American soldiers firing an Israeli-made M120 mortar

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A mortar is an indirect fire weapon that fires explosive projectiles known as (mortar) bombs at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing ballistic trajectories. It is typically muzzle-loading and has a barrel length less than 15 times its caliber.

Function[link]

81 mm high explosive, white phosphorus and illumination mortar rounds

A mortar is relatively simple and easy to operate. A modern mortar consists of a tube into which gunners drop a purpose-designed bomb. The tube is generally set at between 45 and 85 degrees angle to the ground, with the higher angle giving shorter firing distances. The bomb has no cartridge case; the propellant is attached to the bomb's fins. When it reaches the base of the tube it hits a firing pin, which detonates the propellant and fires the projectile. Some larger caliber mortars have a string-operated firing pin.

These attributes contrast with the mortar's larger siblings, howitzers and field guns, that fire shells at higher velocities, longer ranges, flatter arcs, and sometimes using direct fire. These weapons are also breech-loaded while mortars are muzzle-loaded.

From the 18th to the early 20th century very heavy, relatively immobile siege mortars were used, of up to one metre calibre, often made of cast iron and with outside barrel diameter many times that of the bore diameter. Smaller and more portable designs were introduced during the First World War, primarily for trench warfare, which took place at relatively close ranges. Mortars continue to be in use to the present day.

French mortar diagram, 18th century.

Light and medium mortars are portable, and usually used by infantry units. The chief advantage a mortar section has over an artillery battery is the flexibility of small numbers, mobility and the ability to engage targets in the defilade with plunging fires. Mortars are able to fire from the protection of a trench or defilade. In these aspects the mortar is an excellent infantry support weapon, as it can be transported over any terrain and is not burdened by the logistical support needed for artillery.

Heavy mortars are typically between 120- and 300-mm calibre.^[1] These weapons are usually towed or vehicle-mounted, sometimes breech-loaded, and normally employed by infantry units attached to battalion through division level. Even at this size, mortars are simpler and less expensive than comparable howitzers or field guns.

A mortar can be carried by one or more people (larger mortars can usually be broken down into components), or transported in a vehicle. An infantry mortar can usually also be mounted and fired from a mortar-carrier, a purpose-built or modified armoured vehicle with a large roof hatch. A mortar can also be a launcher for fireworks, a hand-held or vehicle-mounted projector for smoke shells or flares, or a large grenade launcher. Heavy mortars can be mounted on a towed carriage, or permanently vehicle-mounted as a self-propelled mortar. Twin-barrelled self-loading mortars—such as the Patria AMOS PT1—are the latest evolution of these heavy mortars and are mounted on platforms such as armoured personnel carriers, tank chassis, and coastal patrol boats.^[2]

Design[link]

LLR 81mm mortar of the 2e REI.

Most modern mortar systems consist of three main components: a barrel, a base plate, and a bipod.

Picture of the base plate and bipod attached to the barrel

Modern mortars normally range in calibre from 60 mm (2.36 in) to 120 mm (4.72 in). However, mortars both larger and smaller than these specifications have been produced. An example of the smaller scale is the British 51 mm Light Mortar which is carried by an individual and consists of only a tube and a base plate. Conversely, a large example is the Soviet 2S4 M1975 Tyulpan (tulip flower) 240 mm self-propelled mortar.

Smaller mortars (up to 82 mm) are commonly used and transported by infantry based mortar sections as a substitute for, or in addition to, artillery.

Ammunition for mortars generally comes in two main varieties: fin-stabilised and spin-stabilised. The former have short fins on their posterior portion which control the path of the bomb in flight. Spin-stabilized mortar bombs rotate as they travel along and leave the mortar tube, which stabilizes them in much the same way as a rifle bullet. Both types of rounds can be either illumination (infra-red or visible illumination), smoke, or high explosive.

