MANORA�

TELL ME WHY JUNE 201 5 Volume: 9 No: 6

FROM THI HOUSE Of MAGIC POT, lHI WlB.IWIORAMA _ YANITHA IlHI MAlAY"" IWIORAMA DAIlY

GIFTS FROM THE BATTLEFiElD

Wars bring terror, and gory pictures of blood, death, and tears. Yet they often bring boons too, in the form of innovations that improve the quality of our lives. Beyond vic­tory and defeat, wars across history have brought mankind many useful things. It is as if military action holds destruction in one hand, and creation in the other, in its death dance for glory.

From jungle boots to canned food, the Internet to the microwave oven, many mili­tary inventions have entered our daily lives, changing the way we live. All of these were by-products of military technology, invent­ed primarily to make war more efficient. But they survived the battle-fields, and stayed with us to make life easier.

This issue of TELL ME WHY tells the capti­vating story of unique military inventions that changed our life styles forever.

MILITARY INVENTIONS

Why are some inventions cal led military inventions?

T he inventions that are created for the use of the mil itary are called military inventions.

In time, these inventions are adapted for use by civilians too.

Though we may not be aware of it, many of the things that we use in our daily life today were first invented by the mil itary.

These include jeeps, micro­wave ovens, cargo pants and even the Internet! So, we can say that mi l itary inventions have been a boon to both our soldiers, and to society as a whole.

Quick! Invent something ....

Tell Me Why.

Why is canning of food consid­ered an important military inven­tion?

During the Middle Ages, the only method of preserving food for sail­ors who were serving in the navy, was salting.

However, salting was effective only for preserving meat. There was no way to preserve vegeta­bles without destroying their good­ness.

As a result, sailors at sea would go for months eating only salted meat. This meant that they were not getting the vitamins that they needed to stay healthy.

Consequently, sailors began to fall ill with a disease called scurvy, which is caused by the deficiency of vitamin C.

So, the navy had to find ways of preserving vegetables and fruits, without destroying the vitamins in them, and canning was the answer.

The invention of canned food was therefore, an important mile­stone in the field of mil itary inven­tions.

MILITARY INVENTIONS

Who invented canning technology?

In 1795, Napoleon Bonaparte offered a reward to anyone who developed a safe, reliable method of food preservation.

He needed it urgently for his army which was constantly marching from one place to another. It was a French brewer, Nicolas Appert, who discov­ered that if food was cooked and sealed in glass bottles with hot wax, it would not spoil .

.

Appert won the prize offered by Napoleon. In 1806, Appert's tech­nique was successfu lly used by the French Navy on a wide range of foods including meat, vegetables, fruit, and even milk.

In 1810, Peter Durand, an Eng­lishman, replaced the glass bottles with tin cans. Canned foods were greatly favoured by early explorers.

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From 1814, onwards, canned foods were sent to distant British colonies. So, an invention that was meant for the mil itary thus became useful for people all over the world.

This can is not good

. for canning.

Tell Me Why

Chocolate and Popcorn

Percy Spencer discovered that microwaves could cook food, quite by accident, when he found that a bar of

chocolate in his pocket had melted because it had been exposed to microwaves. Popcorn was the first food that he deliberately micro-waved for cooking.

Why is the microwave oven a significant mili­tary invention?

I f you have a microwave oven in your home, you must have heard your mother remark on how useful it is.

However, the micro­wave oven was not intended for home use. It was a mil itary invention. During World War I I , two scientists invented the magnetron, which is a tube that produces micro­waves.

Microwaves are the shortest of radio waves. It was the discovery of their reaction to metals that led to the invention of the radar, which has impor­tant military purposes.

MILITARY INVENTIONS

Microwave Oven

The idea of using microwaves to cook food was discovered by Percy Spencer, who was working for a company called Raytheon.

The first microwave oven, pro­duced in 1946, was called the Radar Range. It was very large and expen­sive. Later, smaller, cheaper mod­els were adapted for faster, more convenient cooking at home.

7

Water Purifier

What is the importance of the water purifier?

During wartime, soldiers found it very difficult to get pure water to drink. If they boiled water for drink­ing, smoke from the fire would warn the enemy of their presence.

Many soldiers used to fall i l l from drinking impure water, until chlorine was discovered as a method for puri­fying water.

However, chlorine has an unpleas­ant taste. During World War I, Hala­zone tablets, a chlorine compound in tablet form, were introduced in the mil itary.

They proved to be a great boon to the soldiers. Today, we have many methods and types of tablets to puri­fy water, and they are used widely not only by the mil itary, but by peo­ple in all walks of life.

Need more tablets to purify this

water.

Tel l Me Why

OUTSIDE

THE KITCHEN

How did razors become so popular?

ThOugh men have been using razors for shaving since ancient times, the safety razor with disposable blades was invented only in the beginning of the 20th century.

The man behind it was King C. Gi llette. He was the first to realise that a disposable blade that didn't need to be sharpened, would be a useful invention.

He conceived of the idea of a thin blade that could be tossed out after use a few times. He teamed up with Will iam Nickerson, and in 1901, they formed the American Safety Razor Company.

During World War I, Gil lette supplied American troops with his safety razors. The soldiers found them very convenient indeed. On their return home after the All ied victory, these soldiers popularised the use of safety razors throughout the world.

MILITARY INVENTIONS 9

No doubt, this is a m i l itary invention,

best for defence purpose.

What role does duct tape play in the military?

During World War II, the mili­tary badly needed something that would seal their boxes of

10

ammunition so that moisture would not get in.

In 1942, the company John­son and Johnson was hired to solve the problem. The com­pany's special division discov­ered a way by using a fabric called cotton duck.

The fabric was sandwiched by a rubber adhesive, and a waterproof substance made from polyethylene. The result was a tape that was very

�ottor·ti\lA in sealing boxes so as to make them moisture proof.

The tape was called duck tape after the fabric that was used. Soldiers soon learned to use duck tape not only for water proofing.

After the war, duck tape was found to be very useful in

Tell Me Why

many other ways as well . In the construction industry, it is used for installing and connect­ing ducts for cold and hot air. So, duck tape came to be known as duct tape.

like a Duck

Duct tape was initially called duck tape. It was made from a fabric called cotton duck, and is waterproof ... just like a duck!

MILITARY INVENTIONS

Why were Aviators invented?

AViators are special sunglasses that were created exclusively for the mil itary.

In the 1 930s, the Army Air Corps commissioned the optical firm of Bausch and Lomb to produce sun­glasses with good coverage that would protect pi lots from the dangers of high altitude glare, as well as from u ltraviolet and infrared rays of the sun.

The original Aviators were made of plastic, and tinted a special dark green for maximum effectiveness.

These sunglasses were later modi­fied by Ray Ban with a slightly droop­ing frame that allowed a pilot to glance down at the instrument panel, while giving him maximum coverage and protection. Later, Aviators became a fashion statement with the general population as well .

11

Why was synthetic rubber devel­oped?

Synthetic rubber was first intro­duced by Germany during World War I, because the country's enemies succeeded in cutting off German access to natural rub­ber.

However, it was very expen­sive to manufacture, and after the war, production was stopped.

During World War I I , the United States experienced a rubber shortage. The mil itary needed rubber for numerous reasons during the war, especially for truck, airplane, and jeep tyres.

Thus, it became important to find a substitute for natural rub­ber. As a result, the US funded a vast amount for research into making synthetic rubber cheap­er. Synthetic rubber's manufac­

turing cost declined, and the

1 2

Synthetic Rubber Production

production on a large scale began.

Today, almost half the number of the car tyres in the world are made up of synthetic rubber.

Immediately need an al terna­

tive for tyres.

Tell Me Why

Why was nylon a breakthrough inven­tion for the military?

During World War I I , si lk was badly needed for manufacturing parachutes, flak vests, and other equipment.

The main source of silk was Asia. Unfortunately for the US, its enemy Japan controlled the silk supply from Asia. So, it became essential to find a substitute for silk, and the answer was nylon.

Nylon was developed in 1935 by Wal­lace Carothers, a chemist working with the DuPont Company. It was first used for making toothbrushes.

However, its strength , elasticity, l ight weight and resistance to mildew made it ideal for mil itary purposes.

Soon, nylon became a substitute for silk in making parachutes. Today, nylon is everywhere, including in our clothing, carpets, car parts, and toothbrushes.

Wallace Carothers

Hammocks made from Nylon

What are cargo pants?

C argo pants are trousers that were specifically designed for the mil itary. They offered soldiers a convenient way to carry more tools and equipment.

They are loosely cut pants with many pockets called cargo pock­ets. Cargo pockets are large, square-shaped patch pockets located on the side of each pant leg. They can usually be folded shut, and secured with a snap, or Velcro. These pockets are pleat­ed so that they can expand to

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Fully loaded .. Exactly

accommodate storage of larger items. Cargo pants are made of tough durable material and stitched very strongly for rough use.

