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Books > Social sciences > Warfare & defence > Weapons & equipment > General
Countries around the globe are continuously investing money into weapon development and manufacturing. While weapon design has been a relevant topic, from the Middle Ages to today, the morality of this practice is not commonly presented in research. The Morality of Weapons Design and Development: Emerging Research and Opportunities is an essential scholarly resource that presents detailed discussions on ethical dilemmas in weapons design and innovations. While highlighting relevant topics including projectile and nuclear weapons, the true costs of war, design in peacetime, and weapons development and justification, this book is an ideal resource for researchers, engineers, graduate students, and professionals who have an interest in weapons design, development, and ethics.
This is the most up-to-the minute survey of the vital subject of sea-launched cruise missiles (SLCMs) to appear in ten years. It systematically analyzes the technological promises and weaknesses of SLCMs, especially conventionally armed, land-attack versions, explaining sophisticated technologies in language accessible to the general reader. Eric H. Arnett presents a cogent assessment of the crux of the SLCM issue for U.S. security, examining the coastal nation concept of the U.S. defensive position and investigating whether technology can adequately compensate for geography as Tomahawks and their Soviet counterparts give way to more advanced progeny. Arnett weighs the trade-offs in a frank discussion of the technologies and missions envisioned for current and future SLCMs. This well-researched, authoritative study evaluates both U.S. and Soviet SLCM arsenals, examines the role of arms control and unilateral initiatives in managing the dangers of SLCMs, and critically assesses the claims made for the Tomahawk conventionally armed cruise missile. The relevance of a changing international scene and domestic fiscal chaos to SLCM issues is fully appraised. The book's eight chapters lead the reader through all aspects of this complex field with admirable lucidity. Early chapters describe missions envisioned for U.S. conventionally armed SLCMs, and assess actual SLCM technology. Chapter 4 addresses the reciprocal problem of Soviet SLCMs, describing possible and likely roles of Soviet nuclear and conventionally armed SLCMs and the importance of offering responses. The increasingly important question of how SLCMs might be used in the developing world, both by and against U.S. forces and security partners is considered in Chapter 5--an especially relevant discussion in light of the apparent success of the Tomahawk SLCM in the 1991 war with Iraq. The next two chapters describe SLCM arms control as it has been practiced and discuss, from two vantage points, the roles of future arms-control and unilateral disarmament initiatives in addressing the disadvantages of SLCMs. Finally, the immediate implications of the previous chapters for policy practitioners are developed in a chapter that focuses on specific policy recommendations. This timely contribution is a reliable source of information on SLCMs for the interested public, the non-government arms control community, naval personnel, and members of both Congress and the administration.
This book focuses on Biopreparat, the Soviet agency created in 1974, which spearheaded the largest and most sophisticated biological warfare programme the world has ever seen. At its height, Biopreparat employed more than 30,000 personnel and incorporated an enormous network embracing military-focused research institutes, design centres, biowarfare pilot facilities and dual-use production plants. The secret network pursued major offensive R&D programmes, which sought to use genetic engineering techniques to create microbial strains resistant to antibiotics and with wholly new and unexpected pathogenic properties. During the mid-1980s, Biopreparat increased in size and political importance and also emerged as a major civil biopharmaceutical player in the USSR. In the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, an acute struggle for control of Biopreparat's most valuable assets took place and the network was eventually broken-up and control of its facilities transferred to a myriad of state agencies and private companies.
The importance of technology in our day to day lives is something that few people would deny. At home and in the office, in business and in politics, the effects of technology are pervasive. In this important new study, Anthony DiFilippo examines one specific aspect of this issue: the forces of political economy that direct the course of industrial technology. The book thoroughly analyzes the topic both empirically and comparatively and assesses the impact the political economy of technology has on the nation's standard of living, its quality of life, and its long-term prospects for economic and democratic advancement. In addition, DiFilippo concludes with a practical and rational alternative to confront many of the economic problems described. The book's primary thesis states that recent U.S. industrial policy, which has emphasized continuous advancement of military capabilities, has absorbed large amounts of capital and technical personnel. At the same time, foreign nations have improved their technological capacities through comprehensive, civilian-supported industrial policies. To improve U.S. competitiveness, manufacturing, productivity, and, ultimately, the standard of living, DiFilippo shows that technological resources must be shifted to the civilian sector. He examines a wide range of issues surrounding the topic, from the demise of the post-industrial economy and the conventional explanations for competitive decline to the resource drain of advanced warfare and the industrial policies of Japan, West Germany, and France. An extensive set of charts and tables support DiFilippo's argument and point out some of the serious economic problems the U.S. approach to high technology has caused. A bibliography of selected works is also provided. With its pertinence to current economic, political, and technological issues, From Industry to Arms will be a valuable resource for courses in government and business, political economy, policy analysis, and science and technology. Public and academic libraries will also find it to be an important and timely addition to their collections.