Spin-stabilised rounds may be fired from a smoothbore or a rifled barrel. Since mortars generally are muzzle loaded, mortar bombs for rifled barrels have a pre-engraved band, called an obturator, that engages with the rifling of the barrel. They are more accurate, but slower to load.

Mortars are made in a range of calibres. The French 81 mm mortar became standard for many countries, while the Soviet bloc standardized on the 82mm mortar.

Mortars suffer from instability when used on snow and soft ground, because the recoil pushes them into the ground or snow unevenly. A solution to this problem is the Raschen Bag.

Distinctive features of mortars[link]

Mortars and their ammunition are generally much smaller and lighter than other artillery, such as guns and howitzers, which allows light and medium (typically, 60mm and 81/82mm) mortars to be considered small-arms; i.e. capable of transport by personnel without vehicle assistance. They are short-range weapons, and often more effective than other artillery for many purposes within their shorter range. In particular, due its high, parabolic trajectory with a near vertical descent, the mortar can land bombs on nearby targets, including those behind obstacles or in fortifications, such as light vehicles behind hills or structures, or infantry in trenches or spider holes. This also makes it possible to launch attacks from positions lower than the target of the attack. (E.g., long-range artillery could not shell a target 1 km away and 30 metres (100 ft) higher; a target easily accessible to a mortar.

Mortars are also highly effective when used from concealed positions, such as the natural escarpments on hillsides or from woods, especially if forward observers are being employed in strategic positions to direct fire; an arrangement where the mortar is in relatively close proximity both to its FO and its target, allowing for fire to be quickly and accurately delivered to lethal effect.

Fin-stabilised mortar bombs do not have to withstand the rotational forces placed upon them by rifling, and can carry a higher payload in a thinner skin than rifled artillery ammunition. Due to the difference in available volume a smooth-bore mortar of a given diameter will have a greater explosive yield than a similarly sized artillery shell. For example a 120 mm mortar bomb has about the same explosive capability as a 155 mm artillery shell. Also, fin-stabilised munitions fired from a smooth-bore, which do not rely upon the spin imparted by a rifled-bore for greater accuracy, do not have the drawback of veering in the direction of the spin.

Georgian-era portable trench mortar.

Spigot mortar[link]

Spigot mortars, a particular type of mortar, consist of a mostly solid rod or spigot, onto which a hollow tube in the projectile fits - inverting the normal tube-mortar arrangement. At the top of the tube in the projectile, a cavity contains propellant such as cordite. There is usually a trigger mechanism built into the base of the spigot, with a long firing pin running up the length of the spigot activating a primer inside the projectile and firing the propellant charge.

The advantage of a spigot mortar is that the firing unit (baseplate and spigot) is smaller and lighter than a conventional tube mortar of equivalent payload and range. It is also somewhat simpler to manufacture.

The disadvantage is that while most mortar bombs have a streamlined shape towards the back that fits a spigot mortar application well, using that space for the spigot mortar tube takes volume and mass away from the payload of the projectile. If a soldier is carrying only a few projectiles, the projectile weight disadvantage is not significant. However, the weight of a large quantity of the heavier and more complex spigot projectiles offsets the weight saved due to the spigot mortar being lighter than a conventional mortar.

A near-silent mortar can operate using the spigot principle. Each round has a close-fitting movable plug in the tube that fits over the spigot. When the round is fired, the projectile is pushed off the spigot, but before the plug clears the spigot it is caught by a constriction at the base of the tube. This traps the gases from the propelling charge and hence the sound of the firing. After World War II the Belgium Fly-K silent spigot mortar was accepted into French service as the TN-8111.

Spigot mortars are generally out of favor in modern usage, replaced by small conventional mortars.

Mallet's Mortar with 36 inch bombs which would have contained 480lb (217kg) of gunpowder.

Mortar of the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem, Rhodes, 1480-1500, fired 260 kg cannon balls.

An 1832 "Monster Mortar" invented by Henri-Joseph Paixhans.