They also have very wide belt loops. Cargo pants were fi rst worn in 1938 by British soldiers. Cargo pants are still worn, not just by the military, but by peo­ple everywhere, because they are both functional, as well as fashionable.

Tell Me Why

What is freeze drying?

Freeze drying is a technol­ogy to preserve food by removing all the water con­tent from it , while leaving its basic structure intact.

This is done by first freez­ing the food, so any liquid it has wil l form into solid ice crystals. Next, pressure is decreased while the temper­ature is increased just slight­ly.

The low pressure brings about what is called sublima­tion . Sublimation is a process by which water wil l convert directly from ice into vapour without passing through its l iquid phase.

What's left behind is a very dry shell of the original food. If you looked at it under a microscope, you'd see a hon­eycomb structure left behind by the evaporating water.

If freeze-dried food is tightly sealed in an absolutely air tight container, it will last for years at room temperature. All it takes is a little water to bring it back to its original delicious form and taste.

MILITARY INVENTIONS

I'm younger than you, but

freeze dried, for a long time!

Freeze Dryer

15

Why is freeze drying suitable for military purposes?

T he technique of freeze drying food to preserve it was known to some ancient civi l i­zations l ike the Incas of Peru .

The Incas stored their food on the tops of mountains. The cold mountain temperatures froze the food, and the low air pressure at high altitudes made the water inside turn into vapour.

However, freeze drying in its present form was developed during World War I I . During the war, there was an urgent need to transport medical products such as blood plasma to treat wounded soldiers. Refrigera­tion was not possible for extended periods.

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Freeze Dried Coffee

Freeze-drying requires the use of a special machine called a freeze-dryer, which has a large chamber for freezing, and a vacuum pump for remov­ing moisture.

After the war was over, freeze drying continued to be a popular method of preserving food without refrigeration.

Freeze Dried Ice Cream

Tell Me Why

Why are jerrycans amongst the most popular of military inventions?

A jerrycan is a strong fuel container. It was originally made of pressed steel, and could hold up to 20 litres of fuel .

The jerry can was invented in a secret project ordered by Hitler just before World War I I . By 1939, the Ger­mans had stocks of thousands of jer­rycans, in anticipation of war.

The greatest advantage of the jerry can is that it can be filled without the use of funnels, or other tools.

Soon, other countries copied the design, and jerrycans were used in war zones around the world . Today, jerrycans are also made of plastic, and are used to store water as well as fuel.

MILITARY INVENTIONS

Fuel is ready I now need

a vehicle.

Jerrv I r Geman

Allied soldiers used to refer to Germans as Jerries. So, the can designed by them came to be called jerrycans.

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18

BuRalo Bugle

In ancient times, the horn of the ox or buffalo was blown for communication purposes. In fact, the word 'bugle' comes from the Latin word 'buculus' or buffalo.

What is a bugle?

A bugle is a small brass wind instrument. It is similar to a trumpet, but has no keys or valves. A bugle can only play certain notes, and is used mainly in the military.

The call of the bugle is used to mark the daily routines of the camp. Formerly, bugles were used to convey instruc-tions from officers to

soldiers during a battle. Bugle calls were used to assem­

ble leaders, and give marching orders as well . In fact, bugles play a key role in all military bands and in marching tunes.

The bugle is also heard during mil itary rituals and ceremonies, as well as during funerals for members of the armed forces.

How is the history of the bugle linked to that of the military?

The earl iest bug les were shaped l ike a coi l . They resem­bled the modern horn, and were used by riders to commu-

Tell M e Why

nicate with one another during hunts.

In 1758, bugles were used in Germany as a military signalling device. Soon, their use became popular in England too, as a means of communicating between barracks.

When George Washington first assumed command of the Conti­nental Army in 1775, drums and bugles were already a fixture of mil itary life and operations.

In those days, there were no radios and texting. In fact, there was simply no other way for a commander to communicate his orders.

Today's bugles have a conical shape throughout their length .

/faKe /QJ. .. �

---

waKe-ll\l ...

MILITARY I NVENTIONS

Bugle

Their biggest advantage is that they are simple to use, and light to carry around. There is no doubt that it is the military that is responsi­ble for the popularity of the bugle.

19

What led to the invention of digital photogra­phy?

The 1 960s is the time which is known as the Cold War period. America and Russia were competing with each other to become the world leader.

Mil itary leaders on both sides realised that if a satel l ite carrying a camera could be launched into space, it could spy on the enemy.

The problem of course, was that films could not be developed in space. To overcome this, digital photography was invented.

Digital photography does not need any film. Digital cameras would take photographs and beam them in the form of coded signals back to Earth. The signals were then decoded, and the image could be seen. In time this idea came to be used for taking photographs on Earth as wel l .

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Digital Camera along with Photo Prints.

Tell Me Why

What are jungle boots?

J ungle boots are a special type of foot­wear created for the mil itary.

They are designed for use in jungles and in hot, wet conditions. In such an environ­ment, jungle boots are more comfortable than normal leather boots.

They feature instep venting holes to drain water, and keep the feet as dry as possible. They also have can­vas tops for better ven­tilation . The upper parts of the traditional boots are usually a blend of cotton and nylon, covered with eyelets.

A unique outsole called the Panama outsole, made it easier for soldiers to travel on uneven, rocky, or rough terrain. Jungle boots were invented just before World War I I .

MILITARY I NVENTIONS

Jun Ie Evervwhere

Jungle boots were originally designed for

soldiers fighting in hot wet jungles. However, they were so comfortable and efficient in keeping the feet dry that they became the footwear of choice for anyone who had to move in a tropical environment.

Jungle Boots

21

No worries, Got military

support.

Why are jungle boots always asso­ciated with the military?

P rior to World War I I, a number of wars were fought in jungles. However, soldiers had no special footwear designed for such places.

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Jungle conditions involve constant exposure to water, sand, and various insects as well as fungal and bacterial infections.

To equip soldiers for such harsh environments, boots were required that were lightweight, durable and quick drying. It was also necessary that such boots should provide pro­tection from conditions ranging from mildew to snakes.

Today, jungle boots are used, not just in tropical war zones, but also for peacetime wear in hot, wet places.

Why is the EpiPen a remarkable military inven­tion?

An EpiPen is a dispos­able, pre-fi lled device, that automatically injects a measured dose of a medi­cation into your body.

It contains a medicine called epinephrine. This medicine can help decrease your body's

Tell Me Why

allergic reaction. It does so by relaxing the muscles in your air­ways to make breathing easier.

The EpiPen is about the size of a cigar, and the medicine is self injected directly into the thigh. It was developed. from a similar device used by the military to com­bat nerve gases and chemicals during wartime.

This mil itary invention was made public in 1980. Since that time, mil­lions of prescriptions have been filled for the EpiPen.

Over the years, epinephrine has been used to treat asthma and allergies. It is also injected as a means of restarting a heart that has stopped beating. In short, the EpiPen has saved many lives in peace time too.

EpiPen

Mistook my EpiPen for a ske tch pen.

Caution

You cannot just go out and buy an EpiPen even if you suffer from allergies. You need to have a prescription from a doctor, because epinephrine is a very powerful drug.

23

What are the uses of penicil lin?

Penici l l in is an antibiotic. Antibiotics are a group of drugs used to treat or prevent certain types of infections caused by germs called bacteria.

In 1928, an English doctor named Alexander Fleming discovered the effects of penicil l in.

By the late 1930s, penici l l in was being used to treat infections in hospi­tals. Penici l l in is now widely used in the treatment of throat infections, meningitis, and other infections.

There are several different kinds of penicill ins. Each is used to treat differ­ent kinds of infections.

24

ALexander Fleming and his Penicillium MouLd

In addition, penicill ins are used to treat bacte­rial infections in many parts of the body. They work by kil l ing the bac­teria, or preventing their growth.

How did World War II popularise the use of penici llin?

During World War I I , new medicines were developed to meet the needs of the mi l itary.

Tell Me Why

One of the most impor­tant was penici l l in, discov­ered before the war, in 1928, by Scottish scientist Sir Alexander Fleming.

Most of the diseases in the war zones were caused by bacteria, and penici l l in was very effec­tive in ki l l ing bacteria.

As a result, the death tol l from infected wounds dramatically decreased. Administering penicil l in to the wounded also reduced the chance that the wound could get infected.

You are honoured,

Sir ....

The majority of penici l l in used during the war was produced by drug giant Glaxo. Penicil l in has saved the lives of thou­sands of wounded and sick soldiers during the war.

Once the war was over, the advantages of penicillin had been proved and doctors all over the world have used it to save mil l ions of lives to this day.

KIller Medlclnel

Penicillin works by penetrating the cell walls of bacteria, and destroying them. Once this happens, the

bacteria cannot rebuild the cell walls. This means they cannot protect themselves, and can be easily killed.

MILITARY I NVENTIONS 25

Why are ambulances the result of wars?

T he word ambulance origi­nally meant a mobile hospital which follows an army in its movements.

