This is a list of
established military terms which have been in use for at least 50 years. Technology has changed so not all of them are in current use, or they may have been superseded by more modern ones. However they are still in current use in articles about previous military periods. Some of them like
Camouflet have been adapted to describe modern versions of old techniques.
Judicial
- safeguard
In the technical language of the World Trade Organization system, a safeguard is used to restrain international trade in order to protect a certain home industry from foreign competition...
- "Safeguard. A safeguard is a detachment, guard, or detail posted by a commander for the protection of persons, places, or property of the enemy, or of a neutral affected by the relationship of belligerent forces in their prosecution of war or during circumstances amounting to a state of belligerency. The term also includes a written order left by a commander with an enemy subject or posted upon enemy property for the protection of that person or property. A safeguard is not a device adopted by a belligerent to protect its own property or nationals or to ensure order within its own forces, even if those forces are in a theater of combat operations, and the posting of guards or of off-limits signs does not establish a safeguard unless a commander takes those actions to protect enemy or neutral persons or property. The effect of a safeguard is to pledge the honor of the nation that the person or property shall be respected by the national armed forces."
- forcing a safe-guard (1770-1785 period) -
Safe-guard, in military affairs, a protection granted by a prince or
general, for some of the enemy's lands, houses, persons, &c. to preserve them from being insulted or plundered.
- safe-guards were individual soldiers or detachments placed to prevent places (often farms full of tasty crops and livestock) from being plundered. Forcing a safe-guard was the crime of overpowering a safe-guard. Safe-guards were often individual soldiers assigned to watch over an entire farm, so it only took a few marauders to "force" him.
- forcing a safeguard (current) - Forcing a safeguard. “Forcing a safeguard” means to perform an act or acts in violation of the protection of the safeguard.
Administrative
Describes terms that are used to administer military forces.
- Cantonment
A cantonment is a temporary or semi-permanent military quarters. The word cantonment is derived from the French word canton meaning corner or district. In Southern Asia, the term cantonment also describes permanent military stations. Cantonments can be found in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, South...
, a temporary or semi-permanent military quarters. In the Southern Asia the term cantonment also describes permanent military stations.
- Logistics
Military logistics is the art and science of planning and carrying out the movement and maintenance of military forces. In its most comprehensive sense, it is those aspects or military operations that deal with:...
- Materiel
Materiel is a term used in English to refer to the equipment and supplies in military and commercial supply chain management....
(also Matériel)
- Military Supply Chain Management
Military supply chain management is a cross-functional approach to procuring, producing and delivering products and services. The broad management scope includes sub-suppliers, suppliers, internal information and funds flow.-Supply:...
- Staging area
A staging area is a location where organisms, people, vehicles, equipment or material are assembled prior to their use.- In construction :A staging area is a designated area where vehicles, supplies, and construction equipment are positioned for access and use to a construction site.- In ecology...
Technological
Describe terms used in military technology fields, but are not specific to conflicts in any one environment.
Land
Describe terms used either exclusively or predominantly in land warfare.
- No man's land
No man's land is a term for land that is not occupied or more specifically land that is under dispute between countries or areas that will not occupy it because of fear or uncertainty...
is a term for land that is not occupied or more specifically land that is under dispute between countries or areas that will not occupy it because of fear or uncertainty.
Arms and Services
Describe terms used for combat Arms and supporting Services of armed forces used in land warfare.
- Artillery
Artillery is a military combat Arm that employs weapons capable of discharging large projectiles in combat. They are generally capable of adding considerable fire power to the military capability of an armed force...
refers to any engine used for the discharge of large projectiles in war. In military terminology, a unit of artillery is
- Artillery battery
In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit of guns, mortars, rockets or missiles so grouped in order to facilitate better battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion for its constituent gunnery crews and their systems...
, an organized group of artillery pieces.
- Also see below Artillery
Doctrinal
Describes terms used for talking about how armed forces are used.
Many of the terms below can be applied to combat in other environments although most often used in reference to land warfare.
- Ambush
An ambush is a long-established military tactic, in which the aggressors use concealment to attack a passing enemy. Ambushers strike from concealed positions, such as among dense underbrush or behind hilltops. Ambushes have been used consistently throughout history, from ancient to modern warfare...
To make a surprise attack on an enemy that passes a concealed position.
- Barrage (artillery)
A barrage is a line or barrier of exploding artillery shells, created by the co-ordinated aiming of a large number of guns firing continuously. Its purpose is to deny or hamper enemy passage through the line of the barrage, to attack a linear position such as a line of trenches or to neutralize...
is a line or barrier of exploding artillery shells, created by the co-ordinated targeting of a large number of guns firing continuously.
- Blockade
A blockade is an effort to cut off the communications of a particular area by force. It is distinct from a siege in that a blockade is usually directed at an entire country or region, rather than a fortress or city. Also, a blockade historically took place at sea, with the blockading power seeking...
- Booby traps
- Breach (military) in fortified lines or a battle line.
- Breakout (military)
A breakout is a military operation to end a situation of encirclement or siege. It is used in contexts such as: "The British breakout attempt from Normandy"....