US Army 13-inch mortar "Dictator" was a rail-mounted gun of the US Civil War.

Military applications of spigot mortars include

• The 290 mm petard mortar used on the Churchill AVRE by Britain in World War II
• The 320 mm Type 98 mortar used by Japan in World War II to some psychological effect in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa

• Anti-tank launchers
  • The Blacker Bombard and PIAT anti-tank launcher used by Britain in World War II utilised a spigot mortar type of launcher.

• Anti-submarine launchers
  • The Hedgehog launcher, used from the deck of a ship, used 24 spigot mortars which fired a circular pattern of anti-submarine projectiles into the sea ahead of the ship. A sinking projectile detonated if it struck a submarine, and the pattern was such that any submarine partly in the landing zone of the projectiles would be struck one or more times.

Non-military applications include use of small-calibre spigot mortars to launch lightweight, low-velocity foam dummy targets used for training retriever dogs for bird hunting. Extremely simple launchers use a separate small primer cap as the sole propellant(similar or identical to the cartridges used in industrial nail guns).

History[link]

Great Turkish Bombard

Mortars have existed for hundreds of years, first seeing use in siege warfare. Many historians claim that the first mortars were used at the 1453 siege of Constantinople. A European account of the Siege of Belgrade (1456) by Giovanni da Tagliacozzo credits the Ottoman Turks for using seven mortars that fired "stone shots one Italian mile high".^[3] The speed of these was apparently slow enough that casualties could be avoided by posting observers that gave warning of their trajectories.^[4]

Early mortars, such as the Pumhart von Steyr, were also large and heavy, and could not be easily transported. Simply made, these weapons were no more than iron bowls reminiscent of the kitchen and apothecary mortars from where they drew their name. An early transportable mortar was invented by Baron Menno van Coehoorn (Siege of Grave, 1673^[5]). Coehorn-type mortars of approximately 180 pounds (82 kg) weight were used by both sides during the American Civil War.

During the Russo-Japanese War, Leonid Gobyato for the first time applied deflection from closed firing positions in the field and with General Roman Kondratenko designed the first mortar that fired navy shells. However, it was not until the Stokes trench mortar devised by Sir Wilfred Stokes in 1915, that the modern mortar transportable by one person was born. The Germans also developed a series of trench mortars or Minenwerfer in calibers from 7.58 cm to 25 cm during World War I, though these were rifled.

Extremely useful in the muddy trenches of the Western Front, mortars were praised because of the bombs' high angle of flight; a mortar round could be aimed to fall directly into trenches where artillery shells, due to their low angle of flight, could not possibly go. Modern mortars have improved upon these designs, offering a weapon that is light, adaptable, easy to operate, and yet possesses enough accuracy and firepower to provide the infantry with quality close fire support against soft and hard targets more quickly than any other means.

During the battle of Iwo Jima, the Imperial Japanese Army used twelve 320 mm mortars against the American forces.

Largest mortars[link]

The largest mortars ever developed were the French "Monster Mortar" (36 French inches; 975 mm; developed by Henri-Joseph Paixhans in 1832), Mallet's Mortar (36 inches; 910 mm; designed by Robert Mallet and tested by the Woolwich Arsenal, London, in 1857) and the "Little David" (36 inches; 914.4 mm; developed in the United States for use in World War II). All three mortars had a caliber of 36 "inches", but only the "Monster Mortar" saw action (at the Battle of Antwerp in 1832).^[6]

Improvised mortars[link]

IRA improvised mortar tube

Improvised, or "home-made", mortars have been used by insurgent groups, usually to attack fortified military installations or to terrorize civilians. An early example was the Davidka, used during the Israeli War of Independence in 1948. The Provisional Irish Republican Army used some of the best-known examples during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. The largest types came to be known as "barracks busters" and were usually constructed from heavy steel piping mounted on a steel frame. The largest had a calibre of 320 millimetres (13 in) and fired home-made rounds carrying from 80 to 100 kilograms (180 to 220 lb) of explosive.

