Military

223 advances: 210 achieved, 10 at the frontier now, 3 ahead.

The frontier

• Traffic analysis 1914 · frontier
  Process of intercepting and examining messages. Researchers demonstrated how pre-installed apps on Android smartphones in China are used for mass surveillance in China.
• FPV drone warfare 2022 · frontier
  Mass cheap drones in Ukraine, 2022 onward.
• AI-assisted bio/chemical weapon design uplift 2022 · frontier
  Urbina et al. (Nature Machine Intelligence, 2022): a drug-discovery model, inverted, proposed 40,000 toxic molecules, including VX-like agents, in under 6 hours.
• UN General Assembly resolution 78/241 on lethal autonomous weapons 2023 · frontier
  First UNGA resolution on lethal autonomous weapon systems (Dec 2023): asks the Secretary-General for a report on their humanitarian, legal, security and ethical challenges. No ban.
• Dogfight 2023 · frontier
  Combat between aircraft, conducted at close range. A first successful autonomous long-duration operation, including simulated combat, of a modified F-16 fighter jet, X-62A, by two AI software was reported.
• Autonomous weapons 2024 · frontier
  AI-targeted loitering munitions and swarms.
• AI-enabled cyberattacks 2024 · frontier
  Microsoft and OpenAI (Feb 2024) documented state hacking groups using LLMs; Anthropic (Nov 2025) reported a largely AI-automated espionage campaign.
• Cheongwang laser air-defense: live shootdown of 3 drones 2026 · frontier
  Hanwha's fielded laser weapon (~$1.50/shot claimed) and a 30 kW-class vehicle laser downed all three target drones in a ROK Army exercise.
• Pentagon picks 4 directed-energy weapons for homeland counter-drone pilot 2026 · frontier
  JIATF-401 selected AeroVironment, Epirus Leonidas HPM, Kord Firefly and Boeing CLWS for a pilot at US bases.
• AGM-183A ARRW hypersonic missile enters production ($694M) 2026 · frontier
  USAF awarded Lockheed Martin a production contract for the B-52-launched boost-glide weapon (Mach 5+), its first hypersonic missile to reach production; quantities undisclosed.
• Loss of human control over autonomous systems 2035 · future
  Speculative. In Asimov's terms: autonomous systems are delegated goals and authority faster than enforceable rules of conduct and human oversight are built.
• Deterrence and great-power peace · future · progress: demonstrated
  No great-power war, so capital and talent go into building instead of destroying.
• Planetary defense (asteroid deflection) · future · progress: demonstrated
  Detecting and deflecting hazardous asteroids, shown by NASA's DART impact in 2022. The same skills later move icy bodies on purpose.

How we got here

• Hypersonic glide vehicles 2019 · achieved
  Avangard deployment, 2019; DF-17.
• Burevestnik 2018 · achieved
  Nuclear-powered cruise missile from Russia. In November, Russia completes the first test of the 9M730 Burevestnik, the first nuclear-powered cruise missile and the first nuclear-powered aircraft of any kind.
• Poseidon 2015 · achieved
  Type of nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed UUV. 2015 – Reports about Russia's Status-6 Oceanic Multipurpose System, a system of unmanned underwater vehicles capable of delivering a thermonuclear cobalt bomb, leak.
• Agni-V 2012 · achieved
  Type of ICBM. 2012 – April 19 – India tests its first intercontinental ballistic missile, the Agni-V.
• US DoD Directive 3000.09 (Autonomy in Weapon Systems) 2012 · achieved
  Issued Nov 2012, reissued Jan 2023: autonomous and semi-autonomous weapons must let commanders and operators exercise "appropriate levels of human judgment over the use of force." A policy, not a ban.
• Missile defense (Iron Dome) 2011 · achieved
  Iron Dome operational 2011.
• New START 2010 · achieved
  2010 nuclear arms reduction treaty between the United States and the Russian Federation. 2010 – April 8 – U.S. president Barack Obama and Russian President Dimitri Medvedev sign the New START Treaty reducing strategic warheads.
• Hypersonic weapon 2010 · achieved
  Class of weapon. Nuclear-capable hypersonic air-launched ballistic missile.
• Cyberweapons (Stuxnet) 2010 · achieved
  Stuxnet sabotaged Iranian centrifuges, discovered 2010.
• Jericho 2008 · achieved
  Ballistic missile. 2008 – January – Israel is believed to have tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile, the Jericho III.
• Loitering munition 2008 · achieved
  Weapon system category in which the munition loiters around the target area for some time, searches for targets, and attacks once a target is located. Loitering munition which uses a long distance fiber optic cable to allow for higher quality signal transmission, as well as making it immune to signal jamming.
• Type 214-class submarine 2002 · achieved
  Submarine class. 2002 – Type 214 submarine.
• Armed drones 2001 · achieved
  Predator armed, 2001.
• WE.177 1998 · achieved
  Military designation of a former range of tactical and strategic nuclear bombs. 1998 – The United Kingdom decommissions the WE.177 bomb, the final warhead used by the Royal Air Force and the final tactical nuclear weapon used by Britain.
• Type 212 A submarine 1998 · achieved
  2002 class of German submarines. 1998 – Type 212 submarine.