- Bridgehead
A bridgehead is a military fortification that protects the end of a bridge that is closest to the enemy...
and its varieties known as BeachheadBeachhead is a military term used to describe the line created when a unit reaches a beach, and begins to defend that area of beach, while other reinforcements help out, until a unit large enough to begin advancing has arrived. Sometimes used interchangeably with Bridgehead and Lodgement...
and AirheadAn airhead is a designated area in a hostile or threatened territory which, when seized and held, allows the air landing of further troops and matériel via an airbridge, and provides the maneuver and preparation space necessary for projected operations. Normally it is the area seized in the assault...
- Charge (warfare)
A charge is a maneuver in battle in which soldiers advance towards their enemy at their best speed to engage in close combat. The charge is the dominant shock attack and has been the key tactic and decisive moment of most battles in history...
- Column (formation)
A military column is a formation of that can be applied to individual soldiers marching together in one or more files in which the file is significantly longer than the width of ranks in the formation. It is also applied to vehicles and naval vessels so positioned for tactical reasons, or during...
- Counter attack
- Counter battery fire
- Coup de grâce
The expression coup de grâce means a death blow intended to end the suffering of a wounded creature. The phrase can refer to killing civilians or soldiers, friends or enemies and with or without the consent of the sufferer...
a death blow intended to end the suffering of a wounded man; also applied to ships (though more commonly called scuttlingScuttling is the act of deliberately sinking a ship by allowing water to flow into the hull. This can be achieved in several ways – valves or hatches can be opened to the sea, or holes may be ripped into the hull with brute force or with explosives...
in that connection)
- Coup de Main
A coup de main is a swift attack that relies on speed and surprise to accomplish its objectives in a single blow. The United States Department of Defense defines it as:The literal translation from French means a stroke or blow of the hand...
, a swift pre-emptive strike.
- Echelon formation
An echelon formation is a military formation in which members are arranged diagonally. Each member is stationed behind and to the right , or behind and to the left , of the member ahead...
a military formation in which members are arranged diagonally
- Defilade
Enfilade and defilade are concepts in military tactics used to describe a military formation's exposure to enemy fire. In addition, enfilade fire is used to describe gunfire directed against an "enfiladed" formation or position...
A unit or position is "defiladed" if it is protected from direct exposure to enemy fire. See also Hull-downThe term hull-down describes the situation where the upper part of a vessel or vehicle is visible, but the main, lower body is not; the opposite term hull-up describes the situation where all of the body is visible....
- Encirclement
Encirclement is a military term for the situation when a force or target is isolated and surrounded by enemy forces.This situation is highly dangerous for the encircled force: at the strategic level, because it cannot receive supplies or reinforcements, and on the tactical level, because the units...
- Enfilade
Enfilade and defilade are concepts in military tactics used to describe a military formation's exposure to enemy fire. In addition, enfilade fire is used to describe gunfire directed against an "enfiladed" formation or position...
A unit (or position) is "in enfilade" if enemy fire can be directed along the long axis of the unit. For instance, a trench is enfiladed if the enemy can fire down the length of the trench. Also, to place a unit in a position to enfilade, or the position so enfiladed.
- Extraction point
- Envelope
- Fabian strategy
The Fabian strategy is a military strategy where pitched battles are avoided in favor of wearing down an opponent through a war of attrition. While avoiding decisive battles, the side employing this strategy harasses its enemy to cause attrition and loss of morale...
, avoiding pitched battleA pitched battle is a battle where both sides choose to fight at a chosen location and time and where either side has the option to disengage either before the battle starts, or shortly after the first armed exchanges....
s to wear down the enemy in a war of attritionAttrition warfare is a military strategy in which a belligerent attempts to win a war by wearing down its enemy to the point of collapse through continuous losses in personnel and matériel....
- File (formation)
A file is a military term for a number of troops drawn up in line ahead, i.e. one behind the other in a column. The number of files is the measure of the width of a formation of troops in several ranks one behind the other. A file is also small group of troops, usually two, detached for a specific...
single column of soldiers
- Flank
Flank may refer to:* Flank, the side of either a horse or a military unit*Flanking maneuver in military tactics* Flank , the waveform edge formed when a signal goes high or low...
, to attack an enemy or an enemy unit from the side, or to maneuverManeuver, manoeuvre may be a synonym for strategy or tactic or:- Military or naval movement :* Military maneuver, aka Military exercise* Maneuver warfare...
to do so.
- Frontal assault
The military tactic of frontal assault is a direct, hostile movement of forces toward the front of an enemy force . By targeting the enemy's front, the attackers are subjecting themselves to the maximum defensive power of the enemy...
- Guerilla tactics attack the enemy, then retreat, hit-and-run
- Hors de combat
Hors de Combat, literally meaning "outside the fight," is a French term used in diplomacy and international law to refer to soldiers who are incapable of performing their military function. Examples include a downed fighter pilot, as well as the sick, wounded, detained, or otherwise disabled...
, out of the fight, surrendered, wounded, and so on.
- Killing field
A killing field, in military science, is an area in front of a defensive position that the enemy must cross during an assault and is specifically intended to allow the defending troops to incapacitate a large number of the enemy. Defensive emplacements such as anti-tank obstacles, barbed wire and...
- Lodgement
A lodgement is often an amount lodged to a bank account or "paid in" to a bank account via a "lodgement slip" or "paying in" slip. This should sensibly be the expression used globally in the english speaking world, however currently it is limited to Ireland and few other areas, although it is...