Ambulance service started in Europe in the 11th century. The Knights of St. John were found­ed in 1080 to provide care to the poor, sick, and injured pil­grims in the Holy Land during the wars known as the cru­sades.

They acted as the fi rst emer­gency workers, treating sol­diers on both sides of the war of the battlefield, and bringing in the wounded to nearby tents for further treatment.

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In the 15th century, the Span­ish Army had portable mil itary hospitals called 'ambulancias' that followed the troops around.

During the American Civil War, ambulance carts were a common sight as they removed the wounded from the battle­field.

The first large scale ambu­lance service was introduced in 1 869 by a former army sur­geon. His name was Edward Dalton. This service was start­ed at the Commercial Hospital of Cincinnati, Ohio. These ambulance wagons were equipped with splints, stom­ach pumps, morphine and brandy.

Tell Me Why

How is the Jeep a con­tribution of the war?

As early as World War I, the US Army had been looking for a com­pact, fast, lightweight vehicle that could cross the roughest terrain, and could be transport­ed easily by plane.

During World War I I this need became more urgent. The Army called on automobile manu­facturers to bring out such a vehicle as fast as possible, and the result was the Jeep.

During the war, around 600,000 Jeeps

ry theatre of the war. They became the primary vehicle of the United States Army and its Allies too.

After the war too, Jeep vehicles were recognised by soldiers and civil­ians alike as the vehicle that could go anywhere, and do anything.

We must win with this

:Jeep.

( (

were produced, and _�_....g"". they saw action in eve-

MILITARY INVENTIONS 27

What is radar?

T he word radar refers to a system by which the range, direction, altitude or speed of an object can be deter­mined, by using radio waves.

Radio waves are similar to light waves. They travel at the same speed-but their waves have much

28

An unexpected

flight...

Radar

longer wavelengths, and higher frequencies.

The radio waves used by radar are produced by a piece of equipment called a magnetron.

Once the radio waves have been generated, an antenna, working as a transmitter, hurls them into the air. The radio waves travel outward from the antenna at the speed of l ight, and keep going unti l they hit something.

Then, some of them bounce back toward the antenna in a beam of reflected radio waves, also travel l ing at the speed of l ight. The antenna picks up the reflected radio waves, and displays them on a screen.

Using radar, an oper­ator can see any nearby ships or planes, where they are, how quickly they're travell ing, and where they're heading.

Tell Me Why

Radar

The word radar stands for Radio Detection and Ranging. Air traf­fic controllers use radar to track planes.

When was radar first used?

Christian Hulsmey­er was a German inventor. He is often credited with the invention of radar. His apparatus was called the 'Telemobiloscope'. However, it could not directly measure dis­tance to a target, so it was not radar in the proper sense of the technology.

In December 1 934, Robert M. Page,

MILITARY INVENTIONS

working at the Naval Research Labora­tory, demonstrated a full radar system.

The following year, the US Army suc­cessfu lly tested primitive,. surface-to­surface radar. Great Britain was one of the leading developers of radar in the years before World War I I .

On June 17th, 1 935, radio-based

Radar Fitted Aboard a Ship

detection and ranging or radar, was first demonstrated in Great Britain. Radar stations were built around the British Isles to provide warning of an invasion from the air.

Radar was used at first exclusively by the mil itary. Now, radar is used by air traffic controllers to make sure that planes do not collide with each other.

29

What is a jet engine?

A British engineer, Sir Frank Whittle, invented the jet engine in 1930, but the design has evolved quite a bit since then.

A jet engine is an engine that can move an airplane forward at a speed far great­er than normal engines. It does this by producing a tremendous thrust that allows the plane to fly very fast. The engine sucks air in at the front, with a fan.

A compressor raises the pressure of the air. The compressed air is then sprayed with fuel, and an electric spark l ights the mixture. The burning gases expand and blast out through the nozzle, at the back of the engine. As the jets of gas shoot backward, the engine and the aircraft are thrust forward.

Jet engines have helped to inspire the rocket engines that put men on the Moon.

JelCars

Cars have also been fitted with jet engines. However, they are expensive, guzzle fuel, and are noisy, so you don't really want one for your car!

How did World War II help in the develop- . ment of jet engines?

Before World War I I , jet engines existed only in research labs.

However, during World War I I , a need was felt for a better and more powerful engine that would fly fighter planes faster and further.

The first flight of a jet aircraft was by the Germans on 27lh August, 1939. Later, many jet engines were developed in different coun­tries for the fighter planes that were essential for the war effort. After the war was over, commercial airplanes began using jet engines for their airplanes too.

The first passenger airl iner with a jet engine is considered to be the De Havil land Comet. The Boeing 707 entered service in 1 958. It was safe, and allowed people to travel dis­tances at speeds that would had been impos­sible just 10 years earlier.

MILITARY I NVENTIONS 31

Why did the military invent the NBC suit?

The letters 'NBC' stand for 'nucle­ar', 'biological ' and 'chemical ' . The NBC suit is a suit that provides pro­tection against direct contact with , and contamination by, radioactive, biological or chemical substances.

The suit was designed by the mil i­tary for its troops who had to fight under the threat of nuclear, biologi­cal, or chemical attack.

Nuclear weapons cause radiation. The exposure of the human body to nuclear radiation causes damage to the cells in all parts of the body. Chemical weapons may be released as gases, liquids, or sprays, while biological, weapons can be in the form of deadly viruses or bacteria.

NBC suits can offer some degree of protection from the horrifying effects of such weapons for some time.

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Soldiers in NBC Suit

WOW! What a wonderful inven­

tion! Protects even from 'natural

weapons'.

Tel l Me Why

What is a walkie-talkie?

Walkie-talkies are devices that you can hold in your hand and use to communicate with others.

They are actually portable radios that use radio waves to communi­cate. Each unit consists of a trans­mitter that acts as a receiver too, and an antenna for sending and receiving radio waves.

A walkie-talkie also has a loud­speaker that acts as a microphone as well . A group of people who are using walkie-talkies to talk to one another have to tune in to the same frequency band, which is called a channel .

When someone wants to talk to others, he holds the push-to-talk but­ton on the handset, and speaks into it. The words are converted into radio waves, which are picked up by other handsets. The radio waves are then converted into fluctuating electric currents. The loudspeakers use the currents to reproduce the sound of the talker's voice.

Walkie-talkies were invented in 1 937 by Canadian Donald Hings and by American inventor Alfred Gross. Both men saw their inventions devel­oped for mi l itary use during World War I I .

MILITARY I NVENTIONS

A Walkie-talkie

Hello .... over ... over ...

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34

How do night vision devices help the military?

I n the past, armies hesitated to fight at night because of the confusion caused by poor light, and the risks involved.

So, any device that helped a soldier to see in the dark gave him a great advantage. As a result, the mil itary took great interest in developing night vision devices.

A night vision device is an optical instrument that al lows a user to see even in near com­plete darkness. The first night vision devices were introduced by the German army as early as 1 939.

By the end of World War I I , the German army had equipped about 50 Panther tanks, with night vision devices. Night vision devices were also devel­oped by the US mil itary at the same time. They were used mainly by snipers.

Mil itary and police forces have upgraded night vision devices over the years with new improvements that have made them more effective than ever.

Tell Me Why

How did the radio telegraph help to make flying safer?

In the early days of flying, once a plane was in the air, the pilot had no way to communicate with people on the ground.

Different Types of Two way Radio Handsets

MILITARY INVENTIONS

During take off and landing, he could be guided by flags and signals, but once he was flying, he was on his own.

In 1901, Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi developed, demonstrated, and marketed the first suc­cessful long-distance wireless, or radio tele­graph. It was obvious from the outbreak of World War I in 1914, that this technology would be of great stra­tegic importance.

By 1916, technicians could send a radio tel­egraph message over a distance of 225 km. Messages could also be exchanged between planes.

In 1917, a pilot was able to speak directly from his plane to an operator on the ground. Two way radi­os have therefore, made flying a great deal safer.

35

Marie Curie in a Mobile X-ray Van during World War II

Why was Marie Curie's mobile X-ray machine important for the mil itary?

During war time, X-ray machines are needed by the military to qu ickly diagon­ose the injuries of soldiers, so as to treat them.

However, the first X-ray machines were huge, and too bulky to move around. They were also extremely deli­cate, in spite of their size.

Marie Curie, the renowned scientist, solved the problem by inventing a mobile X-ray machine for the French Army, immediately after the outbreak of World War I .

These machines were installed on cars and small trucks that moved around to reach the medical units that needed them. The portable X-ray machines were small and compact, and were fondly called 'l ittle Curies, ' after their inventor.

36

How are pressurised cabins a military invention?

As a plane flies higher and higher, the temperature and air pressure inside it drops. If the air pres­sure drops below a certain point, people lose consciousness.

At first, fliers coped by wearing warm clothing, and fil l ing

Pressurisation Controls

Tell Me Why

tanks with pressurised oxygen. They would then inhale the gas through rubber tubes.

