The Department of Defense (DOD) spends over $300 billion each year to develop, produce, field and sustain weapons systems (the U.S. Air Force over $100 billion per year). DOD and Air Force acquisitions programs often experience large cost overruns and schedule delays leading to a loss in confidence in the defense acquisition system and the people who work in it. Part of the DOD and Air Force response to these problems has been to increase the number of program and technical reviews that acquisition programs must undergo. This book looks specifically at the reviews that U.S. Air Force acquisition programs are required to undergo and poses a key question: Can changes in the number, content, or sequence of reviews help Air Force program managers more successfully execute their programs? This book concludes that, unless they do it better than they are now, Air Force and DOD attempts to address poor acquisition program performance with additional reviews will fail. This book makes five recommendations that together form a gold standard for conduct of reviews and if implemented and rigorously managed by Air Force and DOD acquisition executives can increase review effectiveness and efficiency. The bottom line is to help program managers successfully execute their programs. Table of Contents Front Matter Summary 1 Introduction 2 Findings and Conclusions 3 Recommendations Appendixes Appendix A: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members Appendix B: Meetings and Speakers Appendix C: Related Studies Appendix D: Survey Appendix E: Types of Reviews

This magnificent book traces the history of firearms and edged weapons in Greece and the Balkans during the Ottoman era. The early developments of firearms in the later Middle Ages coincided with the Ottoman occupation of these regions, and over the following centuries they became by far the greatest centre of arms manufacturing in the Islamic world. Each town developed its own style in weaponry, decoration and costume, often with spendid results. Traditional weapons were held in great pride, and surviving guns and swords are richly ornamented with silverwork, mother-of-pearl, coral or semi-precious stones. Over 19 chapters, Robert Elgood's masterful text weaves together the story of the weapons with the deeds of their owners and the history of the region. The book culminates in the stirring story of Greek national liberation in the 1820s. To Greeks the weapons used by the heroes of their revolution are quasi-sacred objects: they fill the museums of modern Greece and are highly collectible. Representing a decade of research by a world expert in oriental arms and armour, this book is being published to coincide with a major exhibition of Greek and Balkan arms at the National Historical Museum, Athens.

The first major reappraisal of Pierre Trudeau's controversial defence policy, The Price of Alliance uses the 1976 procurement of Leopard tanks for Canada's troops in Europe to shed light on Canada's relationship with NATO. After six years of pressure from Canada's allies, Trudeau was convinced that Canadian tanks in Europe were necessary to support foreign policy objectives, and the tanks symbolized an increased Canadian commitment to NATO. Drawing on interviews and records from Canada, NATO, the United States, and Germany, Frank Maas addresses the problems of defence policymaking within a multi-country alliance and the opportunities and difficulties of Canadian defence procurement.

The outbreak of WW1 in 1914 found the British Army unready in many respects for a new age of warfare. However, the British led the world in the personal equipment worn by the infantryman thanks to an American officer named Anson Mills and the skills of the company created to produce his design - the 1908 equipment set made in woven cotton web. By the outbreak of WW2, the British infantry had new 1937 pattern equipment, whose design reflected a new generation of weapons and tactics. This proved unequal to the special demands of jungle warfare in the Far East: so 1944 saw yet another set of kit. In this book the author offers collectors and students of militaria a detailed review of these infantry equipments which spanned the British soldier's combat experience throughout most of the 20th century.

Many of the aircraft that form the backbone of the U.S. Air Force operational fleet are 25 years old or older. A few of these will be replaced with new aircraft, but many are expected to remain in service an additional 25 years or more. This book provides a strategy to address the technical needs and priorities associated with the Air Force's aging airframe structures. It includes a detailed summary of the structural status of the aging force, identification of key technical issues, recommendations for near-term engineering and management actions, and prioritized near-term and long-term research recommendations. Table of Contents Front Matter Executive Summary Part I Problem Definition and Status of the Aging Force Part II Recommended Strategy and Opportunities for Near-Term and Long-Term Research References Appendix A: Synopses of Air Force Aging Aircraft Structural Histories Appendix B: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members

The focus of this book is a weapon that has literally placed the power of fire in human hands - the man-portable flamethrower. This formidable weapon first saw battlefield use in the hands of German troops during World War I, and went on to arm the forces of many countries in World War II and beyond. Capable of inflicting horrific injuries - or of using up the oxygen supply inside a building, causing the occupants to suffocate - it projected a stream of flammable liquid, which could be 'bounced' off the interior surfaces of tunnels, buildings and other defended structures to reach deep inside a fortification. From its combat debut to its deployment in Vietnam, Chechnya and elsewhere, the flamethrower has proven to be devastatingly effective, not least because of its huge psychological impact on enemy troops. Yet despite this, the weapon and its operators have always been vulnerable, suffering from a very particular set of limitations, all of which are explored here. Featuring expert analysis, first-hand accounts and a startling array of illustrations and photographs, this is the definitive guide to an extraordinary chapter in the history of military technology.

