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Books > Social sciences > Warfare & defence > Weapons & equipment > General
Combat helmets have evolved considerably over the years from those
used in World War I to today's Advanced Combat Helmet. One of the
key advances was the development of aramid fibers in the 1960s,
which led to today's Kevlar-based helmets. The Department of
Defense is continuing to invest in research to improve helmet
performance, through better design and materials as well as better
manufacturing processes. Review of the Department of Defense Test
Protocols for Combat Helmets considers the technical issues
relating to test protocols for military combat helmets. At the
request of the DOD Director of Operational Test and Evaluation,
this report evaluates the adequacy of the Advanced Combat Helmet
test protocol for both first article testing and lot acceptance
testing, including its use of the metrics of probability of no
penetration and the upper tolerance limit (used to evaluate
backface deformation). The report evaluates appropriate use of
statistical techniques in gathering data; adequacy of current
helmet testing procedures; procedures for the conduct of additional
analysis of penetration and backface deformation data; and scope of
characterization testing relative to the benefit of the information
obtained.
The famous and versatile World War II German seaplane.
This comprehensive compendium covers all aspects of self-defense
knives, including their history, development, and technology, as
well as practice, training, and combat techniques. Learn about the
historical development of modern self-defense knives and their
various technical systems, designs, and materials. The book covers
various possibilities for carrying an SD-knife, answers questions
such as whether a folder or fixed blade is the right choice, and
gives recommendations on training knives. The most important combat
knives and knife combats of Hollywood movies are included. Readers
will learn the basics of Wagner's reality-based training system.
Contributions from well-known knife and combat experts such as Sal
Glesser, Michael Janich, Frank Metzner, Joachim Friedrich, Dieter
Knuttel, and Sohny cover special topics such as butterfly and
karambit knives, escrima, and self-defense against dogs.
Artificial intelligence (AI) may be the most beneficial
technological development of the twenty-first century. Media hype
and raised expectations for results, however, have clouded
understanding of the true nature of AI--including its limitations
and potential. AI at War provides a balanced and practical
understanding of applying AI to national security and warfighting
professionals as well as a wide array of other readers. Although
the themes and findings of the chapters are relevant across the
U.S. Department of Defense, to include all Services, the Joint
Staff and defense agencies as well as allied and partner ministries
of defense, this book is a case study of warfighting functions in
the Naval Services--the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps. Sam J.
Tangredi and George Galdorisi bring together over thirty experts,
ranging from former DOD officials and retired flag officers to
scientists and active duty junior officers. These contributors
present views on a vast spectrum of subjects pertaining to the
implementation of AI in modern warfare, including strategy, policy,
doctrine, weapons, and ethical concerns.
An unforgettable story of discovery and unimaginable destruction
and a major biography of one of America's most brilliant--and most
divisive--scientists, "Robert Oppenheimer: A Life Inside the
Center" vividly illuminates the man who would go down in history as
"the father of the atomic bomb." Oppenheimer's talent and drive
secured him a place in the pantheon of great physicists and carried
him to the laboratories where the secrets of the universe revealed
themselves. But they also led him to contribute to the development
of the deadliest weapon on earth, a discovery he soon came to fear.
His attempts to resist the escalation of the Cold War arms
race--coupled with political leanings at odds with post-war
America--led many to question his loyalties, and brought down upon
him the full force of McCarthyite anti-communism. Digging deeply
into Oppenheimer's past to solve the enigma of his motivations and
his complex personality, Ray Monk uncovers the extraordinary,
charming, tortured man--and the remarkable mind--who fundamentally
reshaped the world.
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.
Designed by a motorcycle racer turned small-arms engineer, George Patchett, the submachine gun that eventually became known as the Sterling was developed during World War II. Some suggest it first saw action during Operation Infatuate with No. 4 Commando, before becoming fully adopted by the British Army in 1953 as the Sterling Machine Carbine (L2A1).
It was centre stage for many of Britain's post-colonial conflicts from Malaya to Kenya and from Yemen to Northern Ireland. The silenced L34A1 Sterling-Patchett entered service in 1966 and first saw action deep in the jungles of Vietnam in the hands of the elite special forces of Australia, New Zealand and the United States during prisoner snatches and reconnaissance patrols.
Employing first-hand accounts and painstaking technical analysis, this engaging account features carefully selected archive photography and specially commissioned colour artwork depicting the submachine gun that armed British and other forces for nearly 60 years.