• Triomphant-class submarine 1997 · achieved
  Submarine class. 1997 – March 21 – France launches the first of its Triomphant -class submarines.
• AESA radar 1995 · achieved
  Active electronically scanned array radar.
• Nunn–Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction 1994 · achieved
  US post-Soviet counterproliferation program.
• Vanguard-class submarine 1994 · achieved
  1993 class of British nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines. 1994 – The Vanguard -class submarines are introduced by the Royal Navy as an upgrade of the British strategic nuclear force, and carry American-built UGM-133 Trident II missiles.
• RT-2PM2 Topol-M 1993 · achieved
  Intercontinental ballistic missile. 1993 – Russia formulates a military doctrine de-emphasizing nuclear weapons except in the case of a large-scale global conflict, although President Yeltsin authorizes development of the RT-2PM2 Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missile…
• Nuclear briefcase 1991 · achieved
  Briefcase used to authorize the use of nuclear weapons. 1991 – December 25 – The Soviet Union, which possesses the largest nuclear arsenal in the world, collapses. Gorbachev hands over the nuclear briefcase, the Cheget, to the new Russian President Boris Yeltsin.
• Nuclear weapons of Israel 1986 · achieved
  Israel's control of nuclear weapons. 1986 – September – Mordechai Vanunu divulges secrets about the Israeli nuclear weapons program to The Sunday Times in London. Vanunu would be abducted by the Mossad in Rome and imprisoned.
• RYAN 1983 · achieved
  1980s Soviet military intelligence program.
• Strategic Defense Initiative 1983 · achieved
  Defunct American missile defense system (1984-1993). 1983 – March 20 – President Reagan announces the Strategic Defense Initiative to defend against a Soviet nuclear attack.
• AGM-86 ALCM 1982 · achieved
  1974 air-to-surface cruise missile family by Boeing. 1982 – The BDS AGM-86 ALCM air-launched cruise missile is introduced in the United States.
• Rockwell B-1 Lancer 1981 · achieved
  Strategic bomber aircraft family by Rockwell, later Boeing. 1981 – October – President Ronald Reagan announces an update of the U.S.
• Airstrike 1981 · achieved
  Event in which aircraft are used to attack targets on land or at sea. 1981 – June 7 -The Israeli Air Force conducts an airstrike, Operation Opera, on Baathist Iraq's light-water nuclear reactor near Baghdad, hindering the country's uranium enrichment and nuclear weapons program.
• Operation Opera 1981 · achieved
  Israeli air strike carried out on 7 June 1981, which destroyed an Iraqi nuclear reactor Osirak. On June 7, the Israeli Air Force carries out Operation Opera, bombing an unfinished secret Iraqi nuclear reactor. Ten Iraqi soldiers and one French civilian engineer were killed.
• Oscar-class submarine 1981 · achieved
  Cruise missile submarine class. Commissioning of a unique modified Oscar II class submarine capable of equipping an autonomous, nuclear powered and armed unmanned underwater vehicle.
• Stealth aircraft 1981 · achieved
  F-117 first flight, 1981.
• Sukhoi Su-27 1980 · achieved
  Fighter aircraft family by Sukhoi. Sukhoi Su-27, Pugachev's Cobra maneuver.
• Strategic nuclear weapon 1979 · achieved
  Nuclear weapon designed to be used on targets as part of a strategic plan. 1979 – June 18 – General Secretary Brezhnev and President Carter sign the SALT II Agreement in Vienna agreeing to limit strategic nuclear weapons.
• UGM-96 Trident I 1979 · achieved
  Former American submarine-launched ballistic missile. 1979 – The United States begins to deploy Trident I C-4 missiles, its first SLBMs with intercontinental range, aboard its Ohio -class submarines.
• Seven Days to the River Rhine 1979 · achieved
  1979 Soviet military simulation exercise. 1979 – The Warsaw Pact conducts its Seven Days to the River Rhine military simulation emulating a retaliatory nuclear strike against NATO.
• Air-Sol Moyenne Portée 1978 · achieved
  French air-launched medium-range nuclear missile. 1978 – France begins development of the Aérospatiale Air-Sol Moyenne Portée missile.
• Boeing E-3 Sentry 1977 · achieved
  Airborne early warning aircraft family. 1977 – March – The Boeing E-3 Sentry is introduced as NATO's primary AWACS aircraft.
• Neutron bomb 1977 · achieved
  Low yield thermonuclear weapon. 1977 – Walter Pincus reports in The Washington Post that the United States is developing a neutron bomb, a warhead that causes relatively little blast damage but high casualties due to radiation, for deployment in Western Europe.
• DF-4 1975 · achieved
  Intercontinental ballistic missile. 1975 - China deploys its first intercontinental ballistic missile, the Dong-Feng 4.
• Nuclear program of Iran 1974 · achieved
  Nuclear research sites and processing facilities of Iran. 1974 – The Iranian nuclear program is commenced by Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who founds the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran.
• Azov 1973 · achieved
  1973 Project 1134B Berkut-B guided missile cruiser. First installed on Azov, a Kara-class cruiser
• Pakistan and weapons of mass destruction 1972 · achieved
  Pakistani nuclear weapons program. 1972 – Zulfikar Ali Bhutto launched Pakistan's atomic program in response to the loss of the war by making Munir Ahmad Khan as the program head.
