The whole history of earthly civilization is marked by wars. At all stages of development, man has created and continues to create weapons. Some samples are striking in their characteristics, capabilities and harsh aesthetics, while others seem completely ridiculous. It is simply impossible to describe all the most unusual weapons ever invented by man. Firstly, everyone has their own ideas about normality and strangeness, and secondly, progress does not stand still, and what until recently seemed like a formidable death machine can be perceived by subsequent generations as a pile of useless iron.
Therefore, we will not try to make a rating, but simply look at some of the most unusual examples, both those that exist in reality and have been hardened in battles, and prototypes that have not been implemented.
What is a regular weapon?
Before discussing the most unusual weapons, let's mention what the requirements of master gunsmiths and soldiers are. The main ones are reliability, striking power, safety forarrow. When it comes to wearable weapons, weight and dimensions are important. Depending on the type, parameters such as effective range, radius of destruction, rate of fire, ammunition flight speed, convenience and ease of loading, number of crew and crew are evaluated.
Modern weapons enterprises, especially those working for the state defense industry, strive not only to develop the best performance characteristics, but also to reduce production costs.
Therefore, among professionals, weapons are either too heavy and large for modest characteristics, or prohibitively expensive to manufacture and maintain, or unsuitable for real combat missions for various reasons.
The layman may consider even appearance strange. A couple of specimens with excellent performance characteristics, but a very unusual design, were included in our review.
Heavy machinery
The heyday of the era of unusual weapons has always been periods of war. The need for new non-standard solutions, the austerity regime, limited time frames, the lack of the necessary, partially compensated by scrap materials and unsuitable trophies - these are often the main motivators.
During the Second World War, many fundamentally new types of weapons were urgently created. The best minds on both sides of the front worked diligently in this direction. It is difficult to name the most unusual weapon of the Second World War, but some specimens certainly deserve attention.
The German"Dora" with a mass of 1250 tons and a height of 11.5 m. The gun was delivered to the position in a disassembled state on rails, assembled in a few days on the spot, and to fire a shot, the efforts of 250 crew members and ten times more service group were required. But "Dora" could fire a projectile weighing from 4, 8 to 7 tons! She had to make war only twice: in Warsaw (1942) and near Sevastopol (1944). The Wehrmacht managed to create two samples and about a thousand shells.
Even the huge damaging effect could not compensate for all the difficulties and costs. Moreover, self-propelled guns, MLRS and aviation cope with such tasks.
The American Chrysler tank, developed in the 50s, can also be recognized as strange. True, the matter did not go beyond the prototype. As conceived by the developers, the Chrysler was supposed to float and even shoot directly from the water, and its work was based on the use of an atomic engine. The huge die-cast egg-shaped body looks more funny than menacing.
Soviet gunsmiths were also creative. It is worth mentioning the tank-aircraft, the aircraft carrier and the tractor-tank. None of these inventions entered mass production, but armored tractors had to go through baptism of fire all in the same World War II.
Mortars and mines
The Goliath, a self-propelled mine, was a rather formidable, albeit cumbersome, weapon of the German army. The Goliath had weak armor, the control wire was not protected at all, and the maximum speed did not even reach 10 km / h. Whereinproduction was costly. It was risky to drive a bulky self-propelled gun, and the enemy’s engineering thought also sometimes reached incredible levels.
At least a mortar-shovel! The curb weight of the gun reached only one and a half kg, and a 37-caliber projectile fired from it could cover a distance of 250 m.
Having finished shooting, the artilleryman could easily turn the device into an ordinary soldier's shovel. In the Airborne Forces, this weapon was used until the end of the war. Perhaps the mortar-shovel became the cause of terrible legends about Russian paratroopers?
Small arms of past eras and today
The 4-barreled duck-footed revolver is not the only one of its kind. Listing the most unusual weapons, one cannot ignore the multi-barreled inventions that were common in the 17th-19th centuries. But we have to admit, the look of such pistols and revolvers is awesome.
To many, the Belgian FN-F2000 submachine gun seems rather strange, having excellent shooting performance, but for some reason also distinguished by remarkable aerodynamics. A person who is accustomed to an AK or M-16, looking at it, will not immediately understand how to put it in the correct position for firing.
An old comfrey will certainly be perplexed by such a common phenomenon among mafia groups in Latin America as designer AKs. Covered with inlay, rich carving and even gilding, weapons in that environment are still an indicator of status today. However, its combat characteristics aredoes not detract.
The experience of gunsmiths of the past inspires today's engineers. But modern designers are trying to increase the number of ammunition, not barrels. There are many examples of this: repeating shotguns, the Scorpion ammo supply system, twin and spiral drums.
Non-lethal law enforcement weapons
The most unusual weapons can be found not only on the battlefields. Law enforcement officers also sometimes resort to non-standard solutions. For example, the Israeli development "Thunder Generator". The device is designed to disperse demonstrations and suppress the enemy. It strikes at a distance of up to 150 meters without harming he alth. However, the calculation at the time of the shot also has a hard time. Even stranger is the Vomit Pistol, which sends out pulses and pulsating beams. The result of exposure is general weakness, nausea and even vomiting.
Shooting pens and other items
Not all weapons look like weapons. Many items fall into this category. The most unusual weapons disguised as stationery, canes, rings, buckles and other items are used today by the special services.
Cold weapons: swords, sabers
Sunny India gave the world not only the "Kama Sutra" and yoga, but also many examples of amazing weapons. For example, urumi has no analogues in the world. This sword of thin sharp steel can be girded. In battle, the sword belt is quite formidable.
From therethe same kind of pata - a sword with a protective glove attached to the guard.
Knives and claws
The most unusual melee weapon from Japan is tekko kagi, which means "tiger claws". It may seem that the shape is too unusual for a weapon, and this item is more like a prop for a superhero movie. How can you not remember Wolverine? But with the help of tekko kagi, the warrior of the Land of the Rising Sun could easily tear the flesh of the enemy into shreds and even reflect sword blows. By the way, the analogue of metal claws was also familiar to the ancient kshatriyas.
It can be said that the Qatar, which combines the features of brass knuckles and a knife, and even with a blade that can be extended into three parts, is the most unusual melee weapon. But in the modern world there are many of its analogues. A specialist in knife combat is unlikely to take such weapons seriously, but among street gangs, a brass knuckle knife is common.
Some ancient peoples had an even more unusual knife worn on the finger. It was used not only in fights (to damage the eyes and neck), but also in everyday life.
Conclusion
As you can see, a person was always ready to go quite far in an attempt to arm himself better than a potential enemy. We see the strangest weapons both among samples from superpowers with huge military budgets, and among non-contact savage tribes.
And I would like to finish our review with the words of Mikhail Kalashnikov. The brilliant Soviet designer has repeatedly mentioned that it is not the weapon that kills - it is only a tool.
