Precision Weapons Essay

Precision weapons have been around since the Civil War and have been evolving ever since. Ever since the development of such weapons, soldiers have been more effective in the battlefield, while also reducing collateral damage. Everyday more and more precision weapons are being made and used around the world. In today’s wars, precision weapons are a normal thing, which have made wars much cheaper and quicker. The development of precision weapons has changed the outcomes of many wars throughout history. Before the development of precision weapons, wars were long and protracted, which led to soldiers getting very fatigued. The weapons used before the development of “real” precision weapons were often very long and quite inaccurate. Soldiers had to be quite close to the enemy, close enough that they could see what color their eyes were. The rifles that were issued to the soldiers were .75 caliber smoothbore muskets (“American Revolution…Musket”). This rifle, although inaccurate, was state of art during the time of its development. The British Army developed the musket in 1722 (“American Revolution…Musket”). The musket was standard issue for the British troops of the time, which also saw use …show more content…
A common name for an UAV is a drone. The most well-known military drone is the MQ-1 Predator, which has a wingspan of 55 feet and can travel up to 135 mph (“History of U.S. Drones”). This drone is capable of spying on the enemy without being seen on radar. The purpose of developing the MQ-1 Predator was to acquire intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance information (“History of U.S. Drones”). Drones have been being used for surveillance throughout history ever since 1849 (“History of U.S. Drones”). One example of their uses was in WWI, drones were used extensively for surveillance, but the first actually uses were to train pilots and anti-aircraft gunners (“History of U.S.