In 1 937, the US Army Air Corps began research flights using a pressurised cabin. The cabin became l ike a capsule that main­tained a constant air pressure. In pressur­ised cabins, the crew did not have to wear several layers of bulky clothing, carry oxygen tanks, and wear unwieldy masks to breathe.

MILITARY I NVENTIONS

Inside View of an Aircraft

Both the temperature and pressure in the cabin were now kept at comfort­able levels. The technology was a huge success, and soon commercial airl ines too, opted for pressurised cabins.

I think the pressure's leaking

somewhere ...

38

Why is industrial titanium very useful to the military?

Titanium is an incredibly l ight and strong metal. It is as strong as steel, and twice as strong as aluminium. But, it is l ighter than steel .

A Solid Titanium Cylinder

So, titanium and titanium al loys are used in airplanes, missiles, and rock­ets where strength, low weight, and

The Giant

The ENIAC was a giant of a computer. It weighed over 25 tonnes.

What is EN lAC?

The Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer or EN IAC was the world's fi rst all electronic computer. Scientists at the University of Penn­sylvania first invented EN IAC for the US Army in 1 946.

It was a huge machine that filled an entire room! The machine was designed and primarily used to calcu­late arti l lery firing tables for the US Army's Bal listic Research Laboratory.

ENIAC was noisy, and emitted an incredible heat because it had 1 7,000

Tell Me Why

resistance to high temperatures are important.

Titanium is not easily corroded by sea water, and is used in propeller shafts, rigging, and other parts of boats that are exposed to sea water. Therefore, it has proved to be very useful for mil itary purpos­es.

The army needs to reduce the total weight of vehicles, particularly tanks. Titanium satisfies this need, and has replaced conventional steel alloys and aluminium.

It is the extensive use of Titanium by the mil itary that has given a big boost to its industrial production.

vacuum tubes sealed glass contain­ers conducting electrical currents. It had a speed of one thousand times that of el ectro - m echan ica l machines.

Before the invention of EN IAC, it took a roomfull of people to calcu late a similar equation .

ENIAC

MILITARY INVENTIONS

Martin Klaproth who named Titanium

39

40

Rear View of ENIAC, with Vacuum Tubes

Why is ENIAC called a chi ld of military research?

ENIAC was designed primarily for the US Army.

The project was developed under the code name, 'Project PX'. It was launched in 1 943.

From the beginning, the group's managers and engineers were under terrific pressure. They worked long, hard, and bril l iantly, and emerged successful in their efforts.

Tell Me Why

It took about a year to design EN IAC, and a year and a half to build it. Even though ENIAC's primary func­tion was the computa­tion of firing tables, it was given the ability to solve almost all math­ematical problems in accordance with a specified set of instruc­tions.

The completed machine was intro­duced to the public on February 1 4th, 1 946. EN lAC has the distinc­tion of being the machine that kick started the computer industry.

MILITARY INVENTIONS

What is the Internet?

G lobal communication is easy now, thanks to an intricately l inked world­wide computer network that we call the Internet.

The Internet is actually a network of different networks. Most data moves over the Internet through the telephone network, and many people can use the network at the same time.

The Internet carries a wide range of information resources and services. Information that travels over the Inter­net does so via a variety of languages, known as protocols.

When you connect to the I nternet, you have access to the World Wide Web.

The Internet's roots are in the US during the late 1 960s. The Web was invented twenty years later.

41

How is the Internet connected to the military?

The origin of the Internet as we know it today goes back to a mil i­tary invention called ARPAnet.

ARPA stands for the Advanced Research Projects Agency, a branch of the military that devel-

42

Giant Brain

ENIAC, the first computer, amazed the world with its calculating abilities. It was also huge in size, and so the press called it the 'Giant Brain'.

oped top secret systems and weapons, during the Cold War.

ARPAnet was designed at the request of the US government, to connect computers at the Pentagon and Cheyenne Mountain, the US nuclear weapon control centre.

ARPAnet expanded quickly to include the com­puters at research institu­tions and universities. It created a network of geo-

Tell Me Why

What is the Global Positioning Sys­tem?

The Global Positioning System, or GPS, is a system that provides information about location and time by using satell ites.

It works in all weather conditions, as the satellites are based in space. GPS consists of a network of about 24 satell ites that orbit the Earth continuously at an altitude of 20,000 kms. The system was original ly developed by the US for mi l itary purposes.

GPS Handset

However, today, any­one with a GPS device can receive the radio sig­nals sent by the satel l ites.

Wherever you are on Earth, you will be in range of the signals sent by at least four satellites. Each one sends information about its position at the current time.

These signals that are beamed at the speed of light, are sent at regular intervals. They are received by your GPS receiver.

graphically separated computers called NCP. In many that could exchange information via ways, ARPAnet can be a newly developed protocol - or called the grandfather of rule for how computers interact- the Internet.

MILITARY INVENTIONS 43

GPS Equipment in a Car

What is the importance of GPS?

G PS was designed during the Cold War to provide a navigation system for the mil itary.

However, it has become a very important part of business, social, and family life now.

GPS is now widely used for vari­ous purposes, in addition to being a

navigation tool for ships and airplanes. It has become a tool of control that is really very benefi­cial for companies that use it, l ike shipping and trucking companies.

It can track cars that are stolen, and help driv­ers find their way. It com­pletely changed the way people communicate.

GPS can help locate and track dangerous criminals, and make it easier for emergency teams to locate people who are lost.

In fact, this system is one of the mil itary inven­tions that has been immensely beneficial to mankind as a whole.

e ....... raries

44

The Russians have a system similar to GPS called GLONASS, or the Global Navigation Satellite System. The other satellite systems that are planned are

European Union Galileo Positioning System, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System, and the Chinese BeiDou Navigation Satellite System.

Tell Me Why

Sir Francis Beaufort

How has the military helped weather forecasting?

Weather forecasting is an ancient science that has been evolving steadily over the years.

The two most important land­marks in this science were both the work of the mil itary. The fi rst was during the Napoleonic Wars. It was made by Sir Fran­cis Beaufort of the Royal Navy,

MILITARY INVENTIONS

who designed the world's first standardised weather report­ing system.

I t i s in use to this day. The second landmark was the cre­ation of the US Army Signal Service. It established a vast weather forecasting network throughout the country.

The accuracy in weather forecasting has improved fur­ther in recent years, thanks to the advances in computer modelling.

Forecast­It mayor may

not rain.

46

Concorde

Hvpersonlc

Vehicles that fly at supersonic speeds fly faster than the speed of sound. These speeds are referred to by Mach numbers. Aircraft flying at Mach 5 speeds are called hypersonic aircraft.

What is a supersonic �ircraft?

A supersonic aircraft is one that flies faster than the speed of sound.

A bul let fired from a gun is an example of an object that flies at supersonic speeds. Mil itary fighter aircraft also fly this fast.

Supersonic aircrafts were devel­oped in the 20th century. At first, they were used mostly for research and mil itary purposes.

Later, supersonic aircrafts were introduced for commercial fl ights too. An airplane called the Concorde was the most notable passenger airplane to travel at supersonic speeds.

The Concorde's maximum speed was more than twice the speed of sound. It could fly people from Lon-

Tell Me Why

don to New York in less than three and a half hours- about half the time taken by ordinary planes.

The Concorde is no longer in service. It flew for the last time in 2003.

What is a submarine?

A submarine is a large warship that can operate underwater. It can dive beneath the waves, and surface again when it wants to .

A submarine has huge tanks called ballast tanks. The air in them allows the submarine to float. When a submarine has to dive, the ballast tanks are fil led with sea water. This makes the submarine heavy, and it sinks.

When the submarine has to resurface, the water is pumped out of the bal­last tanks, and com­pressed air is forced in.

Once the tanks are filled with air, the submarine becomes light again , and begins to float again.

MILITARY INVENTIONS

A Submarine

Submarines were first built by Dutch inventor Cornelis van Dreb­bel in the 1 7th century.

However, it was not until 1 50 years later that they were first used in naval combat. Submarines are used by the navy during war to sink enemy vessels, and also to patrol the seas during peacetime.

-�--. -

--

We are lucky to have some

canned food!

47

What is an aircraft carrier?

An aircraft carrier is actually a warship. It has a very long, flat deck. This deck serves l ike a runway for airplanes to take off and land while the ship is at sea.

An aircraft carrier is l ike a seagoing airbase. It carries services and arms airplanes. The planes take off from the ship, carry out their opera­tions, and return to the ship once their mission is accom­plished.

Aircraft carriers are very expensive to build. Yet they are very important, because a naval force can swing into action anywhere in the world, without depending on local air bases for support.

An Aircraft Carrier

Aircraft carriers are truly awe inspiring sights. Some of them stand 20 stories tall above the water and are as long as a 77 storey building. An aircraft car­rier can launch, or land a plane every 25 seconds.

Amazingly, this is done in a fraction of the space available on a typical landing strip.

Where's the l anding submarine?

