually leading to the use of Kevlar during the 70s and that has remained as the primary material of which bullet proof vets are made of. That is until 2002 when scientists found out that Dragline silk is three times stronger than Kevlar.

The first combat jet fighter

The first Jet used in combat was the German Me 262. It was used in 1944 in a multi roles. This aircraft was a leap in technology, and if it had come earlier could have affected the war, but by the time it was being produced Germany was running out of oil, but more importantly it was running out of experienced pilots.

To get these jets flying and to try and counter the B-24's and B-17's devastating the German landscape, the Luftwaffe was using young and untested pilots many who could not control the new aircraft and crashed before ever engaging in a fight.

1,430 were built, and did have about 500 claimed kills, but nearly 100 were lost.

This was a pivotal leap in plane technology, and after the war the United States and Russia both quickly began working on their own jet fighters.

On a side note there us restored Me 262 on display at the Willow Grove NAS. This aircraft is able to be seen by the public and we are very lucky to have such an important piece of combat history in our area.

The first tank

The very first tank to be used in battle was the Mark I tank back in World War I. The idea behind the tank was a way to get around the stalemates of trench warfare. The original models had some design flaws such as mobility and safety. They had a difficult time on rough terrain and going uphill. For safety if the outer shell was somehow penetrated the gasoline inside the tank was very likely to explode and the whole tank would catch fire, burning everyone inside. The tanks didn't complete the job that they were created for. But the possibility for future tank use was seen by most European nations.

The Gatling Gun

Dr. Richard J. Gatling was always very interested in working with rotating devices and machinery. He invented many useful items during the 1800's such as a modernized ship's screw propeller, automated seed sower, and his most famous accomplishment, the Gatling Gun. What made the Gatling Gun so special was that it could shoot multiple bullets at once. This hand cranked gun consisted of 6 barrels locked into the central firing cylinder, and was able to shoot 200 rounds per minute, which was unheard of at the time!

Gatling happened to live next door to a Mrs. Colt, widow of Samuel Colt, creator of the Colt Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company. The relationship quickened the advancement of the fire arm, although Colt did consume the Gatling company in the future. Gatling wrote letters to President Abraham Lincoln imploring for the use of his guns during the Civil War.

"It occurred to me if I could invent a machine--a gun-- which could by its rapidity of fire, enable one man to do as much battle duty as a hundred, that it would, to a great extent, supersede the necessity of large armies, and consequently, exposure to battle and disease be greatly diminished."-Dr. Richard J. Gatling, Hartford, CT, June 15th, 1877

The Gatling is still used today, mostly on fighter planes and is able to now shoot 6,000 rounds per minute, making it one of the most important pieces of military technology throughout our history.



civilwarhome.com 6 Apr. 2005. Civil War Potpourri. 15 Jun. 2009. http://www.civilwarhome.com/gatlinggun.htm.

History of the Atomic Bomb & The Manhattan Project

On August 2, 1939, just before the beginning of World War II, Albert Einstein wrote to the President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Einstein and several other scientists told Roosevelt of efforts in Nazi Germany to purify uranium-235, which could be used to build an atomic bomb. It was shortly thereafter that the United States Government began the serious undertaking known then only as "The Manhattan Project." Simply put, the Manhattan Project was committed to expediting research that would produce a viable atomic bomb.The most complicated issue to be addressed in making of an atomic bomb was the production of ample amounts of "enriched" uranium to sustain a chain reaction. At the time, uranium-235 was very hard to extract. In fact, the ratio of conversion from uranium ore to uranium metal is 500:1. Compounding this, the one part of uranium that is finally refined from the ore is over 99% uranium-238, which is practically useless for an atomic bomb. To make the task even more difficult, the useful U-235 and nearly useless U-238 are isotopes, nearly identical in their chemical makeup. No ordinary chemical extraction method could separate them; only mechanical methods could work.

http://inventors.about.com/od/astartinventions/a/atomic_bomb.htm

Satellite Communications of the Recent Past

This is some of the equipment that i personally used while i was in the Marine Corps in 2002-2006. This equipment was put into service in 1985.

