The Technology of Military
The Technology of Military
Military technology, range of weapons, equipment, structures, and vehicles used specifically for the purpose of warfare. It includes the knowledge required to construct such technology, to employ it in combat, and to repair and replenish it.
The technology of war may be divided into five categories. Offensive arms harm the enemy, while defensive weapons ward off offensive blows. Transportation technology moves soldiers and weaponry; communications coordinate the movements of armed forces; and sensors detect forces and guide weaponry.
From the earliest times, a critical relationship has existed between military technology, the tactics of its employment, and the psychological factors that bind its users into units. Success in combat, the sine qua non of military organizations and the ultimate purpose of military technology, depends on the ability of the combatant group to coordinate the actions of its members in a tactically effective manner.
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This coordination is a function of the strength of the forces that bind the unit together, inducing its members to set aside their individual interests—even life itself—for the welfare of the group. These forces, in turn, are directly affected both by tactics and by technology.
The influence of technology can be either positive or negative. The experience of the ancient Greek hoplite infantrymen is one example of positive influence. Their arms and armour were most effective for fighting in close formation, which led in turn to marching in step, which further augmented cohesion and made the phalanx a tactically formidable formation. The late medieval knightoffers an example of the negative influence of technology. To wield his sword and lance effectively, he and his charger needed considerable space, yet his closed helmet made communication with his fellows extremely difficult. It is not surprising, then, that knights of the late Middle Ages tended to fight as individuals and were often defeated by cohesiveunits of less well-equipped opponents.
The influence of technology can be either positive or negative. The experience of the ancient Greek hoplite infantrymen is one example of positive influence. Their arms and armour were most effective for fighting in close formation, which led in turn to marching in step, which further augmented cohesion and made the phalanx a tactically formidable formation. The late medieval knightoffers an example of the negative influence of technology. To wield his sword and lance effectively, he and his charger needed considerable space, yet his closed helmet made communication with his fellows extremely difficult. It is not surprising, then, that knights of the late Middle Ages tended to fight as individuals and were often defeated by cohesiveunits of less well-equipped opponents.
hoplite
Greek vase painting showing a hoplite warrior. Ancient Art & Architecture Collection Ltd/Alamy
This article traces the development of military technology by historical period, from prehistory to the 18th century. For a discussion of modern military technology, see small arm, artillery, rocket and missile system, nuclear weapon, chemical warfare, biological warfare, fortification, tank, naval ship, submarine, military aircraft, warning system, and military communication.
A general treatment of the actual waging of war is found in war, with more specific discussions appearing in such articles as strategy, tactics, and logistics. The social sciences of war, such as economics, law, and the theory of its origins, are also covered in that article. For a military history of World Wars I and II, see World War I and World War II.
Warfare requires the use of technologies that also have nonmilitary applications. For descriptions of the propulsion systems used in military vehicles, ships, aircraft, and missiles, see energy conversion; for the manufacture of explosives, see explosives. The principles of radar, and its military applications, are covered in radar. For the principles of aircraft flight, see airplane.
General considerations
In the remote past, the diffusion of military technology was gradual and uneven. There were several reasons for this. First, transport was slow and its capacity small. Second, the technology of agriculture was no more advanced than that of war, so that, with most of their energy devoted to feeding themselves and with little economic surplus, people had few resources available for specialized military technology.
This article traces the development of military technology by historical period, from prehistory to the 18th century. For a discussion of modern military technology, see small arm, artillery, rocket and missile system, nuclear weapon, chemical warfare, biological warfare, fortification, tank, naval ship, submarine, military aircraft, warning system, and military communication.
A general treatment of the actual waging of war is found in war, with more specific discussions appearing in such articles as strategy, tactics, and logistics. The social sciences of war, such as economics, law, and the theory of its origins, are also covered in that article. For a military history of World Wars I and II, see World War I and World War II.
Warfare requires the use of technologies that also have nonmilitary applications. For descriptions of the propulsion systems used in military vehicles, ships, aircraft, and missiles, see energy conversion; for the manufacture of explosives, see explosives. The principles of radar, and its military applications, are covered in radar. For the principles of aircraft flight, see airplane.
General considerations
In the remote past, the diffusion of military technology was gradual and uneven. There were several reasons for this. First, transport was slow and its capacity small. Second, the technology of agriculture was no more advanced than that of war, so that, with most of their energy devoted to feeding themselves and with little economic surplus, people had few resources available for specialized military technology.
Low economic development meant that even the benefits of conquest would not pay off a heavy investment in weaponry. Third, and most important, the absolute level of technological development was low. A heavy dependence on human muscle was the principal cause and a major effect of this low level of development.
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With human ingenuity bound by the constraints of the human body, both technology and tactics were heavily shaped by geography, climate, and topography.
The importance of geographic and topographic factors, along with limited means of communication and transportation, meant that separate geographic regions tended to develop unique military technologies. Such areas are called military ecospheres.
