What is the weakest weapon in the world. Worst weapon in history

The criteria for creating this list were the reliability, safety and usefulness of the weapon at the time of its creation.

1. Colt rifle with a rotating drum.
Although these rifles were a welcome addition to the firepower of the Old West, they began to have noticeable disadvantages starting in the 1830s: after each shot, hot gas burned the shooter's hand, in addition, due to the special design of the rifle, gas leaks occurred in the front cylinder , which negatively affected the speed of the bullet.

2. The Liberator.
This pistol was made from sheet metal specifically for the resistance movement during World War II. Unfortunately, it could only be fired once in the field, since most opponents were armed with semi-automatic pistols or machine guns. Reloading this pistol was such a hassle that it was easier to throw it away.

3. Gyrojet.
The Gyrojet is a hand-held rocket launcher created in the 1960s. It fired 13mm rockets and was different from most firearms the fact that the speed of the fired rocket increased after it was fired from the barrel. One of its main problems was its lack of firepower in close combat.

4. Boys Anti-tank Rifle.
It's early anti-tank weapon, which began to be used at the beginning of World War II. It was a 5-shot rifle, weighing 16 kg and firing armor-piercing cartridges at a distance of 300 meters. Unfortunately, its power was not enough to cope with the armor German tanks and she sank into oblivion.

5. Nock Volley Gun.
This peculiar pistol appeared around 1780. It was quite effective with 7 .50 caliber bullets fired simultaneously, but its deadly recoil could break the shoulder of any shooter.

6. Cochran's revolver.
This revolver stands out for its horizontally rotating cylinder. Its disadvantage was that if handled incorrectly, it could shoot at the shooter himself.

7. Nambu (94 Shiki Kenju).
This World War II era pistol was underpowered, too bulky and awkward to use. In addition, thanks to its design, it was capable of firing an accidental shot and was considered more dangerous for the one who used it than for the target.

8. Pepper Box revolver.
This revolver was mainly used in the pre-Colt period. Its main disadvantages were its enormous weight due to the many barrels, horrific inaccuracy, and the possibility of explosion and firing from all barrels at once.

9. Grossflammenwerfer.
This is a German flamethrower from the First World War. To operate it, a team of 2 people was required, which were usually convicts due to the high flammability of the weapon itself.

10. Shosha.
This French machine gun was so bad that soldiers abandoned it in favor of a simple rifle. It was designed in such a way that dirt and dust penetrated into all its cracks, making shooting much more difficult.

The creators of modern small arms are making every effort to make life easier for a soldier. Excessive “abstruseness” of the design only leads to difficulties in operation, which is unacceptable in real combat operations. But the weapon idea did not come to this seemingly simple idea right away. Over the past hundred years, designers have created weapons so strange that soldiers often simply refused to use them. Here, for example, are several real-life models of personal small arms that are considered the worst in the whole world.

Sten gun MK II

Country: UK

Commissioned: 1940

Type: submachine gun

Damage range: 70 meters

Magazine: 32 rounds

Britain needed small arms, but did not have the resources and time to produce. The result was the Sten gun MK II: it was easy to assemble and the manufacturing cost was minimal. The submachine gun often misfired; in addition, due to assembly defects, the bullets could generally lose destructive power at exhaustion.

Bazooka

Country: USA

Commissioned: 1942

Type: anti-tank weapon

Damage range: about 152 meters

Store: 1 rocket

The bazooka was inconvenient to use and created problems both for the shooter himself and for the soldiers around him. However, based on these weapons, more advanced models subsequently appeared.

LeMat revolver

Country: USA

Commissioned: 1856

Type: pistol

Magazine: 9 rounds

The revolver could shoot buckshot - which, in principle, was great idea for personal weapons. Developed as a cavalryman's weapon at the end of the Civil War, the LeMat had 9 pistol rounds in the cylinder and another loaded with buckshot in the secondary barrel. The soldier had to manually switch the movable firing pin to select the type of cartridge. In theory, everything worked well, in practice it turned out that the trigger-switch jammed in 3 out of 5 cases, leaving the owner of the revolver unarmed.

Krummlauf

Country: Nazi Germany

Commissioned: 1945

Type: assault rifle

Damage range: 15 meters

Magazine: 30 rounds

A gun with a curved barrel may work in Bugs Bunny cartoons, but in real life this is unlikely to happen. The Krummlauf was designed for shooting from around corners. The operator selected the target using a special periscope. By the time the weapon was put into production, its incredibly high cost was revealed and the project was frozen.