• Precision-guided munitions 1972 · achieved
  Laser-guided bombs, Vietnam 1972.
• UGM-73 Poseidon 1971 · achieved
  Two-stage solid-fuel nuclear-armed submarine-launched ballistic missile. 1971 – March 31 – The United States deploys the UGM-73 Poseidon submarine-launched ballistic missile on James Madison -class submarines.
• Multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle 1970 · achieved
  Ballistic missile payload containing several warheads capable of independent targeting. 1993 – January 3 – The United States and Russia mutually agree to ban multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles through the START II Treaty.
• RT-21 Temp 2S 1970 · achieved
  Intercontinental ballistic missile. RT-21 Temp 2S by Alexander Nadiradze
• APS underwater rifle 1970 · achieved
  Underwater firearm. APS underwater assault rifle by Vladimir Simonov
• Swedish nuclear weapons program 1968 · achieved
  Nuclear research sites and processing facilities of Sweden. 1968 – With its ratification of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Sweden formally ends the nuclear weapons program it has run since 1945.
• B28 1968 · achieved
  Aerial unguided bomb with a thermonuclear warhead.
• Test No. 6 1967 · achieved
  Sixth Chinese nuclear test, 1967. 1967 – June 17 – China successfully tests a hydrogen bomb.
• Redoutable-class submarine 1967 · achieved
  French 1960s ballistic missile submarine class. 1967 – March 29 – The French Navy launches the Redoutable -class submarine.
• Caspian Sea Monster 1966 · achieved
  Soviet ground-effect aircraft. 1966 – Caspian Sea Monster ground effect vehicle introduced.
• Dongfeng 1966 · achieved
  Chinese intercontinental ballistic missile. 1966 - October 27 - China tests a nuclear-armed Dongfeng-2 missile, which launches from Shuangchengzi Space and Missile Center and strikes Lop Nur. It is the only time a country has tested an armed nuclear missile over populated areas.
• Nuclear Explosions for the National Economy 1965 · achieved
  Soviet program investigating peaceful use of nuclear bombs. 1965 – January – The Soviet Union detonates Chagan as part of their Nuclear Explosions for the National Economy series to study the peaceful use of nuclear explosions.
• Thermal imaging (FLIR) 1965 · achieved
  Forward-looking infrared, 1960s.
• R-17 Elbrus 1964 · achieved
  Tactical ballistic missile initially developed by the Soviet Union. 1964 – The R-17 Elbrus tactical ballistic missile enters service in the Soviet Union. The subsequent series of Scud missiles eventually becomes a major proliferation concern.
• Nuclear sharing 1963 · achieved
  Concept in NATO's policy of nuclear deterrence. 1963 – American nuclear weapons are deployed at Canadian Armed Forces bases in West Germany, through the NATO nuclear sharing program. Additional American nuclear weapons systems are deployed in Canada under U.S. control through NORAD.
• R-12 Dvina 1962 · achieved
  Soviet intercontinental ballistic missile.
• High-altitude nuclear explosion 1962 · achieved
  Nuclear detonations in the upper layers of Earth's atmosphere.
• LGM-30 Minuteman 1962 · achieved
  1961 intercontinental ballistic missile family by Boeing. 1962 – The Boeing LGM-30 Minuteman-I, the first American ICBM using liquid-propellant rocket to be able to have an immediate launch, is introduced.
• Mutual assured destruction 1962 · achieved
  Doctrine of military strategy in which a full-scale use of nuclear weapons by two or more opposing sides would cause the complete annihilation of both the attacker and the defender. 1962 – The term " mutually-assured destruction " is coined.
• Minuteman and Apollo IC demand 1962 · achieved
  Minuteman II guidance and the Apollo Guidance Computer bought most early ICs, driving costs down.
• Fallout shelter 1961 · achieved
  Enclosed space specially designed to protect occupants from radioactive debris or fallout. 1961 - President Kennedy announces that the federal government will begin the construction of fallout shelters.
• UGM-27 Polaris 1960 · achieved
  Two-stage solid-fuel nuclear-armed submarine-launched ballistic missile. 1962 – The Lockheed UGM-27 Polaris, the U.S. Navy's first submarine-launched ballistic missile, is introduced.
• Anti-aircraft warfare 1960 · achieved
  Combat operations and doctrine designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action.
• Blue Streak 1960 · achieved
  Ballistic missile. 1960 – The United Kingdom cancels the De Havilland Blue Streak medium-range ballistic missile in favor of the American-produced Douglas GAM-87 Skybolt air-launched ballistic missile, ending its attempts to produce an independent deliver…
• French nuclear deterrent 1960 · achieved
  Projects and lists of French weapons of mass destruction. 1954 – December 26 – The French nuclear weapons program is secretly established by Prime Minister Pierre Mendès France.
• Reconnaissance satellites (Corona) 1960 · achieved
  CORONA photo-recon satellite, 1960.
• Ballistic missile submarine 1959 · achieved
  Submarine able to launch ballistic missiles. 2013 – The U.S. Department of Defense reports to Congress that the PLA Navy is developing a ballistic missile submarine force.
• Project A119 1958 · achieved
  Secret plan developed in 1958 by the United States Air Force aiming to detonate a nuclear bomb on the Moon. 1958 – The U.S. Air Force drafts Project A119, a classified plan to detonate a nuclear bomb on the Moon. The plan is quickly cancelled in favor of a Moon landing.
