Weapon Documentaries: Lock N' Load

Lock n' Load with R. Lee Ermey is a television program on History that discussed the development of military weaponry throughout the centuries. It was hosted by R. Lee Ermey. In a typical episode, Ermey focused on one specific type of weapon or weapon system, presenting key advancements in its technology and demonstrating their use with the help of experts. In a holdover from his duties hosting Mail Call on the History Channel, he frequently added humor in the form of light-hearted drill instructor haranguing aimed at the viewer. He also displayed an eagerness to try out the episode's relevant weapons against a wide range of targets, particularly watermelons ("they taste better after being shot with a machine gun"), as well as glass bottles.

The 13-episode series has been rerun semi-regularly since, with reruns currently airing on History 2. The pilot episode was produced by Simon J. Heath and edited by Simon Day (the lead singer of Australian punk band 'RatCat').

A distinction needs to be made between the destruction of houses as an incidental effect of military necessity, the wanton destruction of houses during a military advance, and the deliberate targeting of houses during a military occupation. In the former case, it is commonplace for civilian homes to be used by armed forces as places of shelter or as firing positions. As a result, civilian dwellings become a legitimate military target and property damage is often inevitable as forces seek to expel their opponents from buildings. This can result in the destruction of houses on a massive scale as a side-effect of urban warfare. Following World War II, for instance, the United States occupation authorities in Germany found that 81 percent of all houses in the American Zone had been destroyed or damaged in the fighting.[2]

The question of under what circumstances the destruction of civilian dwellings becomes a legitimate military tactic remains controversial, and recent international conventions have agreed that civilian houses, dwellings, and installations shall not be made the object of attack, except if they are used mainly in support of the military effort.[3]

However, there are also many non-combat situations in which house demolition has been used. It has served a variety of purposes, depending on the nature and context of the conflict.

Lock n' Load with R. Lee Ermey is a television program on History that discussed the development of military weaponry throughout the centuries. It was hosted by R. Lee Ermey. In a typical episode, Ermey focused on one specific type of weapon or weapon system, presenting key advancements in its technology and demonstrating their use with the help of experts. In a holdover from his duties hosting Mail Call on the History Channel, he frequently added humor in the form of light-hearted drill instructor haranguing aimed at the viewer. He also displayed an eagerness to try out the episode's relevant weapons against a wide range of targets, particularly watermelons ("they taste better after being shot with a machine gun"), as well as glass bottles.

The 13-episode series has been rerun semi-regularly since, with reruns currently airing on History 2. The pilot episode was produced by Simon J. Heath and edited by Simon Day (the lead singer of Australian punk band 'RatCat').

A shotgun (also known as a scattergun and peppergun,[1] or historically as a fowling piece) is a firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called shot, or a solid projectile called a slug. Shotguns come in a wide variety of sizes, ranging from 5.5 mm (.22 inch) bore up to 5 cm (2.0 in) bore, and in a range of firearm operating mechanisms, including breech loading, single-barreled, double or combination gun, pump-action, bolt-, and lever-action, semi-automatic, and even fully automatic variants.

A shotgun is generally a smoothbore firearm, which means that the inside of the barrel is not rifled. Preceding smoothbore firearms, such as the musket, were widely used by armies in the 18th century. The direct ancestor to the shotgun, the blunderbuss, was also used in a similar variety of roles from self defence to riot control. It was often used by cavalry troops due to its generally shorter length and ease of use, as well as by coachmen for its substantial power. However, in the 19th century, these weapons were largely replaced on the battlefield with breechloading rifled firearms, which were more accurate over longer ranges. The military value of shotguns was rediscovered in the First World War, when American forces used 12-gauge pump action shotguns in close-quarters trench fighting to great effect. Since then, it has been used in a variety of roles in civilian, law enforcement, and military applications.

