Technology In The Military

When you join the military, the equipment you use is definitely unlike what you would see “back home”. The United States military is one of the largest and most advanced military forces in the entire world. The iteration of the the gear soldiers are equipped with keeps them above the competition and safer from natural elements. The strategies of U.S. armies have been supported by much more informed information available from spy satellites, the GPS, and televisions and hidden by stealth technologies. The equipment normal soldiers wore and fought with were upgraded to deal with cold weather and to be more efficient for combat. Since the 1920s to the present day, the military’s use of technology has been improved with more efficient and powerful

Strategy was improved thanks to these technologies. The Global Positioning System(GPS) uses a system of satellites to display very precise data about timing, velocity, and three-dimensional positioning. Some of the first applications of the GPS were in the Vietnam and Gulf Wars. Access to the GPS enabled soldiers to gain more knowledge of threats in their deployment areas and increased the accuracy of with launches. “It enables us to know our position or location. During the Gulf War, 16 GPS satellites provided navigation and positioning data...GPS fixed navigational positions during mine-clearing operations and provided launch coordinates for ship-firing TLAMs”(Griggs). Stealth technologies varied in appearance as well as application but they were generally used to hide troops and vehicles from enemy radar. The benefits of that feature are astronomical so it was put into fighter jets like the F-117 Nighthawk during the Iraq War. This gave pilots the ability to mount stealth attacks on unsuspecting Iraqi forces in 1991. The Lockheed Martin Staff reported, “During the early-morning hours of January 17, 1991, in response to the invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein, a fleet of Nighthawks slipped in unseen by Iraqi radar and neutralized 37 targets across Baghdad”(Lockheed Martin

One landmark in the history of American military rifles is the M1 or Garand Rifle of World War II and the Korean War. The M1 Rifle was important because it was the first semi-automatic rifle that was generally distributed to United States soldiers. “The M1 was a gas-operated, semi-automatic rifle that utilized an eight-round clip which gave United States forces a significant advantage in firepower and shot-to-shot response time over enemy infantrymen in battle”(Military.com team). American troops were able to fire at a faster rate than their opposition by using new semi-automatic guns. Another interesting rifle was the M16A4 which featured four picatinny rails which allow users to add attachments to the weapon. Military.com lists such attachments, “The M16A4 incorporated a flattop receiver unit and a hand guard with four Picatinny rails for mounting optical sights, lasers, night vision devices, forward handgrips, removable carry handle, and flashlights”(Military.com team). Having attachments can provide numerous benefits like improved visibility at night, improved accuracy, and an easier way to carry larger guns. At the end of 1961, soldiers got their hands on a grenade launcher called the M79 designed to be more portable than a mortar while also having more range and greater accuracy than a rifle