This handbook provides critical analyses of the theory and practices of small arms proliferation and its impact on conflicts and organized violence in Africa. It examines the terrains, institutions, factors and actors that drive armed conflict and arms proliferation, and further explores the nature, scope, and dynamics of conflicts across the continent, as well as the extent to which these conflicts are exacerbated by the proliferation of small arms. The volume features rich analyses by contributors who are acquainted with, and widely experienced in, the formal and informal structures of arms proliferation and control, and their repercussions on violence, instability and insecurity across Africa. The chapters dissect the challenges of small arms and light weapons in Africa with a view to understanding roots causes and drivers, and generating a fresh body of analyses that adds value to the existing conversation on conflict management and peacebuilding in Africa. With contributions from scholars, development practitioners, defence and security professionals and civil society activists, the handbook seeks to serve as a reference for students, researchers, and policy makers on small arms proliferation, control and regulation; defence and security practitioners; and those involved in countering violence and managing conflicts in Africa.
This book] provides the kind of scholarly resource that educated citizens need to think for themselves, a rich digest of primary sources documenting--in their own words--the views, motives, and intentions of the Framers, historic commentators, legislators, and judiciary who have debated the right to keep and bear arms from the origins of our republic. "Preston K. Covey, Carnegie Mellon University " Beginning with its origins in the English Civil War, Clayton Cramer traces the development in the United States of the right to keep and bear arms--through the Constitutional Convention, the ratification debates that followed, its inclusion by Congress in the Bill of Rights, to the present controversy over gun control. This book provides important background, analysis, documentation, and perspective for the ongoing national debate over arms.
This text considers the ethical credentials of the United States in branding various countries pariah states, and describes the background to the Iraq question (the role of Saddam, the genocidal sanctions regime, amongst other things). A detailed chronology of 1997-98 US/Iraq weapons inspections crisis is given, prior to a profile of the subsequent UN/Iraqi settlement and its aftermath.
Finally, a thorough work on the swords worn by German naval officers and non-commissioned officers from 1806-1945. The authors, both experienced collectors, have extensively researched in archives and numerous public and private collections. Thus they can, among other things, correct statements about the legendary A'FA,rstenberg SwordsA, add new information on the various types, and also provide a list of the wearers of honorary swords from the days of the Imperial Navy, the Reichs- and Kriegsmarine. This impressive book includes more than 250 images showing the weapons and their wearers.
This Commentary on the Convention on Cluster Munitions is a
detailed assessment of the negotiation, content, and implications
of the Convention, which is the latest treaty to ban a conventional
weapon.
First comprehensive study of English artillery in the late Middle Ages, bringing out its full impact on areas beyond the military. One of the most important technological developments of the Middle Ages was the adoption of gunpowder weapons in medieval Europe. From the fourteenth century onwards, this new technology was to eventually transform the conduct ofwarfare beyond all recognition with important implications for European and global history. Guns came to be used in all aspects of military operations, with kings, nobles and burgesses all spending large sums of money on these prestigious weapons. The growing effectiveness of gunpowder artillery prompted major changes in the design of fortifications, the composition of armies, the management of logistics and administrative systems. This book is the first full-length study of the unique English experience of gunpowder weapons, tracing their development from their introduction in the reign of Edward III to the end of the fifteenth century. The rich records of the English Exchequer and urban accounts are used to explore their role in campaigns, in sieges, on the battlefield, at sea and their role in the defence of towns, royal castles and the fortifications of the Pale of Calais. It provides a comprehensive framework for the speed of technological advances and the factors responsible for these changes, as well as an in-depth discussion of individual gun types. DAN SPENCER obtained his PhD from the University of Southampton.
This book covers the design and use of the self-propelled armored vehicle Wespe in WWII.
One of the great misconceptions of the Second World War is the notion that the German Army was the epitome of mechanical efficiency--combining lightning speed with awesome military power. R. L. DiNardo argues that, although the elite panzer divisions were indeed formidable units, about 75 percent of the German Army were infantry divisions who relied primarily on the horse for transport. So, DiNardo asks, how modern was the Wehrmacht during World War II? Could it have achieved a higher level of modernity than it actually did? This book takes an unusual approach to the study of the much mythologized German Army. In dealing with horses specifically, DiNardo shows how the German Army was in many ways a throwback to the nineteenth century. How extensive was this antiquated dependence on horses, and was this a conscious decision on the part of the leaders of the German war machine? Did it have an effect on the army's organization and battle strength? What problems did the Germans encounter due to their use of horses? This study answers these questions from a unique perspective and will be invaluable to military historians, courses in military studies, and the collections in public and academic libraries.