Shosha machine gun

Country: France

Commissioned: 1915

Type: machine gun

Damage range: 5,000 meters

Magazine: 20 rounds

At the height of the First World War, the Chauchat machine gun entered service with the French army - the embodiment of what a functional killing machine should definitely not be. The machine guns were so poorly made that the operator was injured due to the incredibly strong recoil. The trigger mechanism constantly jammed, but even if everything went well, 20 barrels were clearly not enough to support the advancing soldiers with fire.

Gyrojet

Country: USA

Commissioned: 1965

Type: pistol

Damage range: 300 meters

Magazine: 6 rounds

The Gyrojet pistol is considered almost the most creative representative of the species. Rocket ammunition was used as projectiles: the pistol was inaccurate and often exploded right in the fighter’s hands.

Mars

Country: UK

Martin Dougherty's book 'The World's Worst Weapon,' a renowned contemporary military author, describes long history over-ambitious but unsuccessful weapons.

Starting from a revolver-knuckle-knuckle-dagger to rocket-propelled ammunition. We present the TOP 8 most unsuccessful types of weapons in the world.

Submachine gun STEN MK II

Unfortunately, the mechanism of the STEN MK II pistol often did not work. In addition, there were reports of pistol bullets bouncing off targets.

‘At that time they were trying to conquer Great Britain and it was necessary large number weapons, STEN was quick and easy to assemble, and it was much better than nothing,” Dougherty writes in the book.

• Country: UK
• Commissioned: 1940
• Type: Submachine Gun
• Firing range: 70 meters
• Capacity: 32 rounds

Bazooka

One of the striking problems of the bazooka is mass outbreak, which it created when fired, the flash exposed the shooters position and gave them dust, debris and flames. Later versions of the bazooka included a rear armor shield.

‘The best thing about the bazooka was that it became the basis for best weapons“what came later,” writes Dougherty.

• Country: USA
• Commissioned: 1942
• Type: unguided anti-tank weapon
• Firing range: about 150 meters
• Capacity: Single rocket launcher/ 1.5 kg explosive

Revolver Le Ma

Was another great idea for a fight but suffered due to poor execution. Designed as a cavalry weapon in the end Civil War In the USA, the LeMa revolver has a 9-round drum and one cartridge in the lower barrel.

The shooter must switch the movable firing pin to select the projectile to fire. It was a great idea in theory, but in practice the weapon turned out to be very poorly designed and practically unsuitable for combat.

• Country: USA
• Commissioned: 1856
• Type: Pistol
• Shot range: 50 meters
• Capacity: 9 rounds

Curved weapon

Curved weapon looks like good idea, if only physicists, taking it from old American cartoons, could implement it in real life.

This weapon was supposed to fire from cover, with a curved barrel - 30 and 45 degrees, and had a periscopic sight mounted on a fairly standard assault rifle.

After spending time and money on the design, it was decided that this rifle would be expensive and unsuccessful to produce in large numbers.

• Country: Nazi Germany
• Commissioned: 1945
• Type: firearm
• Firing range: 2 km
• Capacity: 30 rounds

Shosha machine gun

In 1915, at the height of the First World War, the French Chauchat light machine gun showed by its example what a machine gun should not be.

The weapon was poorly made to the point that it fired very hard. The trigger mechanism often clogged, and even when it worked perfectly, 20 rounds per minute was not enough for combat.

• Country: France
• Commissioned: 1915
• Type: Support Weapon
• Firing range: about 1 km
• Capacity: 20 rounds

Gyrojet (rocket gun)

The Gyrojet gun was one of the most creative ideas in modern history firearms.

Gyrojet pistols used rocket propulsion to fire ammunition. However, the weapon was horribly inaccurate and was therefore discontinued.

• Country: USA
• Commissioned: 1965
• Type: Pistol
• Firing range: 55 meters
• Capacity: 6 rounds

Pistol Mars

At the beginning of the 20th century, inventors tried to create self-loading pistol. Eventually, the Colt M1911 would become the standard, but before that, many mistakes were made, such as the Mars pistol.

The Mars was very difficult to operate and ejected spent cartridges directly into the shooters' faces.

“About 80 were made, after which Mars was rightly discontinued,” writes Dougherty.

• Country: UK
• Commissioned: 1900
• Type: Pistol
• Firing range: 40 m
• Capacity: 6 rounds

Revolver-knuckle-knuckle-dagger Apache

Perhaps not a single weapon on this list can surpass the promises and ineffectiveness of the Apache revolver. This revolver was supposed to combine the effective ingredients of a knife, brass knuckles, and a rimfire revolver into a neat folding contraption.

