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Armed with a main battery of 16-inch guns that could hit targets nearly 24 miles away with a variety of artillery shells, the Iowa-class were among the most heavily armed U.S. military ships ever put to see. The battleships’ main battery consisted of nine 16″/50 caliber Mark 7 guns in three-gun turrets, which could fire 2,700-pound (1,225 kg) armor-piercing shells some 23 miles (42.6 km). Secondary batteries consisted of twenty 5″/38 caliber guns mounted in twin-gun dual-purpose (DP) turrets, which could hit targets up to 9 miles (16.7 km) away.

Mrs. Yellen’s last year as Federal Reserve Chair will long be remembered as one in which she kept interest rates too low and the Fed’s balance sheet too large for too long. She did so in an apparent attempt to curry favor with President Donald Trump in her unsuccessful bid to get a second term as Fed Chair. In the process, she contributed importantly to the creation of a global everything asset and credit market bubble. It was only once she left the Fed and was safely ensconced at the Brookings Institution that she warned of the risk to the...

The United States military is currently seeking to replace its M4 Carbine and M249 squad assault weapon (SAW), while the M240 could also soon be replaced by a more modern platform. And while the M240’s replacement could even fill the role employed by the M2 .50 caliber, it isn’t likely the “Ma Deuce” will be retired anytime soon. Despite its nearly 90 years of service, it just does the job. It is just one of a few weapons that remained in the American arsenal for decades. Here are what I would argue are just a sample of some of the...

The British Army first used the Magazine Lee-Enfield in combat soon after it was introduced in 1895 in its campaign in the Sudan the following year. The bolt-action, magazine-fed repeating rifle was actually a redesign of the Lee-Metford that had only been adopted in 1888. Chambered in the new.303 British cartridge, the Lee-Enfield became the first British rifle to fire a “smokeless” cartridge.

In total there were more than 21 million background checks conducted last year, compared to just over 13 million in 2019, and while there has been a steady increase yearly of around 8 percent, 2020 saw that significant jump. According to data from the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), while December saw a 24 percent increase in year-over-year sales, just after the election in November sales jumped by 49 percent from the prior year.

The first rifle on my list is the venerable Ruger 10/22. Designed to mimic the size and weight of the historic M1 Carbine, this compact weapon has made a name for itself as one of the most accurate, reliable, and affordable .22s on the market. It works great for small game hunting or propped by the back door for varmints, and with a 10-round magazine, it can handle self-defense in a pinch. There is also an endless list of aftermarket accessories available, so you can customize your rifle with ease.

Now it seems that the PLAAF has taken it a bit further, as it conducted “simulated missile attacks” on the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) last month. According to The Aviationist, as many as 28 aircraft including as many as eight H-6 bombers “intruded” into Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) between Jan. 23 and 24 – just three days after President Joe Biden took officer.

In actuality, the shells were fired from 75 miles away from what has become known as the “Paris Gun” or “Emperor William Gun.” It had the longest range of any artillery weapon in history, but unlike the modern American platform that even on its first shot was within 300 feet of the intended target, the massive German weapon was only really useful against city-sized targets. As such it was more of a psychological weapon, but it did little to cause fear in Paris when it was employed.

The Air Force envisions the F-15EX as a sort of weapon truck, able to carry large munitions that the F-35 cannot. The F-35 can carry less than 6,000 pounds of munitions internally, whereas the F-15EX can carry almost 30,000 pounds of munitions on its external pylons. On battlefields with modern air defenses, the F-35 could stealthily collect targeting data and relay it to an F-15EX, which could then utilize advanced low-observable or hypersonic munitions to eliminate enemy targets.

There is a myriad of excellent tanks that have been built since the first British MkI rolled across the battlefields of Western Europe during the First World War. However, for every T-34, Leopard and M1 Abrams, there are tanks that rightfully belong on the scrap heap of history – yet instead of rusting away from memory, we should use these as examples of everything that went wrong. While I am sure many can make different choices based on a whole host of different factors, here are my picks for the five worst tanks ever.

The AVS-36 was Soviet Russia’s attempt at a fully-automatic service rifle, and it was a total flop. Though the AVS-36 had a high magazine capacity and was relatively lightweight, it was also virtually uncontrollable during fully-automatic firing.

The FBI reported that it processed a record 39.7 million firearm background checks in 2020, the most of any year since the law enforcement agency started recording sales data in 1998. Nine out of 10 of the highest weeks for FBI background checks were performed last year. 2020 saw a 34 percent increase over the previous high of 15.7 million in background checks that had been conducted in 2016.

Firearms design isn’t easy, and even trained engineers have had trouble turning a concept into a reliable weapon. And while countless small arms used by the United States Army became the stuff of legend, for every success like the Thompson submachine gun or M1 Garand there are those guns that are best forgotten. While we won’t claim this is comprehensive, here are our top picks of some of the worst U.S. Army guns ever. Thankfully, most never saw wide service on the battlefield, or none at all.

Two of Germany’s defense industry heavyweights, MBDA Deutschland and Rheinmetall have been awarded a federal contract to built and develop a laser weapon demonstrator that will be tested at sea. The project’s timeline is ambitious, with fabrication, assembly, and installation to be completed by the end of this year, with testing in “near-operational conditions,” and the first for a German Naval Frigate. In keeping with German timidity and reluctance towards all things defense-related, MBDA’s press release stressed the defensive nature of the weapon and laser’s minimal collateral damage potential.

Effective at ranges out to 2,000 meters, the SIG Sauer MG 338 machine gun has a greater range than the M240 platoon-level machine gun. It has a rate of fire of 600 pounds and is chambered in the hard-hitting .338 Norma Magnum (8.6x63mm) round, and yet it weighs in at just around 21 pounds. It is easy to see why a year ago the U.S. Special Operation Command (UUSOCOM) selected the MG 338 for evaluation to bridge the gap between the M240, chambered in 7.62×51 NATO, and the Browning M2 heavy .50 caliber machine gun. The MG 338 could help...

Much debate remains on whether the Lockheed Martin SR-72, affectionately known as the “Son of the Blackbird,” is actually real. It reportedly could be making an appearance in the upcoming film Top Gun: Maverick, the sequel to the 1986 film Top Gun, starring Tom Cruise. While there is no doubt that the aircraft may be in the production stage, whether it is ready to take to the skies is the other question. Another question is what its actual role could be in the U.S. military, but more on that in a moment.

There are numerous debates that will likely never be resolved – Coke vs. Pepsi, rock vs. country – but when it comes to firearms, the debate goes deeper than mere opinion, especially when it is the AK-47 vs. M16. Both were developed during the Cold War, and while Soviet soldiers and Americans never actually met (fortunately) on the battlefield, the weapons have been used against one another in countless other conflicts. Unlike ongoing debates over whether a Glock is better than a SIG Sauer or if 9mm is superior to .45 APC, the assault weapon debate is one where soldiers...

It was almost a decade ago that Iran first unveiled its domestically-produced 14.5mm Shaher anti-material sniper rifle, but since its introduction, a lingering question has been whether it is actually up to the task. The Islamic Republic has faced an arms embargo for years, and it attempted to create its own domestic arms industry. To say the results have been “mixed” at best is a huge understatement. Iranian hardware may at times look good, but goods are always secondary to performance.

Too ‘fat’ to fight?: Ironically the M1 Abrams tank has become more logistically complicated as it has become better armed and better protected, resulting in a platform that some would argue is of dubious combat effectiveness. The Challenge There is an argument to be made that the United Sates’s main battle tank, the venerable M1 Abrams, is the best-protected, most effective, and certainly one of the most combat-tested tanks in the world.