, an enclave made by increasing the size of a bridgehead
- Infantry square
An infantry square is a combat formation an infantry unit formed in close order assumes when threatened with cavalry attack.-Very early history:...
, Pike squareThe pike square was a military tactic developed by the Swiss Confederacy during the 15th century for use by its infantry.- History :...
, or SchiltronA schiltron is a group of soldiers wielding outward-pointing pikes or other polearms, to ward off cavalry attacks...
- Infiltration
In warfare, infiltration tactics involve small, lightly-equipped infantry forces attacking enemy rear areas while bypassing enemy front line strongpoints and isolating them for attack by follow-up troops with heavier weapons....
- Interdiction
The purpose of interdiction is to delay, disrupt, or destroy enemy forces or supplies en route to the battle area. A distinction is often made between strategic and tactical interdiction. The former refers to operations whose effects are broad and long-term; tactical operations are designed to...
, to attack and interrupt enemy supply lines.
- Melee
Melee generally refers to disorganized close combat involving a group of fighters. A melee ensues when groups become locked together in combat with no regard to group tactics or fighting as an organized unit; each participant fights as an individual.-Origin of the term:The French term is the...
(also Mêlée)
- No quarter
A victor gives no quarter when the victor shows no clemency or mercy and refuses to spare the life in return for the surrender at discretion of a vanquished opponent.- Details :...
, or "Take no prisoners," or "no mercy," or "kill them all": all enemy troops are to be killed, even those who surrender. It is now a war crime to give such an order.
- Overwatch
In modern warfare, overwatch is the state of one small unit or military vehicle supporting another unit, while they are executing fire and movement tactics. An overwatching, or supporting unit has taken a position where it can observe the terrain ahead, especially likely enemy positions. This...
when one small unit can support another.
- Patrolling
Patrolling is a military tactic. Small groups or individual units are deployed from a larger formation to achieve a specific objective and then return. The tactic of patrolling may be applied to ground troops, armoured units, naval units, and combat aircraft...
- Parthian shot
The Parthian shot was a military tactic made famous by the Parthians, ancient Iranian people. The Parthian archers, mounted on light horse, would feign retreat; then, while at a full gallop, turn their bodies back to shoot at the pursuing enemy. The maneuver required superb equestrian skills,...
- Pickets, sentries or advance troops whose job is to warn of contact with the enemy. A soldier who has this job is on "picket duty".
- Pincer maneuver
- Pitched battle
A pitched battle is a battle where both sides choose to fight at a chosen location and time and where either side has the option to disengage either before the battle starts, or shortly after the first armed exchanges....
- Phalanx
The phalanx is a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar weapons...
- Pocket
In military terms, a salient is a battlefield feature that projects into enemy territory. Therefore, the salient is surrounded by the enemy on three sides, making the troops occupying the salient vulnerable. The enemy's line facing a salient is referred to as a re-entrant...
- Pyrrhic Victory
A Pyrrhic victory is a victory with devastating cost to the victor.-Origin:The phrase is named after King Pyrrhus of Epirus, whose army suffered irreplaceable casualties in defeating the Romans at Heraclea in 280 BC and Asculum in 279 BC during the Pyrrhic War...
- Raiding
A raid is a military tactic or operational warfare mission which requires the execution of a plan where surprise is the principal desired outcome of the attack....
- Rank (formation)
A Rank is a line of military personnel, drawn up in line abreast .Commonly, troops called to 'On the right, fall in!' do so by forming in line abreast, determining their initial position in relation to a marker. This may be a position on the ground or a single person placed previously to the movement...
single line of soldiers
- Reconnaissance
Reconnaissance is a military and medical term denoting exploration conducted to gain information. Militarily, its shorthand Canadian and British form is recce , its American usage form is recon...
- Retreat (military)
- Rout
A rout is commonly defined as a chaotic and disorderly retreat or withdrawal of troops from a battlefield, resulting in the victory of the opposing party, or following defeat, a collapse of discipline, or poor morale....
- Sack
Looting , to rob, sacking, plundering, despoiling, or pillaging is the indiscriminate taking of goods by force as part of a military or political victory, or during a catastrophe or riot, such as during war, natural disaster, or rioting...
The deliberate destruction and/or looting of a city usually after an assault.
- Salients
In military terms, a salient is a battlefield feature that projects into enemy territory. Therefore, the salient is surrounded by the enemy on three sides, making the troops occupying the salient vulnerable. The enemy's line facing a salient is referred to as a re-entrant...
The enemy's line facing a salient is referred to as a re-entrant.
- Scorched earth
A scorched earth policy is a military strategy or operational method which involves destroying anything that might be useful to the enemy while advancing through or withdrawing from an area...
- Scuttling
Scuttling is the act of deliberately sinking a ship by allowing water to flow into the hull. This can be achieved in several ways – valves or hatches can be opened to the sea, or holes may be ripped into the hull with brute force or with explosives...
The deliberate destruction of a ship to prevent its capture and use by an enemy. Commonly used as a coup de grâceThe expression coup de grâce means a death blow intended to end the suffering of a wounded creature. The phrase can refer to killing civilians or soldiers, friends or enemies and with or without the consent of the sufferer...