A unique chapter in the history of firearms, the multibarrel, hand-cranked Gatling gun was one of the first practical rapid-fire weapons ever to be used in battle. It changed warfare by introducing the capability to project deadly, high-intensity fire on the battlefield, and portended the devastation that automatic weapons would wreak in World War I. During its 50-year career, it saw widespread service with US, British, and other forces on a host of battlefields through conflicts in Zululand and the American West, to the Spanish-American War. Although it saw widespread use in the hands of industrialized nations against various groups of indigenous native warriors, it was famously left behind by Custer at the battle of the Little Bighorn, where some argue it could have made all the difference. Featuring full-colour artwork plus contemporary and close-up photographs, this engaging study investigates the origins, development, combat use, and lasting influence of the formidable Gatling gun.

"The Hand Grenade" is the dramatic story, covering its origins, development, use - in the World Wars and into the present day - and lasting influence on close-quarter combat and infantry tactics.
Allowing the user to inflict damage on his opponent within throwing range without leaving cover, the portable, lethally efficient hand grenade is a ubiquitous weapon of modern warfare, and has now found its way into law-enforcement arsenals too. In this engaging study the origins, development, combat use and lasting legacy of the military hand grenade are explored and assessed, accompanied by specially commissioned full-color artwork and an array of revealing photographs of grenades in use and in close-up.

Drone Theory is Gregoire Chamayou's poignant and sharply argued polemic against US drone warfare. In 2011 alone, the US deployed one drone strike every four days in Pakistan. Drone Theory is a rigorous polemic against the increasing use of robot warfare around the world. Drawing on philosophical debate, moral lessons from Greek mythology and transcripts of conversations between drone operators, Drone Theory re-evaluates the socio-political impact of drone warfare on the world - and its people. Chamayou takes us through Nevada, Pakistan and arresting philosophical terrain to reveal how drones are changing the landscape of war theory and to highlight the profound moral implications of our own silence in the face of drone warfare. Born in 1976, Gregoire Chamayou is a philosopher at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris and the author of Les corps vils and Manhunts: A Philosophical History. Chamayou also lectures at Universite de Paris Ouest, and has written for Le Monde Diplomatique among other publications. Janet Lloyd has translated over seventy books from French to English and has twice been awarded the Scott Moncrieff prize.

Artillery was the decisive weapon of the Great War - it dominated the battlefields. Yet the history of artillery during the conflict has been neglected, and its impact on the fighting is inadequately understood. Paul Strong and Sanders Marble, in this important and highly readable study, seek to balance the account. Their work shows that artillery was central to the tactics of the belligerent nations throughout the long course of the conflict, in attack and in defence. They describe, in vivid detail, how in theory and practice the use of artillery developed in different ways among the opposing armies, and they reveal how artillerymen on all sides coped with the extraordinary challenges that confronted them on the battlefield.

Reichsmarschall G ring told Hitler that it would take less than a month for his much-vaunted Luftwaffe to conquer the RAF and pave the way for the German invasion of Great Britain. His prediction was to prove disastrously wrong, but for four long months his pilots and aircrew fought for their lives in the skies above the UK. From their bases in continental Europe, the Luftwaffe s fighter pilots escorted the great bomber fleets that sought to destroy the RAF s airfields and installations, and tackled the Spitfires and Hurricanes deployed to defend Britain s towns and cities. Whilst much has been written on the titanic struggle for supremacy fought throughout the summer of 1940 and of the men and machines of both sides, little attention has been paid to what the pilots wore and carried with them in the air. All the objects that a Luftwaffe fighter pilot was issued with during the Battle of Britain are explored in this book in high-definition colour photographs, showing everything from the differing uniforms, to headgear, personal weapons, gloves, goggles, parachute packs and the essential life jacket. Each item is fully described and its purpose and use explained. Fly with the Messerschmitt Bf 109s and Bf 110s across the Channel and see what the Luftwaffe aircrew wore as they took on Fighter Command in what was justly called the Battle of Britain.