The brass knuckle component works well enough, but the knife is thin and flimsy. A revolver with virtually no muzzle, which makes it weak and inaccurate. In addition, due to a careless hook, the shooter could fire unnecessary shots.

• Country: USA
• Commissioned: 1880
• Type: Personal Protection

Firing Range: Melee

On January 16, 1963, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev informed the world community that a new terrible weapon had appeared in the USSR destructive force- hydrogen bomb. Today is a review of the most destructive weapons.

Hydrogen "Tsar Bomb"

The most powerful hydrogen bomb in human history was exploded at the test site New Earth approximately 1.5 years before Khrushchev’s official statement about the USSR having a 100-megaton hydrogen bomb. The main purpose of the tests is demonstration military power USSR. At that time thermonuclear bomb, created in the USA, was almost 4 times weaker.

The Tsar Bomba exploded at an altitude of 4,200 m above sea level 188 seconds after being dropped from a bomber. The nuclear mushroom of the explosion rose to a height of 67 km, and the radius fireball the gap was 4.6 km. Shock wave circled 3 times from the explosion globe, and the ionization of the atmosphere created radio interference within a radius of hundreds of kilometers for 40 minutes. The temperature on the surface of the earth below the epicenter of the explosion was so high that the stones turned to ash. It is worth noting that the “Tsar Bomba”, or as it was also called, “Kuzka’s Mother”, was quite clean - 97% of the power came from the thermonuclear fusion reaction, which practically does not create radioactive contamination.

Atomic bomb

On July 16, 1945, the first explosive was tested in the desert near Alamogordo in the United States of America. nuclear device– a single-stage “Gadget” bomb based on plutonium.

In August 1945, the Americans demonstrated the power of new weapons to the whole world: the Americans dropped atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The USSR officially announced the presence atomic bomb March 8, 1950, thereby ending the US monopoly on the world's most destructive weapons.

Chemical weapons

The first ever use case chemical weapons in the war can be considered April 22, 1915, when Germany used chlorine against Russian soldiers near the Belgian city of Ypres. From a huge cloud of chlorine released from cylinders installed on the front flank of German positions, 15 thousand people were severely poisoned, of which 5 thousand died.

In World War II, Japan used chemical weapons many times during its conflict with China. During the bombing of the Chinese city of Woqu, the Japanese dropped 1,000 chemical shells, and later another 2,500 aerial bombs near Dingxiang. Chemical weapons were used by the Japanese until the end of the war. Total from poisonous chemicals 50 thousand people died, both among the military and among the civilian population.

Next step the Americans did in using chemical weapons. During the Vietnam War, they very actively used toxic substances, leaving the civilian population no chance of salvation. Since 1963, 72 million liters of defoliants have been sprayed over Vietnam. They were used to destroy forests in which Vietnamese partisans were hiding, and during bombing settlements. Dioxin, which was present in all mixtures, settled in the body and caused liver and blood diseases, and deformities in newborns. According to statistics, from chemical attacks About 4.8 million people were affected, some of them after the end of the war.

Laser weapons

In 2010, the Americans announced that they had carried out successful tests laser weapons. According to media reports, four unmanned aerial vehicles were shot down by a 32-megawatt laser cannon off the coast of California. aircraft. The planes were shot down from a distance of more than three kilometers. Previously, the Americans reported that they had successfully tested an air-launched laser, destroying ballistic missile.

Agency for missile defense The US notes that laser weapon will be in great demand, since it can be used to strike several targets at once at the speed of light at a distance of several hundred kilometers.

Biological weapons

The beginning of the use of biological weapons is attributed to ancient world, when in 1500 BC. The Hittites sent a plague to enemy lands. Many armies understood the power of biological weapons and left infected corpses in enemy fortresses. It is believed that the 10 plagues of the Bible are not vengeful acts of God, but biological warfare campaigns. One of the most dangerous viruses in the world is anthrax. In 2001, letters containing white powder began arriving at US Senate offices. There was a rumor that these were spores of the deadly bacterium Bacillus anthracis, which causes anthrax. 22 people were infected and 5 were killed. The deadly bacterium lives in the soil. A person can become infected anthrax, if he touches the spore, inhales or swallows it.

MLRS "Smerch"

Jet system volley fire Experts call “Smerch” the most terrible weapon after nuclear bomb. It takes only 3 minutes to prepare a 12-barreled Smerch for battle, and 38 seconds for a full salvo. "Smerch" allows you to conduct effective fight With modern tanks and other armored vehicles. Missile shells can be launched from the cockpit of a combat vehicle or using a remote control. Their combat characteristics“Smerch” stores in a wide temperature range - from +50 C to -50 C and at any time of the day.