• SM-65 Atlas 1957 · achieved
  Family of American intercontinental ballistic missiles; first operational ICBM. 1957 – December 12 – The SM-65 Atlas, the first U.S. ICBM, is launched.
• XLIM-49 Nike-Zeus 1957 · achieved
  Anti-ballistic missile system developed by the US Army in the 1950s and 1960s. 1957 – In response to the new threat of Soviet ICBMs, the U.S. Army accelerates production on the Nike Zeus missile, an anti-ballistic missile designed to intercept ICBMs in mid-air.
• Nuclear weapons delivery 1957 · achieved
  Technology and systems used to place nuclear weaponry at the point of detonation. Nuclear Missile Kurchatov / Soviet Union
• Project 183R 1957 · achieved
  1957 Soviet small missile boat class. Komar-class missile boat
• ICBM 1957 · achieved
  R-7, 1957.
• PGM-17 Thor 1956 · achieved
  First operational ballistic missile deployed by the U.S. Air Force. 1956 - First launch of PGM-17 Thor, the first US ballistic missile and forerunner of the Delta space launch rockets
• PGM-19 Jupiter 1956 · achieved
  American ballistic missile. 1956 – The nuclear-capable PGM-19 Jupiter medium-range ballistic missile is created from the Redstone rocket.
• Blue Steel 1956 · achieved
  Type of Nuclear stand-off missile. 1956 – Development on the Avro Blue Steel air-to-surface missile for the British " V-bomber " fleet begins.
• Tupolev Tu-95 1956 · achieved
  Bomber aircraft family. 1956 – The Tupolev Tu-95, the primary intercontinental strategic bomber of the Soviet Air Forces, enters service.
• V bomber 1955 · achieved
  Family of three types of British long-range strategic bomber aircraft powered by four jet engines, used by the Royal Air Force. 1969 – The United Kingdom transfers its strategic nuclear warheads to its Polaris submarines away from the aging V-bomber fleet.
• Lockheed U-2 1955 · achieved
  1955 reconnaissance aircraft family by Lockheed.
• Myasishchev M-4 Molot 1955 · achieved
  Bomber aircraft family. 1955 – The Soviet Union introduces a modified version of the Myasishchev M-4 bomber capable of striking targets in continental North America.
• PUREX 1955 · achieved
  Plutonium uranium reduction extraction. 1955 – India purchases a PUREX reactor from Canada and the United States, and constructs the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre at Trombay.
• Boeing B-52 Stratofortress 1955 · achieved
  Bomber aircraft family. 1955 – February – The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress replaces the B-36 as the U.S. Air Force's primary strategic nuclear bomber.
• Lockheed EC-121 Warning Star 1954 · achieved
  1949 early warning and control aircraft family by Lockheed. 1954 – The Lockheed EC-121 Warning Star is introduced as the United States' primary airborne early warning and control aircraft.
• English Electric Canberra 1954 · achieved
  1949 bomber aircraft family. 1954 – British English Electric Canberra bombers of the Royal Air Force are outfitted with atomic bombs.
• Nuclear submarine 1954 · achieved
  USS Nautilus, 1954.
• PGM-11 Redstone 1953 · achieved
  Short-range ballistic missile. 1953 – August 20 – The United States test-fires the PGM-11 Redstone rocket, its first ballistic missile.
• MGR-1 Honest John 1953 · achieved
  1953 short-range family by Douglas. 1953 – The first nuclear-tipped rockets are deployed by the United States. The MGR-1 Honest John is such as example.
• Nuclear weapon design 1952 · achieved
  Process by which nuclear WMDs are designed and produced. 1952 – October – The United Kingdom conducts Operation Hurricane, the first test of a British nuclear weapon. The plutonium implosion-type nuclear weapon was detonated in a lagoon between the Montebello Islands, Western Australia.
• Thermonuclear weapons 1952 · achieved
  Ivy Mike, 1952.
• KL-7 1951 · achieved
  Off-line non-reciprocal rotor encryption machine. 1951 – U.S. National Security Agency founded. KL-7 rotor machine introduced sometime thereafter.
• Atomic espionage (Rosenbergs) 1950 · achieved
  American couple executed for spying for the Soviet Union. 1950 – Klaus Fuchs and Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are arrested in the United States for leaking atomic secrets to the Soviet Union.
• R-11 Zemlya 1950 · achieved
  Soviet tactical ballistic missile. R-11 Zemlya submarine-launched ballistic missile by Victor Makeev, Project 611 ballistic missile submarine
• Inertial navigation 1950 · achieved
  Gyroscopic inertial guidance for missiles and aircraft.
• Operation Dropshot 1949 · achieved
  United States Department of Defense codename. 1949 – The U.S. Department of Defense prepares Operation Dropshot, a contingency plan for a nuclear and conventional war against the Soviet Union.
• Nuclear weapons testing 1949 · achieved
  Experiment carried out to determine the effectiveness, yield, and explosive capability of nuclear weapons. 1949 – August 29 – The Soviet Union conducts its first atomic test, RDS-1 (nicknamed Joe 1 by the Americans).