The Department of Defense (DOD) acquires goods and services from contractors, federal arsenals, and shipyards to support military operations. Acquisitions is a broad term that applies to more than just the purchase of an item of service; the acquisition process encompasses the design, engineering, construction, testing, deployment, sustainment, and disposal of weapons or related items purchased from a contractor. As set forth by statute and regulation, from concept to deployment, a weapon system must go through a three-step process of identifying a required weapon system, establishing a budget, and acquiring the system. One of DOD's main efforts to improve acquisitions is the Better Buying Power Initiative. This book provides an overview of the process by which DOD acquires weapon systems and discusses recent major efforts by Congress and the Department of Defense to improve the performance of the acquisition system.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, field artillery was a small, separate, unsupported branch of the U.S. Army. By the end of World War I, it had become the "King of Battle," a critical component of American military might. Million-Dollar Barrage tracks this transformation. Offering a detailed account of how American artillery crews trained, changed, adapted, and fought between 1907 and 1923, Justin G. Prince tells the story of the development of modern American field artillery-a tale stretching from the period when field artillery became an independent organization to when it became an equal branch of the U.S. Army. The field artillery entered the Great War as a relatively new branch. It separated from the Coast Artillery in 1907 and established a dedicated training school, the School of Fire at Fort Sill, in 1911. Prince describes the challenges this presented as issues of doctrine, technology, weapons development, and combat training intersected with the problems of a peacetime army with no good industrial base. His account, which draws on a wealth of sources, ranges from debates about U.S. artillery practices relative to those of Europe, to discussions of the training, equipping, and performance of the field artillery branch during the war. Prince follows the field artillery from its plunge into combat in April 1917 as an unprepared organization to its emergence that November as an effective fighting force, with the Meuse-Argonne Offensive proving the pivotal point in the branch's fortunes. Million-Dollar Barrage provides an unprecedented analysis of the ascendance of field artillery as a key factor in the nation's military dominance.

First published in 1992, "Medieval Military Technology" has become the definitive book in its field, garnering much praise and a large readership. This thorough update of a classic book, regarded as both an excellent overview and an important piece of scholarship, includes fully revised content, new sections on the use of horses, handguns, incendiary weapons, and siege engines, and eighteen new illustrations.

The four key organizing sections of the book still remain: arms and armor, artillery, fortifications, and warships. Throughout, the authors connect these technologies to broader themes and developments in medieval society as well as to current scholarly and curatorial controversies.

The Department of Defense (DOD) purchases goods and services from contractors to support military operations. Any purchase of a good or service by DOD is defined as a procurement. DOD's acquisition system is highly complex and does not always produce systems that meet anticipated cost or performance expectations. This book examines the DOD's defence acquisition structure and considers the DODs efforts to improve how the department acquires weapon systems.

The Thompson submachine gun, or Tommy gun developed an almost iconic status during the 20th century. It had an unusual beginning, for it was developed during the dying days of World War I as a 'one-man, hand-held machine gun'. The war ended before these first prototypes could be shipped to Europe but once the M1921 Thompson formally entered production it was used by the criminals working in Chicago and New York during the 1920s. With the police increasingly outgunned they too were forced to equip themselves with the Tommy gun. It quickly came to be used in Hollywood films, and by the end of the 1930s it would have probably faded from view had history not intervened. With the entry of the US into World War II there was an urgent need to equip and arm a force of epic proportions; the Thompson submachine gun began a second career as part of the US Army. It also became the weapon of choice for the small band of British commandos as they conducted a number of daring raids against the heart of occupied Europe.

During the past decade, armed drones have entered the American military arsenal as a core tactic for countering terrorism. When coupled with access to reliable information, they make it possible to deploy lethal force accurately across borders while keeping one's own soldiers out of harm's way. The potential to direct force with great precision also offers the possibility of reducing harm to civilians. At the same time, because drones eliminate some of the traditional constraints on the use of force like the need to gain political support for full mobilization they lower the threshold for launching military strikes. The development of drone use capacity across dozens of countries increases the need for global standards on the use of these weapons to assure that their deployment is strategically wise and ethically and legally sound. Presenting a robust conversation among leading scholars in the areas of international legal standards, counterterrorism strategy, humanitarian law, and the ethics of force, Drones and the Future of Armed Conflict takes account of current American drone campaigns and the developing legal, ethical, and strategic implications of this new way of warfare. Among the contributions to this volume are a thorough examination of the American government's legal justifications for the targeting of enemies using drones, an analysis of American drone campaigns' notable successes and failures, and a discussion of the linked issues of human rights, freedom of information, and government accountability.