Aircraft Carrier INS Vikramaditya

Why were aircraft carriers used dur­ing the World Wars?

A ircraft carriers were first devel­oped before World War I I . In fact, in 1918, HMS Argus became the world's first carrier capable of launch­ing and recovering naval aircraft.

In World War I I , the aircraft carrier became indispensable for launch­ing, attacks against a sea, or land based enemy.

By 1942, the aircraft carrier had replaced the battleship as the major unit in a modern fleet.

The job of the carrier was to deliver planes as close to battlefields as possible. This was especially true in the Pacific, as many of the battles were fought on various islands, and along the coastal areas.

MILITARY INVENTIONS

Submersible Carriers

There were even submersible aircraft carriers during World War II. They would carry aircraft underwater to their destination. Then, they would come to the surface, so that the planes could take off. It was the Japanese who pioneered this form of military power.

49

What is a bayonet?

G uns and knives, swords and spikes, are all weapons of war. However, a bayo­net combines two weapons in one!

A sword, knife, or spike is designed to fit on, over, or under­neath the muzzle of a gun or rifle. This makes it a weapon that is doubly deadly.

Generally, bayonets are used for fighting at close quarters, when firing a rifle could be dangerous. This weapon appears to have originated in Bayonne, France, a region famous for its cutlery.

50

m

The term bayonet comes from the word 'Bayonne'. Bayonne is a town in France that was famous for its cutlery, swords, and knives.

The first bayonets were issued in the 1600s. These bayonets had knives that were actually fitted inside the barrel of the gun. However, this made it impos­sible to fire the gun.

Later, armies began making and issuing socket bayonets, which fitted around rather than in the barrel. Bayo­nets can vary in length.

There are a number of different designs, and some people collect vari­ous versions from around the world.

Different Types of Bayonets

A Bolt - action Rifle

What is bolt action tech­nology?

T he bolt-action rifle changed the face of warfare in the beginning of the 20th century. It has a manually operat­ed cylindrical metal rod called a bolt.

The bolt is manipulat­ed by a handle. The handle unlocks the bolt, and opens the breech cover. A cartridge is put inside the chamber, and the handle is moved for­ward to close the bolt.

The act of closing the bolt makes the weapon ready to fire. After firing, the handle is used to unlock the bolt, and eject the used cartridge case from the chamber.

Bolt-action rifles are very reliable, because being of a more basic design ; there are simply fewer things that can go wrong.

Checking the bol t-action

technology.

5 1

Model 25 MN Bolt - Action Rifle

Why is bolt-action technology consid­ered a milestone in the development of military weapons?

For centuries, all firearms were load­ed by stuffing a propellant charge, and a projectile down the barrel .

In the mid-1800s, a new firing sys­tem was devised that would revolution­ise the way firearms were used. It is known as the bolt-action rifle. It was adopted by the Prussian Army in 1841 .

This would mark the first time that the bolt-action saw combat. In 1898, the Mauser M-98 system was introduced, and used by the Germans up until 1935. By the onset of World War I , every country was equipping its sol­diers with bolt-action rifles.

Bolt-action rifles have played impor­tant roles in the battlefields of World War I I as wel l . Today, the mil itary has automatic and semi automatic guns, and the bolt-action rifle is used mainly for hunting.

52

What are tanks?

A tank is a very large armoured vehicle that runs on tracks. It is designed to move over the roughest terrain.

The idea of the tank came from farming vehicles that could

Mlghtv Tanks

The early tanks had periscopes through which a target could be identified. Modern tanks use imaging equip­ment.

Tell Me Why

cross difficult land with ease by using caterpil­lar tracks.

Tanks have rotating gun turrets on which cannons are mounted. The heavy armour pro­tects the tank, the gun­ners, drivers, and crew from enemy fire.

The first tanks were used by the British dur­ing World War I as a way of attacking enemy trenches. They were called tanks to trick the Germans into thinking they were water carri-

A Military Tank

MILITARY INVENTIONS

Manual handling is not

so easy.

ers for areas where water was hard to find in large amounts.

Tanks are effective attack weap­ons, because they can move over the most difficult terrain, cl imb high h i l ls, cross wide gaps, turn sharply, and can carry a crew of up to 10 men.

53

Why are tanks important weap­ons of war?

Tanks were first used in World War I during the Battle of the Somme.

Only forty- nine tanks were deployed, and only thirty two actually took part in the battle. They were devE;}loped by both the English and the French.

The first tank was named 'Little Will ie' and needed a crew of three. These first tanks were clumsy and awkward, and often got stuck. They were also very slow.

However, they played an important role in the war. Till then, the war was fought from trenches, and neither side was winning.

54

A Military Tank in Action

Tanks put an end to trench warfare, and made battles more decisive. In World War I I , the first battle in which Ameri­can made tanks were used, was at Kasserine Pass.

This war was witness to the largest tank battles in the his­tory of warfare. The biggest was at Kursk, where over 8000 tanks took part in the battle.

What is a periscope?

A periscope is an instrument that is used to see over, around, or through an object.

It works by using two mirrors to bounce light from one place

Tell Me Why

to another. A simple peri­scope is just a long tube with a mirror at each end. The mirrors are fitted into each end of the tube at an angle of exactly 45 degrees, so that they face each other.

The l ight bounces from one to the other, and then goes out to reach the person's eye. Periscopes are often used by the military, to allow people to look at things with­out putting themselves in danger.

You can use a periscope to see over the top of things, such as fences or walls that you aren't tall enough to look over. You can also use it to see around corners.

What a magic! This gun

changed to a periscope.

MILITARY INVENTIONS

GermOJ1 Solaiers-using . 'Ji'er;iscope

55

A Naval Commander looking through a Periscope

56

Hovercraft

Hovercraft is a vehicle that travels over land or water on a cushion of air. The cushion is provided by a downward blast. The hovercraft was manufactured by British engineer Sir Christopher Cockerell.

Why was the invention of the periscope very useful for the military?

T he navy first started using periscopes in submarines around 1 860.

Periscopes allow a subma­rine to look for nearby targets and threats on the surface of the water and in the air, while it is still safely underwater. When not in use, a submarine's peri­scope goes back into the hul l . Periscopes played a life sav­ing role in World War I .

On the Western Front, peri­scope rifles were used by the Belgian, British, and French armies. Most of this war was fought from trenches.

A soldier in the trenches would be shot at by the enemy if he showed his head above the surface. A periscope allowed him to observe the enemy while safely lying in the trench. He did not have to expose himself and risk ene­my fire.

In modern warfare, mil itary personnel use periscopes in gun turrets and armoured vehi­cles.

Tell Me Why

What is a torpedo?

A torpedo is l ike a long thin bomb that travels underwater to destroy a ship at which it is aimed. It is shaped like a cigar, and can be launched from a submarine or ship.

T orpedos can also be launched from aircraft and hel­icopters. A torpedo contains an explosive with a detonating system, a guidance system, and a propulsion system.

A Torpedo being Launched

The first torpedoes were actually mines rather than true torpedoes. They floated at, or just below the surface of the water, and exploded when a ship struck them, or a trigger wire attached to them.

The fi rst true self-propelled torpedo was invented by Rob­ert Whitehead, a Scot, in the 1 860s. Torpedoes were widely used in both World Wars.

Pilgrims PIIISC ...

MILITARY INVENTIONS

The periscope first came on the

market in 1 430. John Gutenburg, who popularised the printing press,

brought out a simple periscope to

allow pilgrims to see over the head of a crowd at a religious festival.

57

What is a battleship?

A battleship is an extremely large warship that is equipped with heavy duty guns. It is also heavily armoured, and these huge vessels are a symbol of a navy's might.

At the beginning of World War I I , the battle­ship was seen as the height of sea power, and having the most power-

On most new subma­rines, torpedoes are launched through torpe­do tubes along the sides. Surface ships launch tor­pedoes from tubes on the deck.

58

ful and fastest battleships was con­sidered all important.

The HMS Dreadnought, which was commissioned in 1906, was one of the most famous among battleships. It heralded a revolution in battleship design with its increased speed, electronic rangefinding weapons system, and greater firepower.

These improvements in design were soon incorporated by other bat­tleships as well, for in those days, it was the nation with the mightiest battleships that commanded the sea.

Tell Me Why

How did battle­ships originate?

T he origin of bat­tleships can be traced back to wooden sailing ships that were fit­ted with guns.

The next stage was the introduc­tion of ships that were powered by steam engines. The first true battleship was introduced in 1 850 by the French. It was called the Napoleon, and was equipped with 90 guns.

During the late 1 9th and early 20th

centuries, the bat­tleship was the most powerful type

MILITARY I NVENTIONS

Glossal'l

The word 'battleship' comes from the term 'ship of the line' or 'line of battle ship'. The word 'battleship' was first introduced 200 years ago.

An Early Battleship

of warship, and a fleet of battleships was vital for any nation which wanted to main­tain command of the sea.

