During World War II the battle doctrine for the U.S. Navy was to dominate all the world seas at once while striking into the enemy heartland. This remained the main doctrine during 49 years of Cold War should it became a hot war with the Soviet Union. With the end of the Cold War, the doctrine needed to change as the position and type of enemy changed,. Now the Navy would fight mostly in the littoral regions near coasts (where 80% of the world's population lives); rather than over vast areas in

As World War II approached science, especially regarding electronics, aerospace research and nuclear physics became very important. Equally important was keeping new developments in these areas secret.

While the modern tank dominates land warfare, the idea of armor goes back to ancient times as the Greeks, Assyrians and Romans all had hardened material for their soldiers. By the 5th century chain mail become used for a 1,000 years until mobility became more important than heavy armor in the 16th century.

The ominous sound of cannons began to play a main role on battlefields in Europe in the mid 15th century. Over time, the use of trunnions for elevation made cannon more accurate and deadly.

While the idea of vertical flight - the helicopter - was envisioned as early as the 15th century by Leonardo da Vinci, the first actual helicopter flight was in 1924 and the first practical helicopter was the FW 61 in Germany in 1936 with a small number used during World War II. The U.

The first rockets were used by the Chinese over 1,000 years ago. Until artillery became accurate, the rocket was the most used weapon of range on the battlefield.

Firing rates has always been a key element in warfare. The Battle of Cressy in 1346 during the Hundred Years War between England and France is a prime example with the English longbow men able to produce a fire rate five times faster, and with a longer range, than the French.

Firing rates has always been a key element in warfare. The Battle of Cressy in 1346 during the Hundred Years War between England and France is a prime example with the English longbow men able to produce a fire rate five times faster, and with a longer range, than the French.

Both the Union and Confederate Navy used a variety of Army field pieces on their ships during the Civil War as neither had a quantities of standardized naval guns. The North had the much larger Navy.

Weapons technology in the U.S. changed radically in the 1850's with the adoption of the 'American system' which was an assembly line technique to manufacture weapons of war. The other major change was rifling rather than smooth bore rifles and the Minie ball ammunition. The U.S. eventually had almost 1.5 million Springfield rifles and over 400,000 British Enfield rifles by war's end. For cavalry, the Sharps breech loader became the weapon of choice. Rifled artillery was also introduced and its g

Railroads became an important factor during the Civil War especially to get troops to Washington D.C.