As each tube fired only one round, mortars were usually deployed as a battery of four or six welded onto a steel frame. This was often concealed inside a van such as a Ford Transit. The vehicle would be parked, pointing roughly at the target. A timer fired the propellant charges after a delay – this allowed the mortar gunner time to escape. After firing, a timer-operated incendiary device could set the vehicle on fire in order to destroy any forensic evidence it contained.

Well-known incidents using these weapons include the 1985 Newry mortar attack, when nine members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary were killed, and the Downing Street mortar attack in 1991. The IRA mortared 10 Downing Street as a Cabinet meeting was in session. Three bombs were launched but only one detonated, it landed in the back garden of the British Prime Minister's residence and only shattered the rear windows. Prime Minister John Major had to move to Admiralty House while repairs were effected.^[7]

Images[link]

• 

  French 120 mm MO-120-RT-61 mortar

• 

  120 mm High Explosive mortar bomb (live) fitted with proximity fuze

• 

  A 120 mm High Explosive mortar bomb (inert) fitted with M734 fuze

• 

  81 mm high explosive mortar bomb fitted with contact fuze

• 

  81mm White Phosphorus mortar shell

• 

  Wiesel 2 lePzMrs (Lightweight Armoured Mortar of Advanced Mortar System) of the German Army

• 

  A Canadian mortar team in action in France, 1944.

• 

  American mortar crew in action near the Rhine, 1945

• 

  60 mm high explosive mortar bomb fitted with M734 fuze

• 

  Various 60 mm mortar shells

• 

  Finnish mortar squad ready to fire with 81 KRH 71 Y

• 

  Future Combat Systems Non-Line-of-Sight Mortar

• 

  Australian 9.45 inch mortar in a concealed cellar near Lens, 30 January 1918

• 

  Handheld 60mm mortar in Afghanistan, 2010

See also[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mortars

• List of heavy mortars
• List of infantry mortars
• Carcass (projectile), used in mortars before the modern age
• Military technology and equipment
• Chemical mortar battalions of the United States Army
• Strix mortar round
• Hedgehog World War II anti-submarine weapons
• Barrack buster
• M2 4.2 Inch Mortar
• 2S4 Tyulpan
• Mortar carrier

References[link]

Notes[link]

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2009)

Further reading[link]

• FM 3-22.90 Mortars - 7 Dec 2007(US Army)
• FM 3-22.91 Mortar Fire Direction Procedures - 17 July 2008 (US Army)

External links[link]

• Mallet's Mortar, the largest British mortar ever made.
• Defense Update: Modern Mobile 120mm Mortars
• Defense Update: Advanced Mortar Munitions
• Mortars during World War I
• The Karl Morser, WW II-era German 60 cm self-propelled mortar.
• Video (streaming wmv)

Look up mortar in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Mortar has several meanings:

• Mortar (weapon), an indirect-fire artillery piece that fires shells at a much-lower velocity and higher ballistic arc than other artillery
• Mortar (firestop), a hydraulic cementitious material used to firestop through-penetrations in wall and floor assemblies required to have a fire-resistance rating
• Mortar (masonry), a material used in masonry to fill the gaps between blocks and bind them together
• Mortar and pestle, a vessel and implement used to crush or grind materials
• Mortar methods, discretization methods for partial differential equations
• Mortarboard, a flattened type of headwear normally worn as part of academic dress

See also[link]

• Chemical mortar battalion

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

This article needs attention from an expert on the subject. Please add a reason or a talk parameter to this template to explain the issue with the article. WikiProject Military history/Weaponry task force may be able to help recruit an expert. (December 2009)

A weapon, arm, or armament is a tool or instrument used in order to inflict damage or harm to living beings - physical or mental -, artificial structures, or systems. In human society, weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, and warfare.