, but has also been a protest (as after the First World WarThe High Seas Fleet was the main battle fleet of the Imperial German Navy during World War I. The fleet was based at Wilhelmshaven in the Jade estuary, and commanded by Admirals Friedrich von Ingenohl , Hugo von Pohl , Reinhard Scheer , and Franz von Hipper...
).
- Shield wall
The formation of a shield wall, is a military tactic that was common in many cultures in the Pre-Early Modern warfare age...
- Shoot and scoot - type of fire and movement tactic used by artillery to avoid counter-battery fire. (This term is primarily used by American forces.)
- Siege
A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit"....
, is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by force or attrition, often accompanied by an assault.
- circumvallation, a line of fortifications, built by the attackers around the besieged fortification facing towards the enemy fort
- contravallation, a second line of fortifications behind the circumvallation facing away from the enemy fort to protect the besiegers from attacks by allies of the besieged.
- escalade
Escalade is the act of scaling defensive walls or ramparts with the aid of ladders, and was a prominent feature of siege warfare in medieval times...
, the act of scaling defensive walls or ramparts with the aid of ladders, and was a prominent feature of siege warfare in medieval times.
- Forlorn hope
A forlorn hope is a band of soldiers or other combatants chosen to take the leading part in a military operation, such as an assault on a defended position, where the risk of casualties is high. The term comes from the Dutch verloren hoop, literally "lost heap", and adapted as "lost troop"...
, most frequently used to refer to the first wave of soldiers attacking a breach in defences during a siege.
- Chevaux de frise, sword blades chained together to cut up people trying to charge into a breach in the walls.
- Investment
Investment is the military tactic of surrounding an enemy fort with armed forces to prevent entry or escape.A circumvallation is a line of fortifications, built by the attackers around the besieged fortification facing towards the enemy fort...
, surrounding an enemy fort (or town) with armed forces to prevent entry or escape.
- parallel
Parallelism is a term in geometry and in everyday life that refers to a property in Euclidean space of two or more lines or planes, or a combination of these. The existence and properties of parallel lines are the basis of Euclid's parallel postulate. Two lines in a plane that do not intersect or...
trenches
- Siege engines, specialised weapons used to overcome fortifications of a besieged fort or town; in modern times, the task has fallen to large artillery pieces.
- Siege train, specialised siege artillery accompanying an army for use in a siege.
- Siege tower
A siege tower is a specialized siege engine, constructed to protect assailants and ladders while approaching the defensive walls of a fortification. The tower was often rectangular with four wheels and a height roughly equal to that of the wall or sometimes higher to allow archers to stand on top...
, a wooden tower on wheels constructed to protect assailants and ladders while approaching the defensive walls of a fortification.
- Storm to move quickly and noisily like a storm
- Sortie
Sortie is a term for deployment or dispatch of one military unit, be it an aircraft, ship, or troops from a strongpoint. The sortie, whether by one or more aircraft or vessels, usually has a specific mission....
, also "to sally". A sudden attack against a besieging enemy from within a besieged fort or town.
- Surrender at discretion means unconditional surrender
Unconditional surrender is a surrender without conditions, in which no guarantees are given to the surrendering party except for those provided by international law. Announcing that only unconditional surrender is acceptable puts psychological pressure on a weaker adversary...
instead of surrendering with terms.
- Skirmish
- Withdrawal (military)
A withdrawal is a type of military operation, generally meaning retreating forces back while maintaining contact with the enemy. A withdrawal may be undertaken as part of a general retreat, to consolidate forces, to occupy ground that is more easily defended, or to lead the enemy into an ambush...
, generally meaning pulling forces back while maintaining contact with the enemy.
Ordnance
Describes terms used in identification of means of combat to inflict damage on the opponent.
Edged
Weapons that are used to inflict damage through cutting or stabbing.
- Bayonet
A bayonet is a knife-, dagger-, sword-, or spike-shaped weapon designed to fit on, over or underneath the muzzle of a rifle barrel or similar weapon, effectively turning the gun into a spear. It is a close quarter battle combat or last-resort weapon.-History: The origins of the bayonet are...
- Bill (weapon)
The bill is a polearm used by infantry in Europe in the Viking Age by Vikings and Anglo-Saxons as well as in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. It was a national weapon of the English, but was also common elsewhere, especially in Italy....
- Danish axe
The Viking axe is an early type of polearm, primarily used during the transition between the European "Viking Age" and early Middle Ages. Other names for the weapon include Dane-axe, English long axe, Danish axe, and hafted axe.-Construction:...
- halberd
A halberd is a two-handed pole weapon that came to prominent use during the 14th and 15th centuries. Possibly the word halberd comes from the German words Halm , and Barte . The halberd consists of an axe blade topped with a spike mounted on a long shaft...
- Knife
A knife is any cutting edge or blade, handheld or otherwise, with or without a handle. Knives were used at least two-and-a-half million years ago, as evidenced by the Oldowan tools. Originally made of rock, flint, and obsidian; knives have evolved in construction as technology has with blades...
- Pole weapon
A pole weapon or polearm is a close combat weapon in which the main fighting part of the weapon is placed on the end of a long shaft, typically of wood, thereby extending the user's effective range. Spears, glaives, poleaxes, halberds, and bardiches are all varieties of polearm...
or * Poleaxe
- pike (weapon)
A pike is a pole weapon, a very long thrusting spear used two-handed and used extensively by infantry both for attacks on enemy foot soldiers and as a counter-measure against cavalry assaults. Unlike many similar weapons, the pike is not intended to be thrown...