During World War I I , aircraft carriers overtook battleships as commanders of the sea. Some battleships remained in service during the Cold War, and the last were put out of service in the 1990s.

59

What is a trebuchet?

A trebuchet is one of the most powerful weapons of medieval times. It was basical ly a huge catapult that could fl ing boulders and heavy stones weighing up to 159 kilos, at the walls of enemy fortresses.

The catapult had a lever or beam that sol­diers had to pull down to launch the boulder. The trebuchet was used by the armies of that period to break down walls of cities and fortresses. Its his­tory dates back to antiqu ity, and it is believed that the trebu­chet developed from a

Trebuchets

type of sling called the stave sling. The name comes from the French word 'trebucher' meaning 'to throw over'.

A trebuchet was capable of reducing walls to rubble. It remained a powerful weapon of war well into the 15th cen­tury.

/::;;:""'_11:

60 Tell Me Wh

What are mine detectors used for?

During World War II, land mines placed by the enemy kil led thou­sands of soldiers.

Troops on the move could never be sure where these explosives were placed, and stepping on one, meant injury or death. In 1 941, a Polish Lieutenant, Jozef Kosacki, who was staying in Scotland at that time, devised an instrument that could detect land mines. He )ifted the design to the British A.rmy. During the war, hundreds of :housands of mine detectors were

Soldiers with Mine detectors Mine detectors in a Factory

produced, saving an equal number of lives.

Mine detectors played a key role in the war, and even in peacetime, they are used to detect mines that were planted during the war, but did not go off.

This small , but important invention is still being used in many countries that have been affected by the horror of war, and it has saved countless lives across the globe.

61

62

A Caltrop

A Plam

The word 'caltrop' comes from the Latin word 'calci­trapa'. It refers to a plant that has a spiked seed case. The spikes are hard enough to injure a person's feet.

What is a caltrop?

Caltrops were weapons that in ancient times, were used to slow the advance of an enemy's war elephants, camels, horses, and troops.

A caltrop is very simple in design. It is nothing more than a ball from which four spikes project in such a way that when three of them are on the ground, the fourth points upward. To step on one meant a puncture wound that could be painfu l , crippling, and even fatal .

The caltrop was used extensively by armies in ancient times. It was a popu-

Sha l l I kick this Cal trop

away?

lar weapon because it was simple to construct, easy to carry around, cheap to make and needed no spe­cial skill or training to be used.

Moreover, it needed no care or maintenance, and could be used again and again. Even in modern warfare, caltrops are sti l l useful as they can effec­tively puncture the tyres of enemy jeeps.

What is a siege tower?

SiegeS were a common feature of medieval war­fare. When a castle, for­tress, walled town or city is surrounded by an attack-

MILITARY INVENTIONS

This siege is too high ...

e ·

ing army, and nothing is allowed to enter or leave, it is said to be under siege.

The attacking army would then try and storm the walls of the place that was under siege. Siege towers were constructed to protect the attacking soldiers from missiles or fire from the defenders.

The Siege of Raneagua

63

Vintage War Planes from World War II

The tower was also designed to hold the sol­diers and weapons of the attacking army. Siege towers were tal l , rectan­gular wooden structures with four wheels.

Their height was equal to that of the highest walls of a castle or town. Some towers were even strengthened with iron plates. Most had a bat­tering ram to break down walls.

A siege tower was generally designed to meet the requirements of the wall it would be used to attack.

64

What is synchronisation of gear?

I n World War I , fighter ai rcraft had machine guns to strike at the ene­my. The practical problem that they faced was how to avoid the blades of the spinning propel lers of the air­craft while fir ing.

One idea was to fix a machine gun at an oblique angle in order to miss the propeller, but this was too

Tell Me Why

difficult to aim. The solution lay in a technology called synchronisation of gear, or interrupter gear.

The ' interrupter gear' was a timing mechanism by which the machine gun wou ld only fire through the ai rcraft propel lers. It would cease fi ring when­ever the propeller passed directly in front of the machine gun. Soon, all fight­er ai rcraft were fit­ted with this technology.

Who invented the interrupter gear?

At the beginning of World War I, fighter pi lots found that when they fired the machine guns on their planes, the propellers were often h it , and dam­aged.

MILITARY INVENTIONS

So, attempts were made to find ways of firing a machine gun without hitting the propellers, but several ideas fai led.

In 1 91 5, a French pilot, Roland Garros, added deflector plates to the blades of the propeller of his plane. These small wedg-

Technicians Testing Synchronised Gear

es diverted the passage of those bullets which struck the blades.

However, it was Anthony Fokker who improved on the deflector blades by add­ing an interrupter mechanism. This mech­anism had a timing device that prevented the machine gun from firing when the pro­peller was directly in front of it.

This synchronised machine-gun was fit­ted on Eindecker monoplane fighters of the German Air Service in 1 91 5. Its suc­cess led to many improved versions.

65

What is a VTOL aircraft?

A VTOL aircraft is one that does not need a long runway to take off or land, but can do so vertically.

Such an aircraft can even hover in one spot. VTOL air­craft can include regu lar planes as wel l as helicopters. The Hawker Harrier was the first fighter jet that could take off and land vertically. Because they do not need long run­ways, these planes can oper­ate anywhere in the world.

They can pop up suddenly out of a hiding place to ambush the enemy, or land troops even in a small clearing in a forest. Thus, VTOL aircrafts have a clear advantage over regular planes during wartime.

A VTO L Aircraft

66

Can you fly backwards?

Tell Me Why

What is a UAV?

U nmanned Aerial Vehicles, or UAVs, are aircrafts that have no pilots on board.

Such aircraft can be remotely controlled from the ground by a pilot. They can also be pre-programmed to follow specific flight plans.

UAVs are used for a number of mil itary missions, especially for reconnaissance flights and for attacks.

UAVs are also known as drones. The use of drones has grown quickly in recent years because unlike manned air­craft, they can stay aloft for many hours.

They are much cheaper than military aircraft, and as they are flown remotely, there is no danger to the flight crew.

Drones have played a key role in the war

MILITARY INVENTIONS

Two Different Types of UA V

against terrorism, and have been suc­cessfully used in many countries. Drones are also used by security and police forces in many countries.

67

What is a claymore?

T he claymore was an awesome weapon of the Scots. It was a large, heavy, broad-bladed, two handed sword.

It was marked by a forward-sweep­ing hilt . This hilt was designed not only to protect the user's hands, but could also be used to catch the opponent's weapon.

The claymore was a brutal weapon when it was in use. When properly wielded, it could outreach the normal swords of opponents. Because it was wielded with two hands, the claymore would seldom have been used by cav­alry.

For the same reason, the bearer did not normally hold a shield. The clay­more was most often carried on the back, or by a horse. It was the weapon of choice of the Scots from the 15th to the 17th centuries. The claymore was used primarily in clan warfare among the Scots, and in bor­der wars with the English.

MILITARY INVENTIONS

Claymore

69

70

Cartridges

AI The letters AK stand for a rifle called the Avtomat Kalashnikova. It is made in Russia, and is also known as Kalashnikov or Kalash.

• Radha Nair

A cartridge is a tube that you put in a gun. It is usually made of metal. It

Why are AK-47 Rifles popular in the military?

The AK-47 is probably the most well known firearm. AK assault rifles were first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov.

In 1 949, the AK-47 was officially accepted by the Soviet Armed Forc­es. Initially used by the Red Army, the AK-47 was exported widely.

Due to its relatively simple design and compact size, the AK-47 became the favoured weapon of many of the world's mil itaries. It is easy to pro­duce too. In addition to professional militaries, the AK-47 has been used by a variety of resistance and revolu­tionary groups.

Tell Me Why

contains a bullet, a primer, and an explosive material.

When you pull the trigger on a gun, a hammer snaps forward and a pin strikes the primer. This creates a spark, which ignites the explosive material, which is usually gunpowder. The explosion pro­pels the bullet out of the gun. The used cartridge has to be then removed, or ejected from the gun.

AK-47

One reason for this is that the weap­on is easy to learn, operate, and repair. As one of the most common and relia­ble assault rifles in the world, the AK-47 has also, unfortunately, been favoured by organized crime and terrorist organ­izations as wel l .

MILITARY INVENTIONS

A cartridge is made very precisely to fit inside the firing cham­ber of a gun. A car­tridge without a bullet is called a blank. One that is completely inert is called a dum­my.

71

What is the role of land­mines in war?

Landmines are explo­sive devices that are hidden underground. If any type of pressure is applied on the ground above them, the device will explode.

The pressure can be in the form of a foot­step, or a jeep being driven over it. The explosion is powerful enough to kill and injure people, as well as to destroy vehicles.

72

Soldiers searching for Landmines

During the war, landmines were intended to destroy enemy targets, ranging from soldiers to vehicles and tanks, as they passed over them.

Even after a war, landmines can remain active for more than fifty years. They can kil l innocent civi lians, who happen to walk, or drive over them.

