Category: WEAPONS

The Degtyaryov Light Machine Gun’s Pan Magazine Made It Immediately Recognizable On the Battlefield

Degtyaryov DP-27 light machine gun on display

The Degtyaryov became the standard Soviet infantry light machine gun shortly after being introduced to the Red Army during the interwar period. While it had…

RPD Machine Gun: The Soviet-Era Weapon That’s Seen Nearly 80 Years of Action

Australian soldier firing an RPD Machine Gun

The Soviet Union developed a number of effective machine guns during World War II and the Cold War. Some were only used for a short…

Puckle Gun: The Early Machine Gun That Fired Both Round and Square Bullets

Puckle Gun replica on display

Many consider the Maxim to be the world’s first machine gun – and they’re technically not wrong. Developed in 1884, it was the first automatic…

Sprint Missile: The ABM That Traveled So Fast a Plasma Ring Formed Around It

Samantha Franco
Sprint missile being launched + Sprint missile preparing to be launched

After years of speculation and planning, the US military began developing an anti-ballistic missile (ABM) that could intercept Soviet re-entry vehicles (RVs). Called the Sprint…

Folding Gun Models That Allow Operators to Hide Their Weapons In Public

PP-90 on display

A folding gun is a unique weapon that offers concealment, while also ensuring the operator is ready for action. Unfortunately, the designs are typically expensive,…

The German Flammenwerfer Forever Changed Warfare – And Not for the Better

Australian soldier kneeling with a captured Wechselapparat

For centuries, militaries tried to harness the ability to command fire. There were various methods used, but the flammenwerfer models developed by the German Army…

The Owen Gun Was Favored By Australian Troops for Its Reliability In the Pacific Theater

Leon Ravet and Bernard Kentwell carrying Owen guns through the jungle

If there’s one thing Australia isn’t known for, it’s weapons development. That’s not to say some ingenious firearms haven’t come out of the country. During…

PTRS-41: The Powerful WWII-Era Anti-Tank Gun Destroying Modern Tanks In Ukraine

Red Army soldier aiming an anti-tank gun

The minute tanks entered the battlefield, weapons specialists tried to develop ways to eliminate the threat. During World War I, the Germans introduced the 13.2…

The Soviet Maxim-Tokarev Light Machine Gun Outperformed The Classic PM M1910

Fedor Tokarev and his son standing with a Maxim-Tokarev

The Maxim-Tokarev was the first ever domestically mass-produced light machine gun of its kind. Born off the back of the reliable PM M1910, it became…

Fritz X: The World’s First Precision-Guided Missile Took Out the Italian Navy’s Flagship

Fritz X on display

The Fritz X was a German radio-guided anti-ship missile that went by many names: Ruhrstahl SD 1400 X, PC 1400X, Kramer X-1 and FX 1400.…

AVS-36: The Worst Rifle Ever Developed By the Soviet Union

Four Red Army soldiers running through the snow + AVS-36

While the Soviet Union may have been adept at producing tanks, the same can’t really be said about its handheld weaponry. The interwar period and…

Gewehr 43: The German Semi-Automatic Rifle Inspired By the Soviet SVT-40

East German soldiers marching together while armed with Gewehr 43s

When the Germans launched Operation Barbarossa, they weren’t prepared for a number of things. While the weather is often the aspect most historians point to,…