The AN/TSC-93A and AN/TSC-93B terminals contain equipment to receive, transmit, and process medium and high capacity multiplexed voice, data, and teletypewriter circuits. AN/TSC-93B provides a capacity of 24 channels that can operate in a point to point mode or as a non-nodal terminal in a nodal network. These terminals are used as a communications link via satellite with another AN/TSC-93A. Using encryption equipment, they will process secure and nonsecure traffic. The terminals are intended for point-to-point operation in tactical communications systems. They can simultaneously transmit and receive a single high data-rate carrier.

AN?TSC-93A and AN/TSC-93B Satellite Communications Terminals, http://www.fas.org/spp/military/program/com/an-tsc-93.htm Maintained by Robert ShermanOriginally created by John PikeUpdated Thursday, March 02, 2000 10:25:31 AM

Pigeons, Radios of WWI

In 1915, the pigeon service became a special branch of Signals controlling 20,000 birds. The Canadian Corps used 100 pigeons a day in 1915. By 1916 mobile vehicle lofts came into use. In 1916 the telephone was providing primary front line communications. Lines had to be buried at least six feet deep, a labour intensive operation. Existing division and corps signal companies lacked the resources for this so a number of "lines of communication" units were formed.

Military Communications and Electronics Museum, http://www.c-and-e-museum.org/te_tp2.htm

Satellite Communication of the Past

When most people here about satellite communications in the military they think of the recent past or the present. In reality the Army has been working on satellite communications since 1946. It was then that they made radar contact with the moon. Starting in 1954 and achieving their goal in 1959, the army made a communications link between Hawaii and Washington D.C. using the moon as a reflector.

Martin, Donald H., A History of U.S. Military Satellite Communications Systems, Aerospace, http://www.aero.org/publications/crosslink/winter2002/01.html

Trebuchet: The Atomic Bomb of the Middle Ages

During the summer of 1191, Richard the Lionhearted laid siege to the city of Acre that was captured by the Muslims during the Crusades. He placed a series of trebuchets surrounding the city, ordering them to continually hurl stones all day and night. A trebuchet is a type of catapult that was used in Medieval warfare. It is comprised of a weighted beam that swings a sling typically carrying a large stone. Richard's most effective trebuchet was called the Malvoisine Petraria, or the "Bad Neighbor stone hurler." One stone killed 12 men at once, and that stone was taken by messengers to Saladin in order to intimidate him. The stones thrown from this machine were even able to reach the inner city's meat district. Eventually, Bad Neighbor was able to tear down part of the city's wall and destroy their Cursed Tower, despite the Turks having their own trebuchet inside the city aimed solely at destroying the Bad Neighbor.


Talbot, Alice-Mary. "Dumbarton Oaks Papers, No. 54" Washington, DC. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection. 2000. http://www.doaks.org/publications/doaks_online_publications/DOP54/DP54ch4.pdf

Battleships: Old vs. New

The USS Enterprise was considered technologically advanced during World War I, utilizing such improvements as night operations and radar guided missiles. By World War II, it was considered inefficient and used for scrap metal. A new USS Enterprise was created, becoming the first ship to be equipped with nuclear warheads, except this ship was fit with a propulsion engine, therefore the ship did not need to carry it's own fuel. This allowed it to carry 90% more cargo, such as fighter planes and ammunition.

The First "Machine Gun"

Archers had the advantage of being able to attack their opponents from a distance, lessening the chance of themselves facing injury. However, while these forces proved effective, the development of the longbow nearly 700 years ago rendered the original bow and arrow a trifle. The longbow, developed in Wales, but quickly becoming adopted by the English, was much longer than the original arrow at 6 feet. Achieving accurate hits required a stupendous amount of upper body strength, and training of upwards to 10 years. These longbowmen could hit distances from 50 to 250 yards, and they designed special arrowheads for bringing down horses or piercing armour for example. An effective longbowmen could shoot 10 to 12 arrows a minute, emerging as the world's first "machine gun." The longbow gave England a tactical advantage for many years until the creation of the crossbow, which while only covering shorter distances, had more power behind its force and appeared more machine like. These delicate weapons were a prelude to modern guns, obtaining the idea of shooting damaging materials while maintaining your distance from the enemy.


militaryfactory.com. "Brief History of the Crossbow". 1 Jun. 2009. http://www.militaryfactory.com/smallarms/medieval-longbow.aspcivil.