Missile system "Topol-M"

The modernized Topol-M missile system forms the core of the entire group missile forces strategic purpose. The Topol-M intercontinental strategic complex is a 3-stage monoblock solid-fuel missile, “packed” in a transport and launch container. It can be stored in this packaging for 15 years. Service life missile complex, which is produced in both mine and ground versions - for more than 20 years. The one-piece Topol-M warhead can be replaced with a multiple warhead, carrying three independent warheads at once. This makes the missile invulnerable to air defense systems. The current agreements do not allow Russia to do this, but it is possible that the situation may change.

Specifications:
body length with head part - 22.7 m,
diameter - 1.86 m,
starting weight - 47.2 tons,
throwable combat load weight 1200 kg,
flight range - 11 thousand km.

Neutron bomb

The neutron bomb, created by the American scientist Samuel Cohen, destroys only living organisms and causes minimal destruction. The shock wave from a neutron bomb accounts for only 10-20% of the released energy, whereas with a conventional atomic explosion it accounts for about 50% of the energy.

Cohen himself said that his brainchild is “the most moral weapon that has ever been created.” In 1978, the USSR came up with a proposal to ban the production of neutron weapons, but this project did not find support in the West. In 1981, the United States began producing neutron charges, but today they are not in service.

Intercontinental ballistic missile RS-20 "Voevoda" (Satana)

Voevoda intercontinental ballistic missiles, created in the 1970s, terrify probable enemy only by the fact of its existence. SS-18 (model 5), as the Voevoda is classified, was included in the Guinness Book of Records as the most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile. It carries a 10,750 kiloton charge of independent homing warheads. Foreign analogues“Satan” has not yet been created.

Specifications:
hull length with head part – 34.3 m,
diameter - 3 m,
throwable combat load weight 8800 kg,
flight range - more than 11 thousand km.

Rocket "Sarmat"

In 2018 – 2020 Russian army will receive the latest heavy ballistic missile "Sarmat". Technical data of the missile have not yet been disclosed, but, according to military experts, new rocket surpasses in its characteristics the complex with the Voevoda heavy missile.

For everyone who is interested in the topic atomic weapons, we offer an overview of significant events in the history of the USSR and Russia.

There are different types of weapons: they shoot well and they shoot poorly!

1. Colt rifle with a rotating drum.

These rifles are good magnification firepower of the Old West. Since the 1830s, they have shown significant shortcomings. For example, after each shot, hot gas burned the shooter’s hand, and due to the special design of the rifle, gas leakage occurred in the front cylinder, and this negatively affected the speed of the bullet.

2. The Liberator.

This pistol was created from sheet metal for the resistance movement during World War II. Since most of the enemies were armed with semi-automatic pistols or machine guns, this pistol could only be fired once in the field, and reloading it was a very troublesome task (it’s easier to throw it away!).

3. Gyrojet.

In front of you is the Gyrojet - a hand-held rocket launcher that was created in the 1960s. It fired 13 mm rockets, differing from most firearms in that the speed of the fired rocket increased after it was fired from the barrel. But its main problem is insufficient firepower in close combat.

4. Boys Anti-tank Rifle.

At the beginning of World War II, this early anti-tank weapon began to be used, which looked like a 5-shot rifle, weighing 16 kg and firing armor-piercing cartridges at a distance of 300 meters. Its power was not enough to cope with the armor of German tanks, which is why it sank into oblivion.

5. Nock Volley Gun.

This pistol appeared in 1780. It used 7 50 caliber bullets that were fired simultaneously. Its deadly recoil could break the shoulder of any shooter.

6. Cochran's revolver.

This interesting revolver stands out for its horizontally rotating cylinder. Its significant drawback is that if handled incorrectly, it could shoot at the shooter himself.

7. Nambu (94 Shiki Kenju).

During World War II, this pistol was considered very powerful weapon, although it was very bulky and inconvenient to use. It was also considered more dangerous for the one who used it, since he could shoot at him.

8. Pepper Box revolver.

In the pre-Colt period this revolver was often used. Its disadvantages are the enormous weight due to the many barrels, horrific inaccuracy, the possibility of explosion and shooting from all barrels at once.

9. Grossflammenwerfer.

This is a German flamethrower from the First World War. To operate it, a team of 2 people was needed, which were usually convicts due to the high flammability of the weapon itself.

10. Shosha.

This French machine gun was so bad (dirt and dust penetrated into all its cracks, making it difficult to shoot) that the soldiers abandoned it in favor of a simple rifle.