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