The fifth volume of trucks and cars used by Germany during WWII.
Published to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Normandy
campaign, Panzers in Normandy Then and Now is a detailed study of
the German panzer regiments in Normandy in 1944 as seen from the
German side. The book is basically divided into two parts: the
theoretical composition of the 1944 model of the panzer regiment,
its equipment and personnel, and secondly, individual chapters on
the seventeen panzer units which saw service in Normandy. In
addition, the book contrasts the scenes of the fighting that raged
in the countryside and villages of this part of France with
comparison photographs of the battleground as it is today. Research
for this book also resulted in the discovery of the location of the
grave of the most famous panzer commander, formerly listed as
missing in action, when a Normandy roadside revealed its secret in
1983 as the last resting place of the victor of Villers-Bocage,
Michael Wittmann.
Congress has long been concerned about whether U.S. policy advances
the national interest in reducing the role of the People's Republic
of China (PRC) in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction
(WMD) and missiles that could deliver them. Recipients of China's
technology reportedly include Pakistan and countries that the State
Department says support terrorism, such as Iran and North Korea.
This book, updated as warranted, discusses the security problem of
China's role in weapons proliferation and issues related to the
U.S. policy response since the mid-1990s. China has taken some
steps to mollify U.S. concerns about its role in weapons
proliferation. Nonetheless, supplies from China have aggravated
trends that result in ambiguous technical aid, more indigenous
capabilities, longer-range missiles, and secondary (retransferred)
proliferation. According to unclassified reports to Congress by the
intelligence community, China has been a "key supplier" of weapons
technology, particularly missile or chemical technology.
Adopted by the German Wehrmacht at the end of 1939, more than 1.2
million P.38s were manufactured up to 1945. Designed by the Walther
company from its civilian model PP, it was the first double-action
military pistol. Its robustness and simplicity of manufacture made
it a worthy successor to the legendary P.08 Luger in the Second
World War. This illustrated book presents the design,
manufacturing, and development of the various models, from initial
acceptance by the German military in 1938 through their production
and use from 1939 to 1945. Includes close-up views of markings and
other details, as well as 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.
Shown are the weaponry, uniforms and other equipment of the German
paratroops as used on all fronts throughout World War II.
The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME)
provides the Army s integral repair and recovery capability. Its
soldiers are deployed at the front line and have to be capable of
switching instantly from a technical role to fighting alongside
those they support, as their many awards for gallantry demonstrate.
This, the third, volume of REME s distinguished history covers the
period from post-Cold War drawdown to the end of UK combat
operations in Afghanistan, during which time REME was continuously
involved in operations. The narrative knits together personal
accounts of front line experiences with an explanation the
political and military background, with a particular focus on
equipment support issues. It explains how REME operates and deals
with broader issues related to the procurement and support of
equipment, and the changing organisations delivering these vital
services, within which members of REME have frequently played key
enabling roles.
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.
This title is the second in a series that employs a simple and
effective concept to illustrate and describe the multiplicity of
equipment and weapons systems used on the ground during World War
II. Whilst many books have described such weapons and war materiel,
Keith Ward's unique abilities as a 3D technical artist bring these
items to life, illustrated throughout in full colour. Here, in a
single concise volume, are all major and many minor and less
well-known items of Soviet weaponry and equipment, rendered
precisely, including detailed cutaways showing their internal
workings, information which is often absent from other
publications. Technical details are also provided. This is an
essential volume for anyone interested in the Soviet Army of World
War II.
In Samurai to Soldier, D. Colin Jaundrill rewrites the military
history of nineteenth-century Japan. In fifty years spanning the
collapse of the Tokugawa shogunate and the rise of the Meiji
nation-state, conscripts supplanted warriors as Japan’s principal
arms-bearers. The most common version of this story suggests that
the Meiji institution of compulsory military service was the
foundation of Japan’s efforts to save itself from the imperial
ambitions of the West and set the country on the path to great
power status. Jaundrill argues, to the contrary, that the conscript
army of the Meiji period was the culmination—and not the
beginning—of a long process of experimentation with military
organization and technology. Jaundrill traces the radical changes
to Japanese military institutions, as well as the on-field
consequences of military reforms in his accounts of the Boshin War
(1868–1869) and the Satsuma Rebellions of 1877. He shows how
pre-1868 developments laid the foundations for the army that would
secure Japan’s Asian empire.
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