• Soviet atomic bomb project 1949 · achieved
  Soviet program to develop nuclear weapons during World War II. 1945 – August – The Soviet atomic bomb project is accelerated under a Special Commission chaired by Lavrentiy Beria. The program would be heavily reliant on espionage on the Manhattan Project, especially by Fuchs and Theodore A. Hall.
• R-1 1948 · achieved
  Ballistic missile family. 1948 – September – The Soviet Union launches its first ballistic missile, a reverse-engineered version of the V-2 rocket later renamed the R-1 rocket.
• Project Nike 1946 · achieved
  Missile program of the United States Army. 1946 - First flight of the Nike missile, later the first operational surface-to-air guided missile
• B-36 Peacemaker 1946 · achieved
  Strategic bomber. 1946 – August – The Convair B-36 Peacemaker is introduced as the first purpose-built nuclear bomber.
• Command and control 1946 · achieved
  Military exercise of authority by a commanding officer over assigned forces. 1946 – March 26 – The Strategic Air Command is established in the U.S. Army Air Forces for command and control of nuclear weapons.
• Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion 1946 · achieved
  Cold War-era US nuclear aircraft propulsion experiments. On September 17, the Aircraft Shield Test Reactor, the first reactor operated during aircraft flight, begins test flights in the Convair NB-36H.
• Operation Osoaviakhim 1945 · achieved
  Soviet secret operation. 1945 - Operation Osoaviakhim takes 2,000 German rocket scientists and technicians to the Soviet Union
• Little Boy (Hiroshima bomb) 1945 · achieved
  US nuclear bomb. 1945 – August 6 – " Little Boy ", a gun-type uranium-235 weapon, is dropped on Hiroshima, Japan.
• Nuclear explosion 1945 · achieved
  Explosion that occurs as a result of rapid release of energy from a nuclear reaction (fission or fusion). 1945 – July 16 – The first nuclear explosion, the Trinity test of an implosion-type plutonium-based nuclear weapon known as " the gadget ", near Alamogordo, New Mexico.
• Fu-Go balloon bomb 1945 · achieved
  Japanese World War II fire balloon weapon. 1945 – March 10 – A Japanese Fu-Go balloon bomb nearly knocks out electrical power to the Hanford plant.
• Afterburner 1945 · achieved
  Component on some jet engines. An afterburner equipped Jumo 004 is tested.
• Nuclear fission and the bomb 1945 · achieved
  Fission 1938; Trinity 1945.
• MW 18014 1944 · achieved
  German V-2 rocket test launch. 1944 - The V-2 rocket MW 18014 reaches an altitude of 176 km, becoming the first human-made object to reach space.
• Heinkel He 162 1944 · achieved
  Interceptor aircraft. A design competition starts in Germany to build a simple jet fighter, the Volksjäger. The contract is eventually won by the Heinkel He 162 Spatz (sparrow), to be powered by the BMW 003.
• Junkers Ju 287 1944 · achieved
  Prototype German bomber. The Junkers Ju 287 jet bomber is tested.
• Cruise missile 1944 · achieved
  V-1, 1944; Tomahawk, 1983.
• Night vision (image intensifier) 1944 · achieved
  Gen-0 infrared devices in WWII; Gen-1 Starlight scopes in Vietnam.
• V-2 ballistic missile 1944 · achieved
  Germany, 1944.
• De Havilland Vampire 1943 · achieved
  1943 fighter aircraft family; first single-engine jet in RAF service. The Goblin-powered de Havilland Vampire flies.
• Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star 1943 · achieved
  Multirole combat aircraft family. March: A license for the Goblin is taken out in the United States by Allis-Chalmers, later becoming the J36. Lockheed is awarded a contract to develop what would become the P-80 Shooting Star, powered by this engine.
• Rolls-Royce Meteor 1943 · achieved
  V tank engine. December: After meeting held at a pub, Rover agrees to hand over the jet development to Rolls-Royce, in exchange for their Rolls-Royce Meteor tank engine factory.
• V-1 1943 · achieved
  1944 cruise missile by Fieseler. The Fieseler Fi 103 V-1 pulsejet powered "flying bomb" ( cruise missile ) flies for the first time.
• P-59 Airacomet 1943 · achieved
  1942 fighter aircraft series by Bell. October: The Bell XP-59 flies, powered by a General Electric Type I-A (W.1).
• Gloster Meteor 1943 · achieved
  1943 fighter aircraft family; Britain's first jet fighter. November: Gloster Aircraft Company 's proposal for a twin-engine jet fighter is accepted, becoming the Gloster Meteor.
• Venona project 1943 · achieved
  WWII US counterintelligence project. 1946 – The Venona project 's first break into Soviet espionage traffic from the early 1940s
• Office of Strategic Services 1942 · achieved
  United States intelligence agency (1942-1945). 1942 – November - The first uranium oxide shipment leaves the Congolese port of Lobito (it will later change to Matadi because of better security). Only two shipments will ever be lost at sea.
• Heavy fighter 1942 · achieved
  Historical class of fighter aircraft; primarily used in the pre-War and WWII period. Work on the Jendrassik Cs-1 ends. Intended to power a twin-engine heavy fighter, the factory is selected to produce Daimler-Benz DB 605 engines under license for the Messerschmitt Me 210 instead.