Weapons are employed individually or collectively. A weapon can be either expressly designed as such or be an item re-purposed through use (for example, hitting someone with a hammer). Their form can range from simple implements such as clubs to complicated modern implementations such as intercontinental ballistic missiles and biological weapons. Weapon development has progressed from early wood or stone clubs through revolutions in metalworking (swords, maces, etc.) and gunpowder (guns, cannon), electronics and nuclear technology.

In a broader context, weapons may be construed to include anything used to gain a strategic, material or mental advantage over an adversary on land, sea, air, or even outer space or virtual space.

History[link]

Prehistoric[link]

An array of Neolithic artifacts, including bracelets, axe heads, chisels, and polishing tools.

Very simple weapon use has been observed among chimpanzees,^[1] leading to speculation that early hominids began their first use of weapons as early as five million years ago.^[2] These would have been wooden clubs, spears, and unshaped stones—none of which would leave an unambiguous record.

Some of the earliest unambiguous weapons were throwing sticks and spears dated to more than 300,000 years ago^[3][4][5][6]. The Schöninger Speere, eight wooden throwing spears from the Lower Paleolithic era, are thought to be the earliest known example of weapons used by the genus Homo.^[7]

Ancient and classical[link]

A four-wheeled ballista drawn by armored cataphract horses, c. 400.

Ancient weapons were evolutionary improvements of late neolithic implements, but then significant improvements in materials and crafting techniques created a series of revolutions in military technology:

The development of metal tools, beginning with copper during the Copper Age (about 3,300 BC) and followed shortly by bronze led to the Bronze Age sword and similar weapons.

The first defensive structures and fortifications appeared in the Bronze Age,^[8] indicating an increased need for security. Weapons designed to breach fortifications followed soon after, for example the battering ram was in use by 2500 BC.^[8]

Although early Iron Age swords were not superior to their bronze predecessors, once iron-working developed - around 1200 BC in Sub-Saharan Africa,^[9] iron began to be used widely in weapon production^[10] because iron ore was much more readily available than the copper and tin required to create bronze.

Domestication of the horse and widespread use of spoked wheels by ca. 2000 BC,^[11] led to the light, horse-drawn chariot. The mobility provided by chariots were important during this era.^{[citation needed]} Spoke-wheeled chariot usage peaked around 1300 BC and then declined, ceasing to be militarily relevant by the 4th century BC.^[12]

Cavalry developed once horses were bred to support the weight of a man . The horse extended the range and increased the speed of attack, but was not a weapon as much as it provided an enhanced capability.

Ships built as weapons or warships such as the Triremes were in use by the 7th century BC.^[13] These ships were eventually replaced by larger ships by the 4th century BC.

Middle Ages[link]

This picture shows medieval Indian weapons

Ancient Chinese cannon displayed in the Tower of London.

European warfare during the middle ages was dominated by elite groups of knights supported by massed infantry (both in combat and ranged roles). They were involved in mobile combat and sieges which involved various siege weapons and tactics. Knights on horseback developed tactics for charging with lances providing an impact on the enemy formations and then drawing more practical weapons (such as swords) once they entered into the melee. Whereas infantry, in the age before structured formations, relied on cheap, sturdy weapons such as spears and billhooks in close combat and bows from a distance. As armies became more professional their equipment was standardized and infantry transitioned to pikes.Pikes are normally eight to seven feet in length,in conjunction with smaller side-arms (short sword).

In Eastern and Middle Eastern warfare similar tactics were developed independent of European influences.

The introduction of gunpowder from the Far East at the end of this period revolutionized warfare. Formations of musketeers, protected by pikemen came to dominate open battles, and the cannon replaced the trebuchet as the dominant siege weapon.

Early modern[link]

The examples and perspective in this article or section might have an extensive bias or disproportional coverage towards one or more specific regions. Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page.