An Early type of Landmine

Tell Me Why

Tragically, thou-sands of children have also been killed, because they hap­pened . to be playing over an active land­mine.

A Landmine

What is a flame­thrower?

A flame-thrower is just what its name suggests. It is a weap­on that throws a long, controlled stream of fire.

The earliest flame­throwers date as far back as the 5th century BC. These took the form of lengthy tubes fil led with burning sol-

MI LITARY INVENTIONS

A Soldier using a Flame-Thrower

ids. By blowing into one end of the tube, the burning material inside would be sent flying towards enemy.

In modern times, more refined ver­sions of the flame-thrower were used, both in World War I, and World War I I . Flame-throwers can b e carried either as a backpack, or mounted on a vehi­cle such as a tank. Flame-throwers were used by the German army against

Bought a flame-thrower to

fire be t ter!

73

Allied troops in World War I .

Today, flame-throwers are frequently used on farms, sugar cane plan­tations, and elsewhere, to conduct controlled burnings of vegetation and land.

Why was the crossbow a very effective weapon?

C rosSbows have played a very important role in medieval wars all over the world .

An invention from Ancient China, it became popular in Europe around a thousand years later. A crossbow is basi­cally a bow that is fixed across a wooden sup­port, and has a groove for the bolt, and a mech­anism for drawing and releasing the string.

Crossbows are deadly accurate, and have a fir­ing range longer than traditional bows. They are easier to operate, and are the perfect

74

A 15th Century Crossbow

weapon for those . who do not have the strength to effectively pull the classic bow.

The disadvantage of the crossbow is that it takes longer to load. The use of the crossbow is still popular for hunting game and target practice. Crossbows today are made of many materials, including wood, metals, and polymer plastics.

Not so effective ...

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Where was the crossbow invented?

T he first crossbows were invented in Ancient China. Bronze crossbow bolts dating as early as the mid-5th century BC were found at a Kingdom of Chu burial site in Yutaishan, Hubei.

.

Certainly, the famed mil itary strategist Sun Tzu knew about crossbows. Standard cross­bows were well-established across China by the second century AD. Crossbows were also used in the West. They were known to the Ancient Greeks and Romans, and by medieval times in Europe, the crossbow had evolved into a powerful weapon capable of penetrating armour.

Another type of Crossbow

Where other bows rely on the strength of the archer, the crossbow has a mechanical trigger, so that many releases could be made without tiring the crossbowman.

Horrilile Weapon

The flame-thrower is considered to be a horrific weapon because it burns the target alive. Because of the particularly gruesome death

that flame-throwers inflict on peo­

ple, the weapon has been contro-versial since it was first used in World War I .

MILITARY INVENTIONS 75

What is a stun gre­nade?

T he stun grenade was first developed by the British Army in the 1 970s. Unl ike other grenades, it

76

does not kil l , injure, or permanently disa­ble a person.

The stun grenade contains mercury and magnesium powder. When it deto­nates, it creates a blinding flash, equiva­lent to 300,000 candlepower that causes temporary blindness.

The 1 60 decibels of sound produced by the grenade shocks and stuns the ene­my, and causes temporary deafness as well . It is also loud enough to disrupt the

What is a hand grenade?

A hand grenade is a bomb that is small enough to be held in the hand.

Originally, they were just hollow metal balls filled with gunpowder. These early models were ignited with a slow burning fuse, and thrown distances over 30 metres.

Today, the hand grenade has a pin, and a time delay mechanism. When the sol­dier releases the pin and throws the gre­nade, the time delay mechanism ensures

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balance function of anyone in range, causing severe dizziness.

The aim of the stun grenade is to confuse and distract the enemy, so as to give an attacking team a few precious extra moments to organ­ize themselves.

The attacking team has special equipment to protect themselves from the effects of the stun gre­nade.

-

that it will explode only after a set period of time.

The grenade is designed to launch. Hand grenades have played a major role in World War I , World War I I , Vietnam, and many other 20th century confl icts. They are designed to be durable, easy to use, and easy to manufacture.

MILITARY INVENTIONS

Grenade A grenade is a small bomb that is thrown by hand. In fact, the word 'grenade', which is French in origin, means 'a small explosive shell'.

A Hand Grenade

Soldier throwing a Grenade

Book on Bow Roger Ascham wrote the first book about longbow archery in 1 545. It was dedicated to King Henry VIII.

What is the role played by long­bows?

A longbow is a tall bow that is around a man's height. The archer has to draw the string back a long way to release the arrow- at least up to his jaw.

Longbows were originally made of different types of wood, though a tree named yew was preferred.

An experienced archer could shoot an arrow every five seconds. Many skilled archers working together could produce a devastat­ing attack.

The longbow dominated medieval warfare. One story told in medieval times was that an arrow fired from a longbow could penetrate four inches into oak. English kings encouraged the use of the long­bow by sponsoring tournaments with good prizes for the successful archers. All other sports were banned on a Sunday, except archery.

78

A Longbow

Tell Me Why

Why is the naval mine an impor­tant military invention?

Naval mines have played a major role in sea battles. The naval mine is a spherical or cylin­drical steel case that contains about 227 kilogrammes or more of explosives.

It has enough air to make it float. The mine is anchored below the surface of the water by a mooring cable. Naval mines can be activated in many ways.

Early mines exploded on con­tact with the hull of a passing ship

or submarine. Modern mines are activated by a ship's magnetic field, by the sound wave produced by its propellers, or sometimes, by the lower water pressure surrounding its hul l .

Mines originated from the ancient practice of digging underground tunnels, or mines, under the walls of a fortress to make them col­lapse. Later, these tunnels or mines were packed with explosives to make them even more destructive.

A Naval Mine

What is the role of cruise missiles?

A cruise missile is a large mil itary weapon which is designed to carry conventional, or nuclear warheads for hundreds of miles. It flies close to the ground, and is directed to a specific target where the warhead will explode.

Cruise missiles are actually unmanned aircraft. They fly low in order to avoid detection by radar, and they have a guidance system

Spare me! I'm not your

target.

A Cruise Missile

that allows them to hone in precisely to a specific target. Cru ise missiles were first developed by Germany during World War I I .

Later, during the Cold War, both the US and the Soviet Union equipped submarines and aircraft with cruise missiles. Mod­ern cruise m issiles can travel at supersonic speeds. They are one of the most devastating weapons of war.

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BrahMos Missile

FlYing Torpedo The 1 909 British film 'The Airship Destroyer' featured a flying torpedo that was used to destroy airships bombing London. These flying torpedoes were wireless controlled, and resembled the cruise missiles of today.

• Dev Nath

MILITARY I NVENTIONS

How has India benefitted from the invention of the cruise missile?

A cruise missile is an unmanned self propelled aircraft that has a gu idance system that enables it to strike a target accurately.

Cruise missiles are generally equipped with weapons that explode on impact with the target.

Sometimes, they carry special payloads. India, has in partnership with Russia, developed a superson­ic cruise missile called BrahMos. The missile can be launched against ships and land-based targets.

The missile is named after two riv­ers, the Brahmaputra in India, and the Moskva in Russia. BrahMos has a flight range of up to 290km, and can reach a maximum speed of Mach 3.

India has also successfu lly tested a nuclear-capable long-range sub­sonic cruise missile Nirbhay in 2014.

81

What is a ballistic missile?

L ike the cruise missile, a ball istic missile is an unmanned missile that hones in on a specific target, following prescribed course.

Like the cruise missile, its purpose is to deliver one or more warheads to the prede­termined target. The difference between the two is that once a ballistic missile has burned its fuel, it is powered only by gravity.

A Ballistic Missile

Long range intercontinental ball istic mis­siles or ICBMs, spend most of their flight out of the atmosphere. Shorter range ballistic missiles stay within the Earth's atmosphere.

They can be launched either from a fixed launcher, or mobile launchers l ike ships, trucks, and submarines.

82

India 's Ballistic Missile Dhanush

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What is a V-2 rocket?

The V-2 rocket was developed in Ger­many around 1936 through the efforts of scientists led by Wernher von Braun . I t was fueled by alcohol and l iquid oxy­gen.

The first V-2 rocket was launched on October 3rd, 1 942. It marked the world's fi rst launch of a ball istic missile. This rocket carried one tonne of high explo­sives but travelled at such a speed that it could not be seen.

It was called the 'buzz bomb, ' because it was powered by jet engines. The V-2 rocket marked a revolution in terms of rocketry, because it was l iquid fueled and it had a longer range. It was also the first rocket ever to go into the fringes of space.

The V-2 rocket was fired against Par­is on September 6th, 1 944. During World War I I , over 3000 were launched by the Germans against the Allies.

MILITARY INVENTIONS

84

Stealth Aircraft

Gunpowder Gunpowder weapons were new and rare in the 1 2th and 1 3th century. On 28th January 1 1 32, the Chinese General, Han Shizhong, used gunpowder in a battle for the first time.

• Sneho Roo

Why is the invention of stealth aircraft an important one?