This book addresses issues of legal and moral governance arising in the development, deployment, and eventual uses of emerging technologies in military operations. Proverbial wisdom has it that law and morality always lag behind technological innovation. Hence, the book aims to identify, enumerate, and constructively address the problems of adequate governance for the development, deployment, and eventual uses of military technologies that have been newly introduced into military operations or which will be available in the near future. Proposals for modifications in governance, the book argues, closely track the anxieties of many critics of these technologies to the extent that they will proliferate, prove destructive in unanticipated ways, and partially or wholly escape regulation under current treaties and regulatory regimes. In addition to such concerns in domestic and especially in international law, the book addresses ethical norms in the professions involved in the design and eventual use of specific technologies, principally involving the professional norms of practice in engineering and the military (as well as biomedical and health care practice), which impose moral obligations on their members to avoid reckless endangerment or criminal negligence in the course of their activities. Thus, in addition to exploring the application of existing legal regimes and moral norms, the book examines how these professions might develop or improve the voluntary constraints on forms of malfeasance that are enshrined in their histories and codes of best practices. This book should prove of great interest to students of ethics, military studies, philosophy of war and peace, law, and international relations.
Featuring specially commissioned artwork and carefully chosen
photographs, this study charts the SVD Dragunov rifle’s development,
combat use and lasting legacy, from Vietnam to Syria.
The international reporting of military expenditure data for African states is poor in many respects. Figures that are published are often at variance with the socio-economic realities of the countries. This study undertakes to examine the availability and reliability of official military expenditure data for a set of countries in West, central, and East Africa, using a combination of interviews with key actors in the military budgeting process and official documents in the selected countries.
Modern weaponry and warfare have entered a new era where death and destruction are produced electronically and with appalling speed and accuracy. This book shows for the first time how electronic combat and the battle for intelligence are changing every aspect of the battlefield of the future - from nuclear warfare to espionage. It is the first of its kind to show how the new technology and tactics are used, and how they shape strategy and peacetime planning.
This is the first English language work to examine the subject in detail and the first in any language to identify, describe, and quantify variations and production figures for the models covered. The book focuses on the Czechoslovak Communist period (1948-1989), but reaches back into the 1930s in order to trace the history of the 6.35 mm Duo pocket pistol, which remained in production under the name Z until 1974 with a total of thirteen distinct marking variations, and the 6.35 mm model 1945, which had its beginnings as the model 1936. The 7.65 mm model 50 police pistol and its successor, the model 70, are covered in depth, documenting both marking variations and a significant number of design changes introduced during their thirty-three-year production life. The 7.62 mm model 52 Army pistol is given extensive treatment based on data drawn from over 2,000 specimens; in addition to descriptions of both standard and rare variants, significant discussion of the pistol's mechanical characteristics and potential safety problems is presented. Also covered are the more modern commercial CZ 75 and CZ 85, the military model 82, and the commercial CZ 83, as are small caliber target pistols and signal pistols.
All the guns examined in this new paperback edition of Machine Guns of World War 1 belong to the class known as "automatic" and seven classic World War 1 weapons are illustrated in some 250 color photographs. Detailed sequences shows them in close-up: during step-by-step field stripping, and during handling, loading and live firing trials with ball ammunition, by gunners wearing period uniforms to put these historic guns in their visual context. These fascinating photographs are accompanied by concise, illustrated accounts of each weapon's historical and technical background. The reader will learn exactly what it looked like, sounded like and felt like to crew the German, British and French machine guns which dominated the battlefields of the Western Front in 1914-18, and which changed infantry tactics forever.
This work focuses on the efforts of the Quartermaster Corps to apply the concept of standardization to the Army's motor transportation system. The experiences of the Quartermaster Corps and the automobile industry indicated that the most efficient and cost effective method of motorization was to adopt a fleet of standardized trucks with interchangeable components. To attain this goal, the Quartermaster Corps faced many obstacles: bureaucratic inertia, technological limitations, insufficient funding, and resistance from the truck industry. But, in 1940, as America prepared for war, thanks to the efforts of the Quartermaster Corps, the haphazard policies that had once governed truck procurement were superseded by a standardization policy that purchased predetermined makes and models of trucks manufactured specifically for Army service.
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