The shot pellets from a shotgun spread upon leaving the barrel, and the power of the burning charge is divided among the pellets, which means that the energy of any one ball of shot is fairly low. In a hunting context, this makes shotguns useful primarily for hunting birds and other small game. However, in a military or law enforcement context, the large number of projectiles makes the shotgun useful as a close quarters combat weapon or a defensive weapon. Shotguns are also used for target shooting sports such as skeet, trap, and sporting clays. These involve shooting clay disks, known as clay pigeons, thrown in various ways.

Lock n' Load with R. Lee Ermey is a television program on History that discussed the development of military weaponry throughout the centuries. It was hosted by R. Lee Ermey. In a typical episode, Ermey focused on one specific type of weapon or weapon system, presenting key advancements in its technology and demonstrating their use with the help of experts. In a holdover from his duties hosting Mail Call on the History Channel, he frequently added humor in the form of light-hearted drill instructor haranguing aimed at the viewer. He also displayed an eagerness to try out the episode's relevant weapons against a wide range of targets, particularly watermelons ("they taste better after being shot with a machine gun"), as well as glass bottles.

The 13-episode series has been rerun semi-regularly since, with reruns currently airing on History 2. The pilot episode was produced by Simon J. Heath and edited by Simon Day (the lead singer of Australian punk band 'RatCat').

A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle that obtains thrust from a rocket engine. Rocket engine exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use.[1] Rocket engines work by action and reaction. Rocket engines push rockets forward simply by throwing their exhaust backwards extremely fast.

While comparatively inefficient for low speed use, rockets are relatively lightweight and powerful, capable of generating large accelerations and of attaining extremely high speeds with reasonable efficiency. Rockets are not reliant on the atmosphere and work very well in space.

Rockets for military and recreational uses date back to at least 13th century China.[2] Significant scientific, interplanetary and industrial use did not occur until the 20th century, when rocketry was the enabling technology of the Space Age, including setting foot on the moon. Rockets are now used for fireworks, weaponry, ejection seats, launch vehicles for artificial satellites, human spaceflight, and space exploration.

Chemical rockets are the most common type of rocket[citation needed] and they typically create their exhaust by the combustion of rocket propellant. Chemical rockets store a large amount of energy in an easily released form, and can be very dangerous. However, careful design, testing, construction and use minimizes risks.

Lock n' Load with R. Lee Ermey is a television program on History that discussed the development of military weaponry throughout the centuries. It was hosted by R. Lee Ermey. In a typical episode, Ermey focused on one specific type of weapon or weapon system, presenting key advancements in its technology and demonstrating their use with the help of experts. In a holdover from his duties hosting Mail Call on the History Channel, he frequently added humor in the form of light-hearted drill instructor haranguing aimed at the viewer. He also displayed an eagerness to try out the episode's relevant weapons against a wide range of targets, particularly watermelons ("they taste better after being shot with a machine gun"), as well as glass bottles.

The 13-episode series has been rerun semi-regularly since, with reruns currently airing on History 2. The pilot episode was produced by Simon J. Heath and edited by Simon Day (the lead singer of Australian punk band 'RatCat').

An armoured personnel carrier (APC) is an armoured fighting vehicle designed to transport infantry to the battlefield. APCs are sometimes known to troops as 'battle taxis' or 'battle buses'.

The Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe defines Armoured personnel carriers as "an armoured combat vehicle which is designed and equipped to transport a combat infantry squad and which, as a rule, is armed with an integral or organic weapon of less than 20 millimeters calibre."

APCs are usually armed with only a machine gun. They are usually not designed to take part in a direct-fire battle, but to carry troops to the battlefield safe from shrapnel and ambush. They may have wheels or tracks. Examples include the American M113 (tracked), the French VAB (wheeled), the Dutch/German GTK Boxer (wheeled) and the Soviet BTR (wheeled). The infantry fighting vehicle is a further development of the armoured personnel carrier. In addition to the task of carrying infantry to battle safely they are more heavily armed and armoured and are designed for direct combat.