The European Renaissance marked the beginning of the implementation of firearms in western warfare. Guns and rockets were introduced to the battlefield.

Firearms are qualitatively different from earlier weapons because they release energy from combustible propellants such as gunpowder, rather than from a counter-weight or spring. This energy is released very rapidly and can be replicated without much effort by the user. Therefore even early firearms such as the arquebus were much more powerful than human-powered weapons. Firearms became increasingly important and effective during the 16th century to 19th century, with progressive improvements in ignition mechanisms followed by revolutionary changes in ammunition handling and propellant. During the U.S. Civil War various technologies including the machine gun and ironclad warship emerged that would be recognizable and useful military weapons today, particularly in limited conflicts. In the 19th century warship propulsion changed from sail power to fossil fuel-powered steam engines.

The bayonet is used as both knife and polearm.

The age of edged weapons ended abruptly just before World War I with rifled artillery. Howitzers were able to destroy masonry fortresses and other fortifications. This single invention caused a Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) and established tactics and doctrine that are still in use today. See Technology during World War I for a detailed discussion.

An important feature of industrial age warfare was technological escalation - innovations were rapidly matched through replication or countered by yet another innovation. The technological escalation during World War I (WW I) was profound, producing armed aircraft and tanks.

This continued in the inter-war period (between WW I and WW II) with continuous evolution of all weapon systems by all major industrial powers. Many modern military weapons, particularly ground-based ones, are relatively minor improvements of weapon systems developed during World War II. See military technology during World War II for a detailed discussion.

Modern[link]

The Vickers was the successor to the Maxim gun and remained in British military service for 79 consecutive years.

Since the mid-18th century North American French-Indian war through the beginning of the 20th century, human-powered weapons were reduced from the primary weaponry of the battlefield yielding to gunpowder-based weaponry. Sometimes referred to as the "Age of Rifles",^[14] this period was characterized by the development of firearms for infantry and cannons for support, as well as the beginnings of mechanized weapons such as the machine gun, the tank and the wide introduction of aircraft into warfare, including naval warfare with the introduction of the aircraft carriers.

World War I marked the entry of fully industrialized warfare as well as weapons of mass destruction (e.g. chemical and biological), and weapons were developed quickly to meet wartime needs. Above all it promised to the military commanders the independence from the horse and the resurgence in maneuver warfare through extensive use of motor vehicles. The changes that these military technologies underwent before and during the Second World War were evolutionary, but defined the development for the rest of the century.

World War II however, perhaps marked the most frantic period of weapons development in the history of humanity. Massive numbers of new designs and concepts were fielded, and all existing technologies were improved between 1939 and 1945. The most powerful weapon invented during this period was the atomic bomb, however many more weapons influenced the world in different ways.

Nuclear age and beyond[link]

Since the realization of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD), the nuclear option of all-out war is no longer considered a survivable scenario. During the Cold War in the years following World War II, both the United States and the former Soviet Union engaged in a nuclear arms race. Each country and their allied blocks continually attempted to out-develop each other in the field of nuclear armaments. Once the joint technological capabilities reached the point of being able to ensure the destruction of the entire planet (see Mutually Assured Destruction) then a new tactic had to be developed. With this realization, armaments development funding shifted back to primarily sponsoring the development of conventional arms technologies for support of limited wars rather than nuclear war.^[15]

Classification[link]

By user[link]

- what person or unit uses the weapon

• Personal weapons (or small arms) - designed to be used by a single person.
• Hunting weapon - primarily for hunting game animals for food or sport
• Infantry support weapons - larger than personal weapons, requiring two or more people to operate correctly.
• Fortification weapons - mounted in a permanent installation, or used primarily within a fortification. Usually high caliber.
• Mountain weapons - for use by mountain forces or those operating in difficult terrain. This includes modifications of existing weapons for paratroopers.
• Vehicle weapons - to be mounted on any type of combat vehicle.
• Railway weapons - designed to be mounted on railway cars, including armored trains.
• Aircraft weapons - carried on and used by some type of aircraft, helicopter, or other aerial vehicle.
• Naval weapons - mounted on ships and submarines.
• Space weapons - are designed to be used in or launched from space.