- Partisan (weapon)
A partisan is a type of polearm that was used in Europe during medieval times. It consisted of a spearhead mounted on a long shaft with protrusions on the sides, which aided in the user in parrying sword thrusts...
- Spear
A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a sharpened head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with bamboo spears, or it may be of another material fastened to the shaft, such as obsidian, iron or bronze...
- Sword
A sword is a long, edged piece of metal, used in many civilizations throughout the world, primarily as a cutting or thrusting weapon and occasionally for clubbing...
Individual
- Bow (weapon)
A bow is a weapon that projects arrows powered by the elasticity of the bow. Essentially, it is a form of spring. As the bow is drawn, energy is stored in the limbs of the bow and transformed into rapid motion when the string is released, with the string transferring this force to the arrow...
- Sling (weapon)
A sling is a projectile weapon typically used to throw a blunt projectile such as a stone. It is also known as the shepherd's sling....
and SlingshotA slingshot is a small hand-powered projectile weapon. The forked Y-shaped frame has two rubber strips attached to the uprights, leading back to a pocket for holding the projectile.It is normally fired by holding the frame in the non-dominant hand, extended at arms length...
(hand catapult)
Firearms
- machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rifle bullets in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute...
- musket
A musket is a muzzle-loaded, smooth bore long gun, which is intended to be fired from the shoulder.Usually, the musket is thought to be the weapon that replaced the arquebus, and was in turn replaced by the rifle...
- pistol
- revolver
A revolver is a repeating firearm that has a cylinder containing multiple chambers and at least one barrel for firing. As the user cocks the hammer, the cylinder revolves to align the next chamber and round with the hammer and barrel, which gives this type of firearm its name...
- rifle
A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...
- submachine gun
A submachine gun is a firearm that combines the automatic fire of a machine gun with the cartridge of a pistol, and is usually between the two in weight and size...
Artillery
Crew-served, non-vehicle mounted weapons.
- Ballista
The ballista , plural ballistae, was a weapon developed from earlier Greek weapons. It relied upon different mechanics, using two levers with torsion springs instead of a prod, the springs consisting of several loops of twisted skeins...
- Catapult
A catapult is any one of a number of non-handheld mechanical devices used to throw or hurl a projectile a great distance without the aid of explosive substances—particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. Although the catapult has been used since ancient times, it is proven...
- Mangonel
A mangonel was a type of catapult or siege machine used in the medieval period to throw projectiles at a castle's walls. The exact meaning of the term is debatable, and several possibilities have been suggested...
- Onager (siege weapon)
The onager was a Roman siege engine, which derived its name from the kicking action of the machine, similar to that of an onager . It is a type of catapult that uses torsional pressure, generally from twisted rope, to store energy for the shot...
- Trebuchet
A trebuchet or trebucket is a siege engine that was employed in the Middle Ages either to smash masonry walls or to throw projectiles over them...
Guns
- gun
In military parlance, a gun is a muzzle or breech-loaded projectile-firing weapon. There are various definitions depending on the nation and branch of service. A "gun" may be distinguished from other firearms in being a crew served weapon such as a howitzer or mortar, as opposed to a small arm...
- cannon
A cannon is any tubular piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellants to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
- mortar
A mortar is a muzzle-loading indirect fire weapon that fires shells at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing ballistic trajectories. It typically has a barrel length less than 15 times its caliber.- Function :...
- howitzer
A howitzer is a type of artillery piece that is characterized by a relatively short barrel and the use of comparatively small explosive charges to propel projectiles at relatively high trajectories, with a steep angle of descent...
Explosives
Describes ordnance that cause damage through release of force.
- Bangalore Torpedo
A Bangalore torpedo is an explosive charge placed on the end of a long, extendible tube. It is used by combat engineers to clear obstacles that would otherwise require them to approach directly, possibly under fire...
- Camouflet
A camouflet, in military science, is an artificial cavern created by an explosion to undermine a structure. If the explosion reaches the surface then it is called a crater....
- Grenade
- Hand grenade
A hand grenade is an anti-personnel weapon that explodes a short time after release. The French military term grenade probably comes from the shape of the pomegranate fruit, which is also called grenade in French....
- Rifle grenade
A rifle grenade is a grenade that uses a rifle based launcher to permit a longer effective range than would be possible if the grenade was thrown by hand...
(see also Grenade launcherA grenade launcher is a weapon that launches a grenade with more accuracy, higher velocity, and to greater distances than a soldier could throw it by hand....
)
- Rocket propelled grenade
A rocket-propelled grenade is any hand-held, shoulder-launched anti-tank weapon capable of firing an unguided rocket equipped with an explosive warhead....
- Land mine
A land mine is a target triggered explosive weapon. Their non-explosive predecessors have been used on the battlefield since ancient times. Landmines were designed to be used to deter, channel, delay and kill an enemy. They have been used in various formats, for centuries and have featured in all...
- Anti-tank mine
An anti-tank mine, , is a type of land mine designed to damage or destroy vehicles including tanks and armoured fighting vehicles....
- Anti-personnel mine
Anti-personnel mines are a form of mines designed for use against humans as opposed to anti-tank mines, which are designed for use against vehicles....