In June 1941 - during the first week of the Nazi invasion in the Soviet Union - the quiet cornfields and towns of Western Ukraine were awakened by the clanking of steel and thunder of explosions; this was the greatest tank battle of the Second World War. About 3,000 tanks from the Red Army Kiev Special Military District clashed with about 800 German tanks of Heeresgruppe South. Why did the numerically superior Soviets fail? Hundreds of heavy KV-1 and KV-2 tanks, the five-turret giant T-35 and famous T-34 failed to stop the Germans. Based on recently available archival sources, A. Isaev describes the battle from a new point of view: that in fact it's not the tanks, but armoured units, which win or lose battles. The Germans during the Blitzkrieg era had superior tactics and organisations for their tank forces. The German Panzer Division could defeat their opponents not by using tanks, but by using artillery, which included heavy artillery, and motorized infantry and engineers. The Red Army's armoured units - the Mechanized Corps - had a lot of teething troubles, as all of them lacked accompanying infantry and artillery. In 1941 the Soviet Armoured Forces had to learn the difficult science - and mostly 'art' - of combined warfare. Isaev traces the role of these factors in a huge battle around the small Ukrainian town of Dubno. Popular myths about impregnable KV and T-34 tanks are laid to rest. In reality, the Germans in 1941 had the necessary tools to combat them. The author also defines the real achievements on the Soviet side: the blitzkrieg in the Ukraine had been slowed down. For the Soviet Union, the military situation in June 1941 was much worse than it was for France and Britain during the Western Campaign in 1940. The Red Army wasn't ready to fight as a whole and the border district's armies lacked infantry units, as they were just arriving from the internal regions of the USSR. In this case, the Red Army tanks became the 'Iron Shield' of the Soviet Union; they even operated as fire brigades. In many cases, the German infantry - not tanks - became the main enemy of Soviet armoured units in the Dubno battle. Poorly organized, but fierce, tank-based counter-attacks slowed down the German infantry - and while the Soviet tanks lost the battle, they won the war.

The German destroyer fleet of World War II consisted of nine classes: the Diether Von Roeder Class, the Leberecht Maas Class and the wartime classes Z23, Z35, Z37, Z40, Z43, Z46 and Z52. These vessels, though fewer in number than the British destroyer fleet, tended to be much bigger and more powerful than their allied counterparts. They served their country well in operations in the Channel, North Sea, the Far North and in the rescue of civilians from East Prussia during the final days of the war. This title describes their design, development and operational use from the fjords of Narvik to the final days of the war.

The machine-gun is one of the iconic weapons of the Great War indeed of the twentieth century. Yet it is also one of the most misunderstood. During a four-year war that generated unprecedented casualties, the machine-gun stood out as a key weapon. In the process it took on an almost legendary status that persists to the present day. It shaped the tactics of the trenches, while simultaneously evolving in response to the tactical imperatives thrown up by this new form of warfare. Paul Cornish, in this authoritative and carefully considered study, reconsiders the history automatic firepower, and he describes in vivid detail its development during the First World War and the far-reaching consequences thereof. He dispels many myths and misconceptions that have grown up around automatic firearms, but also explores their potency as symbols and icons. His clear-sighted reassessment of the phenomenon of the machine-gun will be fascinating reading for students of military history and of the Great War in particular.

The Krupp industrial empire was one of Germany's wealthiest and most powerful corporations, and it contributed to the armaments used in several of its country's wars. British journalist Peter Batty tells the story of the Krupp family and the company they started during the industrial revolution, and how subsequent Krupps produced cannons used in the Franco-Prussian War, U-boats and shells for World War I, and the countless weapons and vehicles, including the biggest cannon ever made, for Hitler's army. The House of Krupp recounts the trial at Nuremberg of magnate Alfried Krupp, and the rebirth and astounding success of his company in the years after the war years that saw Alfried become one of the richest men in the world."

The Colt M1911 is one of the most well-known and popular military weapons of the 20th century. Designed by John Browning, this pistol, with its legendary reliability and firepower, represents the developmental starting point of a majority of automatic pistols to this day. It was the standard-issue sidearm of the US armed forces for more than 70 years and is still in use throughout the world. This detailed, illustrated book features the M1911 from its initial design, manufacturing, and testing, through its combat use in WWI, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. Through more than 370 images, this title includes close-up views of markings, as well as a serial numbers list, and a visual breakdown of the weapon. Accessories such as magazines, ammunition, holsters, and cleaning kits are featured throughout the book, as are rarely seen combat-related uniform and equipment items.