By function[link]

- the construction of the weapon and principle of operation

• Antimatter weapons (theoretical) would combine matter and antimatter to cause a powerful explosion.
• Archery weapons operate by using a tensioned string and bent solid to launch a projectile.
• Artillery are firearms capable of launching heavy projectiles over long distances, which can explode on impact.
• Biological weapons spread biological agents, causing disease or infection.
• Chemical weapons, poisoning and causing reactions.
• Energy weapons rely on concentrating forms of energy to attack, such as lasers or sonic attack.
• Explosive weapons use a physical explosion to create blast concussion or spread shrapnel.
• Firearms use a chemical charge to launch projectiles.
• Improvised weapons are common objects, reused as weapons, such as crowbars and kitchen knives.
• Incendiary weapons cause damage by fire.
• Non-lethal weapons are designed to subdue without killing.
• Magnetic weapons use magnetic fields to propel projectiles, or to focus particle beams.
• Mêlée weapons operate as physical extensions of the user's body and directly impact their target.
• Missiles are rockets which are guided to their target after launch. (Also a general term for projectile weapons).
• Nuclear weapons use radioactive materials to create nuclear fission and/or nuclear fusion detonations.
• Primitive weapons make little or no use of technological or industrial elements.
• Ranged weapons (unlike Mêlée weapons), target a distant object or person.
• Rockets use chemical propellant to accelerate a projectile
• Suicide weapons exploit the willingness of their operator to not survive the attack.
• Trojan weapons appear on face value to be gifts, though the intent is to in some way harm the recipient.

By target[link]

- the type of target the weapon is designed to attack

• Anti-aircraft weapons target missiles and aerial vehicles in flight.
• Anti-fortification weapons are designed to target enemy installations.
• Anti-personnel weapons are designed to attack people, either individually or in numbers.
• Anti-radiation weapons target sources of electronic radiation, particularly radar emitters.
• Anti-satellite weapons target orbiting satellites.
• Anti-ship weapons target ships and vessels on water.
• Anti-submarine weapons target submarines and other underwater targets.
• Anti-tank weapons are designed to defeat armored targets.
• Area denial weapons target territory, making it unsafe or unsuitable for enemy use or travel.
• Hunting weapons are civilian weapons used to hunt animals.
• Infantry support weapons are designed to attack various threats to infantry units.

Legislation[link]

The production, possession, trade and use of many weapons are controlled. This may be at a local or central government level and in some cases is governed by international treaty.

Examples of such controls include:

• The right of self-defense
• Knife legislation
• Air gun laws
• Gun law
• Arms trafficking laws
• Arms control treaties
• Space Preservation Treaty

See also[link]

• Arms industry
• List of martial arts weapons
• List of practice weapons
• Lists of weapons
• Riot control
• Toy weapon
• Weapon mount

References[link]

This article cites its sources but does not provide page references. You can help to improve it by introducing citations that are more precise.

Further reading[link]

• U.S.Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Improving the prospects for future international peace operations: workshop proceedings, OTA-BP-ISS-167, Washington DC, US Government Printing Office, September 1995
• Hind, Edward, My Magazine: Being a Series of Poems, Tales, Sketches, Essays, Orations, Etc.,: The Present Age - An oration J. and H. Clarke, London, 1860

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Weapon

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Weapons

• Higgins Armory Museum
• Modern Firearms Encyclopedia
• Society of the Military Horse
• Pentagon plans cyber-insect army
• Weapon Systems
• Antique firearms
• Gladius Scholarly journal on Ancient and Medieval Weapons
• Modern Military Weapons
• Arms Weapons