Incendiary
Describes ordnance that causes damage through release of heat.
- flamethrowers
- Greek fire
Greek fire was an incendiary weapon used by the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantines typically used it in naval battles to great effect as it could continue burning even on water. It provided a technological advantage, and was responsible for many key Byzantine military victories, most notably the...
- napalm
Napalm is the thickener used to coagulate gasoline into a gelatine for military uses. Developed by Harvard chemists, headed by Louis Fieser, the thickener’s name, napalm, derives from the first letters of the names of the thickeners, coprecipitated aluminium salts of naphthenic and palmitic acids...
Vehicles
Describes vehicles used by armed forces that mount weapons.
- Armoured car
- Chariot
The chariot is the earliest and simplest type of carriage, used in both peace and war as the chief vehicle of many ancient peoples. Chariots were built in Mesopotamia by the Mesopotamians as early as 3000 BC and in China during the 2nd millennium BC. The original chariot was a fast, light, open,...
- Half-track
A half-track is a civilian or military vehicle with regular wheels on the front for steering, and caterpillar tracks on the back to propel the vehicle and carry most of the load. The purpose of this combination is to produce a vehicle with the cross-country capabilities of a tank and the handling...
- Tank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility and tactical offensive and defensive capabilities...
Engineering
Describes terms used in military engineering.
- See also List of fortifications
- Fortification
Fortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defense in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs...
- Barbed wire
Barbed wire, also known as barb wire , is a type of fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strand. It is used to construct inexpensive fences and is used atop walls surrounding secured property...
- Banquette
In fortification, a banquette is a little foot path or elevated step along the inside of a rampart or parapet, by which the musketeers get up to view the counterscarp, or to fire on the enemies in the moat. These are generally a foot and a half high, and almost three feet wide.A banquette may also...
or a fire step
- Bastion
A bastion is a structure projecting outward from the main enclosure of a fortification, situated in both corners of a straight wall , facilitating active defense against assaulting troops...
- Bastion fortress (see below star fort and Trace italienne)
- Berm
A berm is a level space, shelf, or raised barrier separating two areas. Berm is a loanword from Dutch.-History:In medieval military engineering, a berm was a level space between a parapet or defensive wall and an adjacent steep-walled ditch or moat. It was intended to reduce soil pressure on the...
- Blockhouse
In military science, a blockhouse is a small, isolated fort in the form of a single building. It is intended to serve as a defensive strongpoint against any enemy which does not possess siege equipment or, in modern times, artillery...
- Breastwork (fortification)
A breastwork is a fortification. The term is usually applied to temporary fortifications, often an earthwork thrown up to breast height to provide protection to defenders firing over it from a standing position...
- Bunker
A military bunker is a hardened shelter, often buried partly or fully underground, designed to protect the inhabitants from falling bombs or other attacks...
- Counterscarp
A scarp and a counterscarp are the inner and outer sides of a ditch used in fortifications. In permanent fortifications the scarp and counterscarp may be encased in stone...
, is the side of a ditch, in front of the wall of a fortress, furthest from the wall.
- Coupure
During a siege a Coupure is a ditch or an earthenwork or wooden palisade built behind a breach in the walls of a fortress, or a city, made by the attacker's guns...
- Castle
A castle is a defensive structure seen as one of the main symbols of the Middle Ages. The term has a history of scholarly debate surrounding its exact meaning, but it is usually regarded as being distinct from the general terms fort or fortress, in that it describes a residence of a monarch or...
- Medieval fortification
Medieval fortification is the military aspect of Medieval technology that covers the development of fortification construction and use in Europe roughly from the fall of the Western Roman Empire to the Renaissance...
- Arrow slit (arrow loop, loophole)
- Barbican
A barbican A barbican A barbican (from medieval Latin barbecana, "outer fortification of a city or castle," a general Romanic word, perhaps from Arabic or Persian cf...
- Concentric castle
A concentric castle is a castle within a castle, with two or more concentric rings of curtain walls and, in cases, no central keep. Generally, the outermost walls are lowest and the height of the walls increases towards the middle. The walls would include towers and bastions and would usually be...
- Drawbridge
A drawbridge is a type of movable bridge typically associated with the entrance of a castle surrounded by a moat. The term is often used to describe all different types of movable bridges, like bascule bridges and lift bridges.-Castle drawbridges:...
- Portcullis
A portcullis is a latticed grille or gate made of wood, metal or a combination of the two. Portcullises fortified the entrances to many medieval castles, acting as a last line of defense during time of attack or siege...
- Moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices...
- Machicolation
A machicolation is a floor opening between the supporting corbels of a battlement, through which stones could be dropped on attackers at the base of a defensive wall. The design was developed in the Middle Ages when the Norman crusaders returned. A machicolated battlement projects outwards from...
- Murder-hole
A murder-hole or meurtrière is a hole in the ceiling of a main gateinthrough which the defenders can fire, throw or pour dangerous or noxious substances at attackers. As a result, the defenders would be able to rain rocks, arrows, heated sand, boiling oil, water and incendiary devices, and other...
- Citadel
A citadel is a fortress for protecting a town, sometimes incorporating a castle. The term derives from the same Latin root as the word "city", civis, meaning citizen....
- Dragon's teeth
During World War II, the term "dragon's teeth" came to designate square-pyramidal fortifications used to impede the progress of mechanized armies...
