Top 15 MOST Powerful Weapons in History

the 1918 anti-material rifle the kinetic orbital strike weapon whether in past or present these weapons of war are amongst the most powerful ever designed today we're taking a look at the top 15 most powerful weapons in military history [Music] number 15 vss as val russian rifles developed in 1987 the soviet-era special sniper rifle codenamed thread cutter finetorus in russian is a select fire fixed stock integral suppressed marksman rifle used by both the soviet and russian special forces since the 1980s chambered in 9 by 39 millimeter subsonic cartridge both the ammunition and the rifle have been outlawed in the syrian civil war designed as a special forces alternative to the larger svd rifle the vss is a lightweight weapon easily capable of being dismantled and stored in a briefcase used only by spetsnaz the weapon and its counterpart the as val code named shaft has been used in chechnya georgia ukraine iraq and syria the key difference between the vss and as val is the latter's metal side folding stock for storage an unsuppressed variant is the sr3 developed in 1994 which shares interchangeable parts with either weapon however because of its high cost and it lacks a suppressor the sr-3 is much less popular than her sister rifles although it's incredibly effective against body armor the weapon is only designed to hold either ten or twenty round magazines because of the heavy weight of the ammo number fourteen pkp picinyak developed in 2001 the russian federation general purpose machine gun is the hefty pkp picinyak chambered in 7.62 by 54 millimeter a replacement for the soviet pkm the weapon was designed in 2001 and has been involved in every conflict in the russian federation armed forces has been in the weapon was named after the pacinic people who are a turkish central asian people that settled in ukraine and russia one of the heavier machine guns used by the russian federation the pkp uses a non-detachable barrel and a top rail mounting system not found on the pkm this makes it a more reliable and highly adaptable weapon for different combat scenarios several variants exist for the pkp such as a night vision only pkp a 2017 modernized pkp and a bullpup conversion each version can fire 600 rounds in a rapid fire scenario before any damages can occur to the barrel although unlikely the manufacturer claims that the weapon can fire 10 000 rounds per hour which is excessive considering the weapon only comes with a 100 200 or 250 round box magazine [Music] number 13 anti-material rifle first developed in 1918 in world war 1 the united kingdom was the first nation to develop a heavily armored land vehicle later known as the mark 1 tank to counter the seemingly impregnable armor the german empire developed an anti-tank rifle with a 13.2 millimeter bullet that could penetrate the tank's armor but also required two men to operate and was known to break collar bones and dislocate shoulders during world war ii the reverse occurred where germany invaded france with tanks and there was a clear need for an anti-tank rifle today modern tanks have such thick armor it's very difficult for any bullet to pierce but the need to penetrate light armored vehicles and buildings has kept the flame alive for the modern anti-material rifle one of the most popular amrs is the barrett m82a1 and the barrett m95 bullpup counterpart both are chambered in the more manageable 12.7 by 99 millimeter and are used by militaries around the world now designed to penetrate concrete buildings trucks and packed aircraft the amr is a situationally useful weapon despite no longer being able to damage its original adversary the tank number 12 m18 a1 claymore developed in the 1960s have you ever wanted to kill everything in a 50 meter range at a 60 degree angle well the m18 claymore mine is an aerial denial directional fragmentation mine used for anti-personnel booby traps the remote control claymore mines fires steel balls like a shotgun primarily against enemy infantry the maximum range is a hundred meters making the primary kill zone the entire size of an american football field filled with c4 and about 700 metal balls the ap mine is highly effective against any infantry no matter their body armor it's also useful against unarmored vehicles originally envisioned to counter chinese human wave attacks in the korean war the claymore was instead first used in 1966 in vietnam minor modifications added a thin layer between the c4 and steel balls to improve velocity and prevent fragmentation from flying in the wrong direction a ferrite choke was also added to stop high frequency currents such as lightning triggering the claymore every claymore is labeled with the words front toward enemy and only requires an electric firing wire and a clacker to activate number 11 man pads developed in the 1950s the man portable air defense system is a guided portable weapon designed to destroy aircraft without requiring heavy vehicles or when they're just not present used by infantry the man pads was created to counter enemy helicopters or jet aircraft during the cold war the first used man paths were the us fim-42 red-eye and the 9k 32 strela 2 which were both lightweight and infrared seeking weapons the fim-43 red-eye would eventually become the fim-92 stinger while the strela 2 and strela 3 are still used today more modern manpads now use multiple detection bands such as infrared and ultraviolet or are laser guided manpads were first widely used by the mujahideen forces of the russian invasion of afghanistan in the 20th century collecting a high number of confirmed downed aircraft stinger missiles supplied by the uscia would ironically also be used during the american invasion of afghanistan in 2001. the first time both confronting armies used manpads however was during the falklands war between argentina and the uk in 1982 there are a few countermeasures to infrared seeking missiles and with ir jamming devices preventing contact only some of the time number 10 phalanx ciws developed in 1980 