• Messerschmitt Me 262 1942 · achieved
  German fighter aircraft. 1938: Messerschmitt starts the preliminary design of a twin-engine jet fighter under the direction of Waldemar Voight. This work developed into the Messerschmitt Me 262.
• Breaking Japanese naval codes (JN-25) 1942 · achieved
  Ciphers used by the Imperial Japanese Navy in World War II. June 1942 – Battle of Midway where U.S. partial break into Dec 41 edition of JN-25 leads to turning-point victory over Japan
• A-40 Krylya Tanka 1942 · achieved
  Soviet winged tank prototype. Antonov A-40 by Oleg Antonov
• Tube Alloys 1941 · achieved
  Military R&D program codename. 1942 – The United Kingdom opts to support the United States' efforts to build a bomb rather than to pursue its own nuclear weapons program due to wartime economic damage, and allows the Tube Alloys programme to be subsumed into the Ameri…
• Operation Barbarossa 1941 · achieved
  Invasion of the Soviet Union by the Nazi German-led Axis powers in Europe. 1941 – June 22 – Operation Barbarossa, the 1941 German invasion of the Soviet Union, begins. Soviet nuclear research is subsequently delayed.
• Katyusha 1941 · achieved
  Soviet/Russian multiple launch rocket system. Katyusha rocket launcher
• MAUD Committee 1940 · achieved
  British nuclear weapons research group, 1940-1941. 1940 – April – The MAUD Committee (Military Application of Uranium Detonation) is established by Henry Tizard and the British Ministry of Aircraft Production to investigate feasibility of an atomic bomb.
• Calutron 1940 · achieved
  Mass spectrometer used to separate U-235 from U-238. On November 13, Alpha-I, the first calutron track, begins uranium enrichment operation at the Y-12 facility, the first electromagnetic separation plant.
• Junkers Jumo 004 1940 · achieved
  Turbojet aircraft engine. November: The Junkers Jumo 004 axial-flow engine is tested.
• Cavity magnetron 1940 · achieved
  Device for generating microwaves. 1940: John Randall and Harry Boot would develop the high power, microwave generating, cavity magnetron, later applied to commercial Radar and Microwave oven appliances.
• Breaking the Purple cipher 1940 · achieved
  Japanese diplomatic code named Purple by the US. 1940 – Break of Japan's PURPLE machine cipher by SIS team
• Selective fire 1940 · achieved
  Ability of a firearm to fire in different modes as chosen by the operator. The AK-47 (other names include Avtomat Kalashnikova, Kalashnikov, or AK ) is a selective fire, gas operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov.
• Microwave crystal detectors (WWII radar) 1940 · achieved
  Purified silicon and germanium diodes for radar.
• World War II 1939 · achieved
  Wartime programmes scaled radar, jet engines, rockets, nuclear fission, electronic computing and penicillin mass production; an estimated 70–85 million people died.
• Vickers Wellington 1936 · achieved
  Twin-enginded medium bomber family, 1936. Frank Whittle 's W.2B/700 engine is tested, fitted to a Vickers Wellington Mk II bomber.
• Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress 1935 · achieved
  1935 bomber aircraft family by Boeing. On March 15, 612 Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomb the Auergesellschaft plant of the Nazi German nuclear program, in Oranienburg.
• Radar 1935 · achieved
  Watson-Watt, 1935; cavity magnetron 1940.
• Breaking Enigma (Rejewski) 1932~ · achieved
  German cipher machine. c. 1932 – first break of German Army Enigma by Marian Rejewski in Poland
• Aircraft carrier 1918 · achieved
  HMS Argus, 1918.
• Zimmermann telegram 1917 · achieved
  1917 World War I telegram from Germany to Mexico proposing an alliance. 1917 – Zimmermann telegram intercepted and decrypted, advancing U.S. entry into World War I
• Proximity fuze 1917 · achieved
  Fuze that detonates an explosive device. A magnetic proximity fuze is a type of proximity fuze that initiates a detonator in a piece of ordnance such as a land mine, naval mine, depth charge, or shell when the fuse's magnetic equilibrium is upset by a magnetic object such as a…
• Le Prieur rocket 1916 · achieved
  French WWI air-to-air rocket. 1916 - first use of rockets (with the solid fuel Le Prieur rocket ) for both air-to-air attacks, and air-to-ground.
• Tank 1916 · achieved
  Somme, 1916.
• Sonar 1915 · achieved
  Langevin's ultrasonic submarine detection, 1915–18.
• Chemical weapons 1915 · achieved
  Chlorine gas at Ypres, 1915.
• World War I 1914 · achieved
  Industrial total war: tanks, military aviation, chemical weapons and mass mobilisation; millions dead and empires broken.
• Military aviation 1914 · achieved
  WWI fighters and bombers.
• Bomber 1913 · achieved
  Airplane intended to attack ground targets using aerial bombs. Aviation Thermobaric Bomb of Increased Power, nicknamed " Father of All Bombs ", is a Russian -made air-delivered/land activated thermobaric weapon, the most powerful conventional (non- nuclear ) weapon in the world.
• Unguided bomb 1911 · achieved
  Aerial bomb without guidance, designed for ballistic delivery. Guidance and gliding kit to convert unguided bombs into precision-guided glide-bombs.