- Earthworks
Earthworks are engineering works created through the moving of massive quantities of soil or unformed rock. Engineers need to concern themselves with issues of geotechnical engineering and with quantity estimation to ensure that soil volumes in the cuts match those of the fills, while minimizing...
- Fort
- Fortress
- Defensive fighting position
A defensive fighting position is a type of earthwork constructed in a military context, generally large enough to accommodate at least one person....
a Rifle pit or Fox hole
- Glacis
A glacis in military engineering is an artificial slope of earth used in late European fortresses so constructed as to keep any potential assailant under the fire of the defenders until the last possible moment...
- Hill fort
A hill fort is a type of fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze and Iron Ages...
(New Zealand Pa (Māori)The word pā traditionally refers to a Māori village or settlement. In contemporary Western usage, it has come to refer to a Māori hillfort from the 17th - 19th centuries, that was fortified with palisades and earthworks such as defensive terraces. Prior to the 1960s, any Māori settlement,...
)
- Lunette (fortification)
In fortification a lunette was originally an outwork of half-moon shape; later it became a redan with short flanks, in trace somewhat resembling a bastion standing by itself without curtains on either side. The gorge was generally open....
, an outwork consisting of a salient angle with two flanks and an open gorge.
- Mine is a siege method used since antiquity against a walled city, fortress or castle where tunnels are dug to undermine the foundations of the walls. A counter mine is a tunnel dug by the defenders below an attackers mine with the intention of undermining the attackers mine before it undermines the walls.
- Outwork
An outwork is a minor defense, fortification, built or established outside the principal fortification limits, detached or semidetached. Outworks were developed in the 16th century, such as ravelins, lunettes , caponiers to shield bastions and fortification curtains from direct battery...
, a minor defence, built or established outside the principal fortification limits, detached or semidetached.
- Ravelin
A ravelin is a triangular fortification or detached outwork in front of the bastions of a fortress. Originally called a demi-lune, after lunette, the ravelin is placed outside a castle opposite a fortification curtain. The edges of the ravelin are placed so that the guns there can sweep fire upon...
, a triangular fortification, detached outwork in front of the bastions.
- Redan
Redan is a term related to fortifications. It is a work in a V-shaped salient angle toward an expected attack...
is a V-shaped salient angle toward an expected attack. It can be made from earthworks or other material.
- Redoubt
A redoubt is a fort or fort system usually consisting of an enclosed defensive emplacement outside a larger fort, usually relying on earthworks, though others are constructed of stone or brick. It is meant to protect soldiers outside the main line of defense and can be a permanent structure or a...
is a fort or fort system usually consisting of an enclosed defensive emplacement outside a larger fort, usually relying on earthworks, though others are constructed of stone or brick.
- Reduit
Commonly, the réduit is a fortified defence structure which is used in order that the defending troops can survive and hold out an attack.- Classical fortifications :A réduit is a fortification which provides protection during a persistent attack...
is the strongest fortification which should provide protection during a persistent attack. A citadel, for example, is the reduit in classical fortifications.
- Sangar (fortification), a small temporary fortified position with a breastwork originally of stone, but now built of sandbags and similar materials.
- Sally port
The primary modern meaning for sally port is a small controlled space, such as a fortification or prison. The entrance is usually protected in some way, such as with a fixed wall blocking the door which must be circumvented before entering, but which prevents direct enemy fire from a distance...
also "to sally" out and SortieSortie is a term for deployment or dispatch of one military unit, be it an aircraft, ship, or troops from a strongpoint. The sortie, whether by one or more aircraft or vessels, usually has a specific mission....
- Sapping
Mining, undermining, or sapping was a siege method used since antiquity against a walled city, fortress or castle.-Use in antiquity:The Greek historian Polybius, in his Histories, gives a graphic account of mining and counter mining at the Roman siege of Ambracia:According to Polybius, this was the...
- Scarp (fortification) fortress side of a ditch in front of a wall.
- Sconce (fortification)
A Sconce is a small protective fortification, such as an earthwork often placed on a mound as a defensive work for artillery. It was used primarily in Northern Europe from the late Middle Ages until the 19th century. This type of fortification was common during the English Civil War, and the...
, a small protective fortification, such as an earthwork often placed on a mound as a defensive work for artillery.
- Slighting
A slighting is the deliberate destruction of a fortification without opposition from its builders or last users.Many European castles or forts were slighted in the Middle Ages by victorious besieging armies. Some were also destroyed by the owners themselves when they were abandoned to prevent...
is the deliberate destruction of a fortification without opposition from its builders or its last users.
- Star fort
A star fort or trace italienne is a fortification in the style that evolved during the age of black powder, when cannons came to dominate the battlefield, and was first seen in the mid-15th century in Italy...
(see above Bastion fortressand below Trace italienne)
- tête-de-pont a temporary defensive work to defend a bridge, at the end of a bridge adjacent to an enemy.
- Trace italienne. Star-shaped fortresses surrounding towns and even cities (see above Star fort and Bastion fortress)
- Trench
Trench warfare was a form of warfare in which both combatants occupied static fortified fighting lines, consisting largely of trenches, in which troops were largely immune to the enemy's small arms fire and were substantially sheltered from artillery. It has become a byword for stalemate in...