the ground or ship-based counter to airborne missiles is the massive phalanx point defense weapon system developed first for the u.s navy the large weapons radar device is used by 15 nato countries across the world nicknamed r2d2 for its odd shape the phalanx is a radar guided 20 millimeter vulcan rotary cannon mounted on a full 360 degree swivel base the newest model of the phalanx can fire 3 000 rounds per minute although most only carry about 980 rounds because of cost and storage part of the counter rocket artillery mortar defense system of both naval ships and ground-based military installations the heavy weapon is a short-range final defense against air threats the land-based version is called the centurion land phalanx weapon system although the weapon can move at very high speeds and has great precision it's not always accurate or very intelligent firing only 100 rounds of 20 millimeter explosive ammunition the phalanx has caused numerous friendly fire cases despite the multiple incidents most united states navy vessels continue to operate the phalanx and they've been installed at army bases in iraq and afghanistan number nine sam developed in the 1950s the perfect combination between speed and firepower is the surface-to-air missile a ground-based missile guided system the sam is a fearsome anti-aircraft system dedicated solely to bringing down enemy aircraft replacing most other forms of aa weapons such as aa guns and turrets the sam is truly an apex predator of the skies originally the aa flac artillery gun was designed in world war ii to destroy enemy bombers but proved wildly inaccurate and caused very few impacts considering the large number produced both nazi germany and the uk considered more accurate forms of aaa defense but neither side produced anything greater than test rockets in 1954 the american nike ajax was the first operation sam system in 1956 the soviets built their own s25 berkut the soviets and later the russian federation would be at the forefront of the sam development in the 1960s and 70s the united states began focusing on smaller faster missiles eventually developing manpads while the soviets continued to manufacture the massive s75 divina making it the most produced sam and one of the most widely used in the world we are constantly adding more people to the top fives production team to bring you all the best content be sure to subscribe with notifications on and hit the like button number eight f-35 lightning ii developed in 2006 the lockheed martin f-35 is a family of six generation stealth fighter aircraft designed for a combination of air-to-air combat air-to-ground combat electronic warfare surveillance and reconnaissance developed first as the x-35 it largely replaced the earlier 6-gen lockheed martin f-22 raptor which focused on stealth air-to-air combat the f-35 currently comes in three variants for the u.s military the usaf f-35a conventional takeoff and landing the usmc f-35b vertical takeoff and landing and the usn f-35c carrier-based catapult assist takeoff and barrier resist landing each aircraft is largely similar in design and shape but with small attachments for the different landings and takeoffs required by each service branch as of july 2020 over 530 aircraft have been built with over 3 000 planned for multiple nato affiliated nations the aircraft are estimated to be operational until the 2070s making them the premier aircraft of nato airpower for the next 50 years turkey was another nation with a planned order of up to 120 f-35 aircrafts but president trump canceled their contract and banned lockheed martin from selling to the country after turkey began purchasing russian anti-aircraft missiles number 7 m1a3 abrams main battle tank original design developed in the 1970s originally the m1a1 and the m1a2 abrams tank were meant to be replaced after 50 years of service ending in the 2020s however the us military decided to keep the tanks with the m1a2d currently the m1a3 is under development with a new engine suspension durability lighter weight and new sensor detection equipment planned to be 15 tons lighter the m1a3 will keep the abrams tank family in service for another 30 years when it will be outclassed by future technologies the abrams tank was named after general creighton w abrams the chief of staff of the united states army who previously commanded all military operations in vietnam between 1968 and 1972 other comparable third generation main battle tanks are the british challenger 2 german leopard 2 french leclerc ukrainian t-84 and south korean k2 black panther however unlike most third and fourth generation tanks abrams has been in near constant combat ranging from the 1980s persian gulf war to the ongoing yemeni civil war surplus abrams tanks have also been in service to egypt iraq kuwait saudi arabia morocco and a special variant sold to australia number six the ac-130 gunship developed in 1966 one of the most feared gunships in the u.s military is the heavily armed ac-130 spectre now called the ghost rider the ac-130 is a close air support variant of the c-130 transport aircraft used in nighttime missions to escort convoys or support ground troops the 47 total gun ships have been a terror of the night skies since the vietnam war current models of the ac-130 are equipped with one 25-millimeter rotary cannon one 40-millimeter auto cannon and one 105-millimeter howitzer because they have to fly low and slow they're used sparingly and their large size would make them vulnerable against a modern military force although newer models come equipped with the latest encounter measures the ac-130 will likely be replaced in the future with other aircraft for now the hulking menace continues to serve in the air force in afghanistan and syria as part of the american special forces operation popularized in video games such as call of duty the ac-130 is actually not nearly as common as aircraft as the a-10 thunderbolt even so it is continued to be something of a legend amongst infantrymen number five heavy gustav developed in 1941 