The importance of geographic and topographic factors, along with limited means of communication and transportation, meant that separate geographic regions tended to develop unique military technologies. Such areas are called military ecospheres.
The boundaries of a military ecosphere might be physical barriers, such as oceans or mountain ranges; they might also be changes in the military topography, that combination of terrain, vegetation, and man-made features that could render a particular technology or tactic effective or ineffective.
Until the late 15th century ce, when advances in transportation technology broke down the barriers between them, the world contained a number of military ecospheres. The most clearly defined of these were based in Mesoamerica, Japan, India–Southeast Asia, China, and Europe.
Until the late 15th century ce, when advances in transportation technology broke down the barriers between them, the world contained a number of military ecospheres. The most clearly defined of these were based in Mesoamerica, Japan, India–Southeast Asia, China, and Europe.
(In this context, Europe includes all of the Mediterranean basin and the watershed of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.) With the appearance of the horse archer in late antiquity, the Eurasian Steppe became a well-defined military ecosphere as well.
Those ecospheres with the most enduring impact on the technology of war were the European and Chinese. Though Japan possessed a distinctive, coherent, and effective military technology, it had little influence on developments elsewhere.
Those ecospheres with the most enduring impact on the technology of war were the European and Chinese. Though Japan possessed a distinctive, coherent, and effective military technology, it had little influence on developments elsewhere.
India–Southeast Asia and Mesoamerica developed technologies that were well adapted to local conditions, but they were not particularly advanced.
The Eurasian Steppe was a special case: usually serving as an avenue for a limited exchange of knowledge between Europe and China, in the late classical and medieval eras of Europe it developed an indigenous military technology based on the horse and composite recurved bow that challenged Europe and ultimately conquered China.
Samurai on horseback, drawing, late 19th century. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Improved methods of transportation and warfare led to the eventual disappearance of the regional ecospheres and their absorption into the European ecosphere.
This process began in the 12th century with the Mongol conquest of China and invasions of Europe, and it quickened and assumed a more pronounced European flavour in the 15th and 16th centuries with the development of oceangoing ships armed with gunpowder weapons.
Because European methods of warfare ultimately dominated the world, and because the technology of war, with few exceptions, advanced first and fastest in Europe, this article devotes most of its attention to the European military ecosphere.
Because European methods of warfare ultimately dominated the world, and because the technology of war, with few exceptions, advanced first and fastest in Europe, this article devotes most of its attention to the European military ecosphere.
It traces the technology of land war in that ecosphere from Stone Age weapons to the early guns. For reasons of continuity, warships from before the gunpowder era are discussed with modern naval ships and craft in the article naval ship.
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Prehistory
The earliest military weapons
The earliest evidence for a specialized technology of war dates from the period before knowledge of metalworking had been acquired. The stone walls of Jericho, which date from about 8000 bce, represent the first technology that can be ascribed unequivocally to purely military purposes. These walls, at least 13 feet (4 metres) in height and backed by a watchtower or redoubt some 28 feet tall, were clearly intended to protect the settlement and its water supply from human intruders.
When the defenses of Jericho were built, humans already had been using the weapons of the hunt for millennia; the earliest stone tools are hundreds of thousands of years old, and the first arrowheads date to more than 60,000 years ago. Hunting tools—the spear-thrower (atlatl), the simple bow, the javelin, and the sling—had serious military potential, but the first known implements designed purposely as offensive weapons were maces dating from the Chalcolithic Period or early Bronze Age. The mace was a simple rock, shaped for the hand and intended to smash bone and flesh, to which a handle had been added to increase the velocity and force of the blow.
It is evident that the technical problems of hafting a stone onto a handle were not easily solved. Well-made maces were for a long time few in number and were, by and large, wielded only by champions and rulers. The earliest known inscription identifying a historical personage by name is on the palette of King Narmer, a small, low-relief slate sculpture dating from about 3100 bce. The palette depicts Menes, the first pharaoh of a unified Egypt, ritually smashing the forehead of an enemy with a mace.
Figure perhaps representing Menes on a victory tablet of Egyptian King Narmer, c. 2925–c. 2775 BCE. Courtesy of the Egyptian Museum, Cairo; photograph, Hirmer Fotoarchiv, Munich
The advent of the mace as a purposely designed offensive weapon opened the door to the conscious innovation of specialized military technology. By the middle of the 3rd millennium bce, mace heads were being cast of copper, first in Mesopotamia and then in Syria, Palestine, and Egypt. The copper mace head, yielding higher density and greater crushing power, represents one of the earliest significant uses of metal for other than ornamental purposes.
From precious metals to base metals
The dividing line between the utilitarian and the symbolic in warfare has never been clear and unequivocal, and this line is particularly difficult to find in the design and construction of early weaponry. The engineering principles that dictated functional effectiveness were not understood in any systematic fashion, yet the psychological reality of victory or defeat was starkly evident. The result was an “unscientific” approach to warfare and technology, in which materials appear to have been applied to military purposes as much for their presumed mystical or magical properties as for their functional worth.