• Browning Auto-5 1900 · achieved
  Type of semi-automatic shotgun. A semi-automatic, or self-loading shot gun is a firearm that requires only a trigger pull for each round that is fired, unlike a single-action revolver, a pump-action firearm, a bolt-action firearm, or a lever-action firearm, which all r…
• Cordite 1889 · achieved
  Family of smokeless propellants. 1924 – Writing for The Pall Mall Gazette, Winston Churchill speculates "Might a bomb no bigger than an orange be found to possess a secret power to destroy a whole block of buildings – nay to concentrate the force of a thousand tons of…
• Poudre B 1884 · achieved
  First practical smokeless gunpowder. 1884: Paul Vieille invents Poudre B, the first smokeless powder for firearms.
• Recoil operation 1884 · achieved
  Type of firearm action. 1884: Hiram Maxim invents the recoil-operated Maxim gun, ushering in the age of semi- and fully automatic firearms.
• Smokeless powder 1884 · achieved
  Poudre B, 1884.
• Machine gun 1884 · achieved
  Maxim gun, 1884.
• Russian cruiser General-Admiral 1873 · achieved
  1873 General-Admiral-class cruiser. General-Admiral by Andrei Alexandrovich Popov
• Gatling gun 1861 · achieved
  1860s multi-barrel rapid-fire gun of Richard Gatling, or its 1880s-1890s variants. The machine gun is typically considered to be a fully automatic firearm, usually designed to fire rifle cartridges in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine.
• Repeating rifle 1849 · achieved
  Rifle capable of repeated discharges from a single barrel between ammunition reloads. 1849: Walter Hunt invents the first repeating rifle to use metallic cartridges (of his own design) and a spring-fed magazine.
• Bolt action 1824 · achieved
  Type of firearm action. 1824: Johann Nikolaus von Dreyse invents the bolt-action rifle.
• Calibre 1812 · achieved
  Internal diameter of the barrel of a gun. The Columbiad was a large caliber, smoothbore, muzzle loading cannon able to fire heavy projectiles at both high and low trajectories.
• Congreve rocket 1801 · achieved
  Type of artillery missile. 1801 - The British Army develops the Congreve rocket based on weapons used against them by Tipu Sultan.
• French Aerostatic Corps 1794 · achieved
  French air reconnaissance unit in Napoleonic War. 26 June 1794 – The French Aerostatic Corps used a tethered balloon at the Battle of Fleurus as a vantage point.
• Mysorean rockets 1780 · achieved
  Iron-cased rockets used against the British, which inspired the Congreve rocket.
• Turtle 1776 · achieved
  First combat submersible; United States, 1775. 1776 – First submarine to be propelled by screws, and the first military submarine to attempt an attack on a ship, Turtle, is built by David Bushnell. The attack fails to sink HMS Eagle.
• Submarine 1620 · achieved
  Watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. 1620 – Cornelius Drebbel builds the world's first known submarine, which is propelled by oars (although there are earlier ideas for and depictions of submarines).
• Flintlock 1610 · achieved
  Firearm with flint-striking ignition. 1630: first use of the flintlock
• Turtle ship 1592 · achieved
  Armored warship of Yi Sun-sin.
• Multiple-barrel firearm 1582 · achieved
  Class of firearm with more than one barrel. Multi-barrel matchlock volley gun: Fathullah Shirazi (c. 1582), a Persian polymath and mechanical engineer who worked for Akbar, developed an early multi-shot gun.
• Military uniform 1550~ · achieved
  Standardised dress worn by members of the armed forces and paramilitaries of various nations. First known standard military uniform worn by Russian regular army, elite armed forces known as Streltsy.
• Rifling 1540 · achieved
  Helical groovings in the internal (bore) surface of a firearm barrel. 1540: Rifling is first used in firearms, after being invented in 1498
• Matchlock 1526 · achieved
  Firearm mechanism. Matchlock volley fire: Volley fire with matchlocks was first implemented in 1526 when the Ottoman Janissaries utilized it during the Battle of Mohács.
• Musket and gunpowder empires 1520 · achieved
  Arquebus and musket reshape infantry.
• Arquebus 1450 · achieved
  Long gun of the 15th century. Mid 15th century: The Arquebus (also spelled Harquebus) is invented, possibly in Spain.
• Naval artillery 1378 · achieved
  Artillery intended primarily for mounting aboard watercraft. Naval artillery
• Naval mine 1350~ · achieved
  Explosive weapon for use in seas and waterways, triggered by the target's approach. 14th century: Naval mine in Ming dynasty Mentioned in the Huolongjing military manuscript written by Jiao Yu (fl.
• Handgun 1350~ · achieved
  Short-barreled firearm designed to be operated with one hand. Hand gun: An early depiction of a hand gun is a sculpture from a cave in Sichuan, dating from 1128, that portrays a figure carrying a vase-shaped bombard, firing flames and a cannonball.
• Fragmentation 1350~ · achieved
  Process by which the casing of a projectile is shattered. Fragmentation bomb: The use of fragmentation in bombs dates from the 14th century, and first appears in the Ming dynasty text Huolongjing. The fragmentation bombs were filled with iron pellets and pieces of broken porcelain.
• Cannon 1326 · achieved
  First European depiction, 1326.