A stealth aircraft is one that is difficult to detect on radar. Most ai rcrafts have a rounded shape. This makes them very easy to spot on radar.

A stealth aircraft, on the other hand, is made up of completely flat surfaces and very sharp edges. When a radar signal hits a stealth plane, the signal is reflect­ed away, and not back to the radar antenna.

In addition, surfaces on a stealth air­craft can be treated so they absorb radar energy as well . The overall result is that a stealth ai rcraft appears on an enemy's radar l ike a small bird rather than an air­plane.

The stealth bomber was developed in the 1 970s by Germany. They wanted it to be nearly invisible to enemy sensors. This aircraft played an important role in the Gulf War of 1 990. Today, many coun­tries have their own stealth ai rcrafts.

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Dear Gun, please stop

firing .. .

How have machine guns influ­enced the way wars are fought?

Machine guns are fu lly auto­matic guns. They can shoot hundreds of rounds of ammu­nition a minute.

The first machine guns would rapidly overheat, and could therefore, be fired only in short bursts. In spite of this, machine guns inflicted appalling casual­ties on both sides during World War I .

M ILITARY INVENTIONS

Since machine guns could fire up to 600 rounds a minute, they could be as effective as 30 men shooting with ordinary guns !

Moreover, ammunition was put into the machine gun con­tinuously by a belt. This meant that the rate of fire could be maintained for some time.

The early machine guns had the disadvantage of being extremely heavy. Later, improved versions were designed.

85

Why were cannons a giant step forward for the military?

Gunpowder was invented in China, and found its way to Europe in the 1 3th century.

In the mid to late 1 3th century, gunpowder began to be used in cannons. Early cannons were large guns that could shoot heavy metal, or stone balls.

By the 1 4th century, cannons were simply strong cylinders that were permanently closed at one end, and temporarily closed by a cannonball towards the other end.

A charge of an explosive l ike gunpowder was placed between

86

A Russian Cannon

the two. When the charge was ignited through the touch-hole, it exploded, or changed to highly com­pressed gas, very quickly.

The force this created expelled the ball towards its target. Cannons were used for smashing a wal l , dismem­bering men and horses, or crashing through the wooden side of a ship.

Cannons cou ld easily smash an enemy's defens­es, and could cause death and destruction on a large scale.

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Who are paratroopers?

Paratroopers are sol­diers who are trained in the use of parachutes. They are highly ski lled, very well trained individuals, who are considered to be among the cream of the mil itary.

The concept of using parachutes to drop sol­diers in specific areas gained a great deal of ground in World War I I , when aircraft played an important role in the war effort.

In order to qualify as a paratrooper, a soldier undergoes regular training and then receives special parachuting training.

Soldiers are taken up into the air over friendly territory and taught proper skydiving technique. Once a soldier has completed several successful jumps from an aircraft, he or she learns how to manipu late the specialised parachutes used in paratrooping.

These birds are attacking my parachute.

, I

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Why are paratroopers very effec­tive?

Paratroopers provide an attack­ing force with a great deal of flex­ibil ity. They are generally dropped in small groups behind the enemy lines.

Since most forces do not expect to be attacked from behind, para­troopers had the distinct advan­tage of surprise on their side.

In World War I I , Germany used parachute troops to spearhead assaults in Holland and Belgium.

Paratroops can also be used to spy on enemy territory. In addi­tion, they can provide backup troops in areas that are hard to reach by land.

88

1

,

w •

I ..

• ,

,

Paratroopers

Today, it is possible to drop vehicles and heavy weapons onto the ground along with supplies and oth­er materials. This is of immense value not only for mil itary purposes, but for refugees, and in disaster hit areas as well .

How did the invention of industrial fertilizer help the military?

N itrates are needed to produce explosives l ike TNT. Before World War I , armies had to depend only

Tell Me Why

on natural nitrates l ike the Chilean guano deposits.

However, there was only a l imited supply of natural n itrates. In 1 909, two Ger­man chemists, Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch, developed a process to convert atmospheric nitrogen into a form of nitrogen that could be used for ferti l izer. This was an important step for agricu lture, because nitrogen is one of the nutri­ent elements that plants need to grow.

Soon, the manufacture of these fertil izers became an important industry. Artificial nitrates began to be pro­duced in large quantities. This in turn, ensured that explosives for war could be produced in immense num­bers as well .

Shells filled with TNT and RDX

Haber-Bosch

M ILITARY INVENTIONS

A process named Haber-Bosch made the mass productions of nitrate fertilizers possible. Nitrate fertilizers are essential for the success of large scale farming.

89

What is a bazooka?

Once tanks were invented, the next step was to discover an anti­tank weapon that could destroy an enemy's tanks.

Leslie Skinner and Edward Uhl of the US experimented with spe­cial grenades that packed an armour­piercing punch. Howev­er, these were too heavy for soldiers to throw.

One day, Uhl appar­ently spied a steel tube on a scrap pile. He decided that a smooth­bore launch tube was the perfect companion to the grenade. He added a rocket to the grenade. The result was a simple

90

and effective anti-tank weapon that came to be called the bazooka.

The bazooka was light enough to rest on a person's shoulder. At the same time, its high-explosive rounds were powerful enough to destroy bunkers and light tanks.

Although it went through many changes, the bazooka remained in use right through the early stages of the Vietnam War.

Bazooka

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What are nuclear weap­ons?

A nuclear weapon is an explosive device whose destructive potential comes from the release of energy that accompanies the splitting, or combining of the nuclei of atoms.

Both reactions release vast amounts of energy from a small amount of matter. Nuclear weapons are the most destructive of all the weapons ever invented by man.

They are weapons of mass destruction. A con­ventional bomb releases most of its energy in the form of blast.

Nuclear bombs on the other hand, release 50 per cent energy as blast, 35 per cent as heat, and 15 per cent as nuclear radia­tion.

When a nuclear bomb explodes, most people within a radius of four to forty eight kilometres would either get killed, or seriously injured.

MILITARY INVENTIONS

Little Boy - The Atom Bomb dropped on Hiroshima

Fat Boy - The Atom Bomb dropped on Nagasaki

Nuclear Reactors

A nuclear reaction can

be used to produce power as well. In fact, many of the navy's submarines and aircraft carriers are powered by nuclear reactors.

91

92

The mushroom cloud over Hiroshima after the dropping of Atom bomb

How destructive nuclear bombs?

are

Ti l l now, only two nuclear bombs have been exploded. Both were dropped by the US on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the last days of World War I I .

These two bombings resulted in the deaths of approximately 200,000 civilians and mil itary per­sonnel from acute inju­ries sustained from the explosions.

All nuclear blasts cre­ate fireballs with temper­atures exceeding 300,000 degree Celsius. These fireballs act as shock waves that blow away everything in their path for many kilometres around.

The explosion also results in hurricane winds and firestorms over large

Tell Me Why

areas. In addition to great heat and blast, nuclear bombs also result in radia­tion in the form of radioac­tive 'dust'. After the blast is over, this radioactive dust hangs in the atmosphere. Exposure to radioactive dust leads to i l l-health and malfunctioning of the body.

It damages the cells involved in reproduction . It can cause still-births, and genetic damages. The radi­oactive dust from a nuclear explosion is spread all around by wind and rain. It contaminates water and air.

So, even when the blast itself has finished, living beings continue to suffer from its after-effects like cancer.

The mushroom cloud over Nagasaki after the dropping of

Atom bomb

The First Hvdrogen Bomb

The first scientists to discover the fact that energy is created when nuclei are fused together were Atkinson and Houtermans. They discovered this in 1 929. The US

detonated the world's first thermonuclear weapon, the hydrogen bomb, in 1 952.

MI LITARY INVENTIONS 93

IIMEllNE Ambulance service was initiated.

Bayonet was invented.

Bolt-action technology came into existence.

Technology for canning food invented.

Invention of battleship.

First safety razors came into use.

Technology of synthetic rubber was invented.

Interrupter gear was introduced to fighter planes.

Aircraft carriers were introduced.

Penicillin was invented.

Radar was invented.

Invention of nylon.

V-2 rocket was invented.

Invention of Walkie-talkie.

Cargo pants came into use.

Mine detectors were invented.

Duct tape was invented.

Invention of microwave oven.

ENIAC was invented.

M ILITARY INVENTIONS 95

� .

Question sent by:

I dream a wr i nkle -free

world

Prateek Raj, on email

Send us your questions E mail: tellmewhy@mmp.in

MI LITARY INVENTIONS

Question of the Month

How does ironing remove wrinkles from clothes?

Every time you wash your clothes, you can see wrinkles formed on them. This is because the water that clothes are washed in disturbs the molecular arrangement of the fabric, which then appears as wrin­kles.

How does an iron work on wrin­kled clothes? I rons heat the mole­cules within the fabric, so they become loose. The weight of the pressure exerted on the iron flat­tens the fabric. When the fabric cools, it retains the new flat shape, and will be wrinkle-free.

• Indhu Thomas

97

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