This overlapping of symbolism and usefulness is most evident in the smith’s choice of materials. Ornaments and ceremonial artifacts aside, metalworking was applied to the production of weaponry as early as, or earlier than, any other economically significant pursuit. Precious metals, with their low melting points and great malleability, were worked first; next came copper—at first pure, then alloyed with arsenic or tin to produce bronze—and then iron. A remarkable phenomenon was the persistence of weaponry made of the soft, rare metals, such as gold, silver, and electrum (a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver), long after mechanically superior materials had become available.
Although they were functionally inferior to bronze or copper, precious metals were widely valued for their mystical or symbolic importance, and smiths continued to make weapons of them long after they had mastered the working of functionally superior base metals. Some of these weapons were plainly ceremonial, but in other cases they appear to have been functional.
For example, helmets and body armour of electrum, which were probably intended for actual use, have been found in Egyptian and Mesopotamian burials dating from the 2nd and 3rd millennia bce.
Antiquity and the classical age, c.1000 bce–400 ce
From the appearance of iron weaponry in quantity during late antiquity until the fall of Rome, the means with which war was waged and the manner in which it was conducted displayed many enduring characteristics that gave the period surprising unity. Prominent features of that unity were a continuity in the design of individual weaponry, a relative lack of change in transportation technology, and an enduring tactical dominance of heavy infantry.
Antiquity and the classical age, c.1000 bce–400 ce
From the appearance of iron weaponry in quantity during late antiquity until the fall of Rome, the means with which war was waged and the manner in which it was conducted displayed many enduring characteristics that gave the period surprising unity. Prominent features of that unity were a continuity in the design of individual weaponry, a relative lack of change in transportation technology, and an enduring tactical dominance of heavy infantry.
Macedonian battle formation The battle formation developed by Macedonian King Philip II and his son Alexander the Great improved the phalanx. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Perhaps the strongest underlying technological feature of the period was the heavy reliance on human muscle, which retained a tactical primacy that contrasted starkly with medieval times, when the application of horse power became a prime ingredient of victory.
(There were two major, if partial, exceptions to this prevailing feature: the success of horse archers in the great Eurasian Steppe during late classical times and the decisive use in the 4th century bce of shock cavalry by the armies of Philip II of Macedon and his son Alexander the Great.
However, the defeat of Roman legions by Parthian horse archers at Carrhae in western Mesopotamia in 53 bce marked merely a shifting of boundaries between ecospheres on topographical grounds rather than any fundamental change within the core of the European ecosphere itself.
Also, the shock cavalry of Philip and Alexander was an exception so rare as to prove the rule; moreover, their decisiveness was made possible by the power of the Macedonian infantry phalanx.) Heavy infantry remained the dominant European military institution until it was overthrown in the 4th century ce by a system of war in which shock cavalry played the central role.
Classical technologists never developed an efficient means of applying animal traction to haulage on land, no doubt because agricultural resources in even the most advanced areas were incapable of supporting meaningful numbers of horses powerful enough to make the effort worthwhile. Carts were heavy and easily broken, and the throat-and-girth harness for horses, mules, and donkeys put pressure on the animals’ windpipes and neck veins, severely restricting the amount they could pull. The yoke-and-pole harness for oxen was relatively efficient and oxen could pull heavy loads, but they were extremely slow.
Classical technologists never developed an efficient means of applying animal traction to haulage on land, no doubt because agricultural resources in even the most advanced areas were incapable of supporting meaningful numbers of horses powerful enough to make the effort worthwhile. Carts were heavy and easily broken, and the throat-and-girth harness for horses, mules, and donkeys put pressure on the animals’ windpipes and neck veins, severely restricting the amount they could pull. The yoke-and-pole harness for oxen was relatively efficient and oxen could pull heavy loads, but they were extremely slow.
A human porter, on the other hand, was just as efficient as a pack horse in weight carried per unit of food consumed. The best recipe for mobility, therefore, was to restrict pack animals to the minimum needed for carrying bulky items such as essential rations, tents, and firewood, to use carts only for items such as siege engines that could be carried in no other way, and to require soldiers to carry all their personal equipment and some of their food.
On the other hand, mastery of wood and bronze for military purposes reached a level during this period that was seldom, if ever, attained afterward. Surviving patterns for the Roman military boot, the caliga, suggest equally high standards of craftsmanship in leatherworking, and the standards of carpentry displayed on classical ships were almost impossibly high when measured against those of later eras.
On the other hand, mastery of wood and bronze for military purposes reached a level during this period that was seldom, if ever, attained afterward. Surviving patterns for the Roman military boot, the caliga, suggest equally high standards of craftsmanship in leatherworking, and the standards of carpentry displayed on classical ships were almost impossibly high when measured against those of later eras.
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