• Firearm 1288 · achieved
  Personal weapon using combustion or an explosive charge to propel a projectile. Firearm kneeling position : At the Battle of Mohács in 1526, the Janissaries equipped with 2000 tüfenks (usually translated as musket) "formed nine consecutive rows and they fired their weapons row by row," in a "kneeling or standing pos…
• Land mine 1277 · achieved
  Explosive weapon, concealed under or on the ground.
• Flare 1276 · achieved
  Pyrotechnic device that produces intense light or heat without an explosion. Flare: The earliest recorded use of gunpowder for signalling purposes was the signal bomb used by the Song dynasty Chinese as the Mongol -led Yuan dynasty besieged Yangzhou in 1276.
• Hand cannon 1250 · achieved
  Earliest form of firearm used in 13th century China, 14th century Europe. Hand cannon: The bronze Yuan dynasty gun from Heilongjiang, which dates from about 1288, is a little over 0.3 m (0.98 ft) long and weighs 3.6 kg (7.9 lb).
• Gunpowder rocket arrows 1232 · achieved
  Used at the siege of Kaifeng in 1232.
• Rocket launcher 1050~ · achieved
  Device for launching rockets. Rocket launcher: The earliest rocket launchers documented in imperial China launched fire arrows with launchers constructed of wood, basketry, and bamboo tubes.
• Hand grenade 1044 · achieved
  Small explosive weapon that can be thrown by hand. Hand grenade, explosive: Before explosive grenades, incendiary grenades were used by the Eastern Roman Empire, incorporating Greek fire.
• Fire lance 950 · achieved
  The first gunpowder weapon, 10th century.
• Fire arrow 850~ · achieved
  Chinese gunpowder projectile. Fire arrow: One of the earliest weaponized forms of gunpowder was the fire arrow which received its name from the translated Chinese term huǒjiàn (火箭), which literally means fire arrow.
• Scimitar 850~ · achieved
  Backsword or sabre with a curved blade. Scimitar: The curved sword or "scimitar" was widespread throughout the Middle East from at least the Ottoman period, with early examples dating to Abbasid era (9th century) Khurasan.
• Gunpowder 850 · achieved
  Chinese alchemists, ~9th century.
• Incendiary device 672 · achieved
  Bomb designed to start fires. 672: Greek fire in Constantinople, Byzantine Empire: Greek fire, an incendiary weapon likely based on petroleum or naphtha, is invented by Kallinikos, a Lebanese Greek refugee from Baalbek, as described by Theophanes.
• Flamethrower 650~ · achieved
  Mechanical incendiary device designed to project a long controllable stream of fire.
• Stirrup 400 · achieved
  Spread from China/Central Asia, 4th–5th century.
• Trebuchet 350 BCE~ · achieved
  Type of siege engine weapon which uses a swinging arm to throw a heavy missile at the enemy. 4th century BC: Traction trebuchet in Ancient China.
• Siege engines and catapult 399 BCE · achieved
  Catapult invented at Syracuse, 399 BC.
• Crossbow 500 BCE · achieved
  Mechanical crossbows widespread in Warring States China.
• Phalanx and professional armies 650 BCE~ · achieved
  Massed heavy infantry.
• Siege tower 850 BCE~ · achieved
  Usually multi-storey wooden structures on wheels or castors, designed to scale enemy fortified walls. The battery-tower is a late type of siege tower, carrying artillery inside it, a development of the gulyay-gorod concept.
• War chariot 2,000 BCE~ · achieved
  Spoked-wheel chariots, Sintashta culture, ~2000 BC.
• Sword 3,300 BCE~ · achieved
  Bladed weapon longer than a knife or dagger. 3300 BC: The first documented swords. They have been found in Arslantepe, Turkey, are made from arsenical bronze, and are about 60 cm (24 in) long. Some of them are inlaid with silver.
• Copper maces and daggers 4,000 BCE~ · achieved
  Cast copper mace heads (Nahal Mishmar hoard, c. 4000 BC) and arsenical-copper daggers spread across the Near East and Europe.
• Walls and tower of Jericho 8,000 BCE~ · achieved
  Stone wall and 8.5 m tower built around Pre-Pottery Neolithic Jericho, c. 8000 BC. Claimed: defensive purpose is debated (flood wall or communal monument).
• Nataruk massacre 8,000 BCE~ · achieved
  Remains of at least 27 people killed by projectiles and blows at Nataruk near Lake Turkana, Kenya, c. 10,000 years ago. Claimed: the massacre interpretation is disputed.
• Returning boomerang 10,000 BCE~ · achieved
  Aboriginal Australian returning throwing sticks.
• Jebel Sahaba cemetery 11,500 BCE~ · achieved
  Cemetery in Sudanese Nubia, c. 13,400 years ago, where many of the 61 individuals bear arrow and blade wounds, many healed, implying repeated violent clashes.
• Bow and arrow 64,000 BCE~ · achieved
  Arrow points from Sibudu Cave, ~64 kya.
• Schöningen spears 300,000 BCE~ · achieved
  Nine or more carefully shaped wooden throwing and thrusting spears found with butchered horses at Schöningen, Germany, c. 300,000 BC (recent redating suggests c. 200,000 BC).
• Hafted spear 500,000 BCE~ · achieved
  Stone points hafted to wooden shafts, ~500 kya (Kathu Pan).