the german railway siege artillery gun known as the schwerer gustav it's a massive 32 and a half meter long artillery gun first designed for the invasion of france using an 80 centimeter caliber shell it is the biggest gun ever used in combat built as a siege artillery required the use of railway lines to move and a crew of 250 men to operate it it would take three days to prepare and 40 minutes to reload also two battalions of flat crews were required to defend the artillery gun from air attack only two were ever completed and both participated in operation barbarossa the german invasion of the soviet union they were later destroyed in 1945 to avoid capture by the soviet army they had an effective range of 39 000 meters and a third unfinished gustav was designed to fire at a range of one million nine hundred thousand meters to attack great britain but it was destroyed during construction a fourth self-propelled land cruiser p1500 monster artillery platform was proposed but deemed impractical and cancelled alongside the panzer 8 mouse the heaviest tank ever built the schwerer gustav is one of the largest weapons ever produced number 4 chemical weapons first used during world war 1. chemical weapons are gaseous heavier than air agents used to target the lungs and eyes of enemy combatants or civilians most last for several days causing irritation and possible death while others can only last for minutes in gas form but can cause death much quicker universally they're all highly dangerous and lethal in large doses some of the most common are mustard gas phosphine gas and chlorine gas which are harmless as solids or liquids but will cause coughing nausea choking and chest pain as gas developed during world war ii they can linger on the ground for weeks months and cold temperatures and require full body protection not just gas masks much more lethal chemical weapons are vx gas and sarin gas which are more volatile but will really only last for a couple of days vx nerve gas causes symptoms within seconds after exposure and is often fatal sarin gas is even shorter lived and is difficult to weaponize but the smallest amount is always fatal chemical agents are some of the least used because of their danger to everyone but are one of the most lethal weapons ever designed number three kinetic bombardment orbital strike the hypothetical rods from god is a concept from the cold war that could realistically be built but high cost has left it on the drawing board during the korean and vietnam wars there was limited use of a kinetic bomb known as lazy dog only weighing about 20 grams it was used as a flechette from aircraft a much larger design was project thor where a telephone pole sized rod of tungsten would be dropped from orbit onto a ground target however the concept was never constructed in 2003 the united states air force drafted the model of a 6.1 meter long rod of tungsten with a diameter of 0.3 meters dropped from a satellite which could reach speeds of mach 10 at impact this hypersonic speed would be achieved by the terminal velocity of such a large and heavy object reaching any target within 15 minutes a kinetic orbital strike would be faster than any icbm and would have no countermeasure or warning traveling within such a short time thankfully the global powers have made space weapons illegal meaning we won't be seeing this weapon being used anytime soon number two castle bravo tested in 1954. the largest nuclear bomb developed by the united states castle bravo was part of a series of nuclear tests in the bikini atoll which later developed into the hydrogen bomb which was more powerful than the atomic bombs used in world war ii the blast left a 2 000 meter crater and the mushroom cloud reached 14 000 meters high in about a minute radiation contaminated an area larger than 18 000 square kilometers and was triple the explosive yield predicted by the designers approximately 63 peta jewels the fallout hit inhabitants of nearby atolls within three days and 23 crew members of the japanese fishing ship the lucky dragon number five were experiencing acute radiation syndrome both events inspired the 1955 japanese kaiju film gojira godzilla in western media an anti-weapons of mass destruction monster movie the castle bravo test and public reaction to long-range effects of nuclear fallout are attributed to be the motivation of the partial test ban treaty of 1963 prohibiting all nuclear testing above ground underwater and in space both the u.s and soviet union ended testing and eventually dismantled many of their largest nuclear bombs number one sarbamba tested in 1961. the largest weapon of all time is hands down the sarbamba hydrogen weapon developed by the soviet union officially known as rds 220 ivan the nuclear bomb was detonated 4 000 meters above dry nose cape of severine island in the arctic ocean the bomb yield was between 210 and 240 pettijewels which is much bigger than the designers predicted the mushroom cloud reached about 67 kilometers high over seven times bigger than mount everest the fireball that was created never touched the ground but was eight kilometers wide the heat from the explosion could have caused third-degree burns a hundred kilometers away from ground zero the effects of the blast could be felt 900 kilometers away because the bomb detonated in the air there was no lasting radioactive fallout the reason the bomb was so large was the soviets were never able to accurately hit targets like the americans so to compensate they developed larger weapons to hit their target even if they missed two years later the soviet union signed the partial test ban treaty realizing they were creating weapons beyond their control [Music] subscribe to top 5s for more and check out some of our other 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Channel: Top Fives

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Keywords: MOST Powerful Weapons in History, future weapons

Id: eu_lRQECNU4

Length: 19min 31sec (1171 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 26 2020