Geographic
- Defile (geography)
Defile is a geographic term for a narrow pass or gorge between mountains or hills. It has its origins as a military description of a pass through which troops can march only in a narrow column or with a narrow front...
is a geographic term for a narrow pass or gorge between mountains. It has its origins as a military description of a pass through which troops can march only in a narrow column or with a narrow front.
- debouch, to emerge from a defile (or something similar) into open country (debouch can also be used to describe water that flows out of a defile into a wider place such as a lake) and so a fortification at the end of a defile is sometimes known as a debouch.
Arms and Services
Describe terms used for combat Arms and supporting Services of armed forces used in naval warfare.
Doctrinal
Describes terms used for talking about how naval armed forces are used.
- Blockade
A blockade is an effort to cut off the communications of a particular area by force. It is distinct from a siege in that a blockade is usually directed at an entire country or region, rather than a fortress or city. Also, a blockade historically took place at sea, with the blockading power seeking...
- Coup de grâce
The expression coup de grâce means a death blow intended to end the suffering of a wounded creature. The phrase can refer to killing civilians or soldiers, friends or enemies and with or without the consent of the sufferer...
a final shot intended to finish off a sinking ship (which should be distinguished from scuttlingScuttling is the act of deliberately sinking a ship by allowing water to flow into the hull. This can be achieved in several ways – valves or hatches can be opened to the sea, or holes may be ripped into the hull with brute force or with explosives...
).
- Crossing the Tee
- In the van--leading
- Line astern, Line ahead, or Line of battle
In naval warfare, the line of battle is a tactic in which the ships of the fleet form a line, end-to-end. Its origins are traditionally ascribed to the navy of the Commonwealth of England, especially to General at Sea Robert Blake who wrote the Sailing and Fighting Instructions of 1653...
- Raking fire
In naval warfare, raking fire is fire directed parallel to the long axis of an enemy ship. Although each shot is directed against a smaller target profile than by shooting broadside and thus more likely to miss the target ship to one side or the other, an individual cannon shot that hits will pass...
- Scuttling
Scuttling is the act of deliberately sinking a ship by allowing water to flow into the hull. This can be achieved in several ways – valves or hatches can be opened to the sea, or holes may be ripped into the hull with brute force or with explosives...
- Weather gage
The weather gage is a nautical term used to describe the advantageous position of a fighting sailing vessel, relative to another. The term is from the Age of Sail, and is now antiquated. A ship is said to possess the weather gage if it is in any position, at sea, upwind of the other vessel...
Vessels
- Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power great distances without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
- Battleship
A battleship is a large, heavily armored warship with a main battery consisting of the largest caliber of guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers or destroyers. There are currently no battleships in service....
- Battlecruiser
Battlecruisers were large warships in the first half of the 20th century that were first introduced by the Royal Navy. The battlecruiser was developed as the successor to the armoured cruisers, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleships...
- Cruiser
A cruiser is a large type of warship, which had its prime period from the late 19th century to the end of the Cold War. The first cruisers were intended for individual raiding and protection missions on the seas...
- Frigate
A frigate is a warship. The term has been used for warships of many sizes and roles over the past few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and manoeuvrability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
- Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, short-range but powerful attackers .Before World War II, destroyers were light vessels without the endurance...
- Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has only limited underwater capability...
- Torpedo boat
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs rammed enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes, and later designs launched self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes...
- Hovercraft
A hovercraft is a craft capable of traveling over relatively smooth surfaces supported by a cushion of slow moving, high-pressure air, ejected against the surface below, and contained within a "skirt." Although supported by the air, they are not usually considered to be aircraft.Hovercraft are...
Arms and Services
Describe terms used for combat Arms and supporting Services of armed forces used in air warfare.
Operational
- Sortie
Sortie is a term for deployment or dispatch of one military unit, be it an aircraft, ship, or troops from a strongpoint. The sortie, whether by one or more aircraft or vessels, usually has a specific mission....
used by air forceAn air force, also known in some countries as an air army or historically an army air corps, is in the broadest sense, the national military that primarily conducts aerial warfare...
s to indicate an aircraft mission count (flew seven sorties) or in the sense of a departure (the aircraft sortied).
Tactics
- Area bombing, carpet bombing
Carpet bombing is the large scale bombing of large targets, usually by dropping many unguided gravity bombs. The tactic aims for complete destruction of a target region, either to destroy personnel and materiel, or as a means of demoralizing the enemy...
and pattern bombing.
- Sortie
Sortie is a term for deployment or dispatch of one military unit, be it an aircraft, ship, or troops from a strongpoint. The sortie, whether by one or more aircraft or vessels, usually has a specific mission....
a mission flown by one aircraft
Aircraft
- Airship
An airship or dirigible is a lighter-than-air aircraft that can be steered and propelled through the air using rudders and propellers or other thrust...
- Bomber
A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, primarily by dropping bombs on them.-Classifications of bombers:...
- Dirigible Balloon
A balloon is an inflatable flexible bag filled with a type of gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide or air. Modern balloons can be made from materials such as rubber, latex, polychloroprene, or a nylon fabric, while some early balloons were sometimes made of dried animal bladders...
- Fighter
A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets by dropping bombs. Fighters are small, fast, and maneuverable...
- Fighter bomber
- Spotter plane
See also
External links