1.
Japan Ground Self-Defense Force
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The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, or JGSDF, is the main branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, responsible for land-based military operations, and is the de facto army of Japan. Created on July 1,1954, it is the largest of the three services of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, the JGSDF is chiefly tasked with maintaining internal security in Japan. The Force operates under the command of the chief of the staff, based in the city of Ichigaya, Shinjuku. The present chief of staff is General Kiyofumi Iwata, the JGSDF numbered around 150,000 soldiers in 2008. As of 2010, the remained the same at approximately 150,000 personnel. Japan accepted the Potsdam Declaration in 1945, and, in compliance with Article 9, both were replaced by the United States Armed Forces occupation force, which assumed responsibility for the external defense of Japan. On the outbreak of the Korean War, many U. S. units were transferred to Korea, accordingly, in mid-1952, the National Police Reserve was expanded to 110,000 men and named the National Safety Forces. Japan continued to improve its defensive capabilities, the enabling legislation for this was the 1954 Self-Defense Forces Act. For a long period, the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force possessed an ability to hold off a Soviet invasion of Hokkaido. Zbigniew Brzezinski observed in 1972 that it seemed optimized to fight ‘a Soviet invasion conducted on American patterns of a quarter of a century ago, in 1989, basic training for lower-secondary and upper-secondary academy graduates began in the training brigade and lasted approximately three months. Specialized enlisted and non-commissioned officer candidate courses were available in branch schools, advanced technical, flight, medical and command and staff officer courses were also run by the JGSDF. Like the maritime and air forces, the JGSDF ran a youth cadet program offering technical training to school graduates below military age in return for a promise of enlistment. Because of population density and urbanization on the Japanese islands, only limited areas are available for large-scale training, the JGSDF has two reserve components, the rapid-reaction reserve component and the main reserve component. Members of the rapid-reaction component train 30 days a year, members of the main reserve train five days a year. As of December 2007, there were 8,425 members of the reserve component and 22,404 members of the main reserve component. JGSDF divisions and brigades are combined arms units with infantry, armored and they are regionally independent and permanent entities. The divisions strength varies from 6,000 to 9,000 personnel
2.
Self-propelled artillery
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Self-propelled artillery is artillery equipped with its own propulsion system to move towards its target. Within the term are covered self-propelled guns and rocket artillery and they are high mobility vehicles, usually based on continuous tracks carrying either a large howitzer, field gun, a mortar or some form of rocket or missile launcher. They are usually used for long-range indirect bombardment support on the battlefield, in the past, self-propelled artillery has included direct-fire vehicles, such as assault guns and tank destroyers. These have been heavily armoured vehicles, the former providing close fire-support for infantry, modern self-propelled artillery vehicles may superficially resemble tanks, but they are generally lightly armoured, too lightly to survive in direct-fire combat. However, they protect their crews against shrapnel and small arms and are usually included as armoured fighting vehicles. Many are equipped with guns for defense against enemy infantry. The key advantage of self-propelled over towed artillery is that it can be brought into action much faster, before the towed artillery can be used, it has to stop, unlimber and set up the guns. To move position, the guns must be limbered up again, by comparison, self-propelled artillery can stop at a chosen location and begin firing almost immediately, then quickly move on to a new position. This shoot-and-scoot ability is useful in a mobile conflict and particularly on the advance. Conversely, towed artillery was and remains cheaper to build and maintain and it is also lighter and can be taken to places that self-propelled guns cannot reach. Since the Vietnam War, heavy transport helicopters have also used for rapid artillery deployment. So, despite the advantages of the artillery, towed guns remain in the arsenals of many modern armies. During the Thirty Years War, early 17th century experiments were made with early types of horse artillery, batteries towed light field guns where most or all of the crew rode horses into battle. The gunners were trained to quickly dismount, deploy the guns and provide instant fire support to cavalry, the Russian army organized small units of horse artillery that were distributed among their cavalry formations in the early 18th century. While not forming large batteries and employing only lighter 2- and 3-pound guns, they were still effective and this inspired Frederick the Great to organize the first regular horse artillery unit in 1759. The British Gun Carrier Mark I was the first example of a self-propelled gun and it was based on the first tank, the British Mark I and carried a heavy field gun. The gun could either be fired from the vehicle, or removed, in effect, the carrier replaced the use of a separate horse team or internal combustion engine powered artillery tractor, and allowed a new way for the gun to be used. The next major advance can be seen in the Birch gun developed by the British for their motorised warfare experimental brigade after the end of the War
3.
Vietnam War
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It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam and the government of South Vietnam. The war is considered a Cold War-era proxy war. As the war continued, the actions of the Viet Cong decreased as the role. U. S. and South Vietnamese forces relied on air superiority and overwhelming firepower to conduct search and destroy operations, involving ground forces, artillery, in the course of the war, the U. S. conducted a large-scale strategic bombing campaign against North Vietnam. The North Vietnamese government and the Viet Cong were fighting to reunify Vietnam and they viewed the conflict as a colonial war and a continuation of the First Indochina War against forces from France and later on the United States. The U. S. government viewed its involvement in the war as a way to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam and this was part the domino theory of a wider containment policy, with the stated aim of stopping the spread of communism. Beginning in 1950, American military advisors arrived in what was then French Indochina, U. S. involvement escalated in the early 1960s, with troop levels tripling in 1961 and again in 1962. Regular U. S. combat units were deployed beginning in 1965, despite the Paris Peace Accord, which was signed by all parties in January 1973, the fighting continued. In the U. S. and the Western world, a large anti-Vietnam War movement developed as part of a larger counterculture, the war changed the dynamics between the Eastern and Western Blocs, and altered North–South relations. Direct U. S. military involvement ended on 15 August 1973, the capture of Saigon by the North Vietnamese Army in April 1975 marked the end of the war, and North and South Vietnam were reunified the following year. The war exacted a huge human cost in terms of fatalities, estimates of the number of Vietnamese soldiers and civilians killed vary from 966,000 to 3.8 million. Some 240, 000–300,000 Cambodians,20, 000–62,000 Laotians, and 58,220 U. S. service members died in the conflict. Various names have applied to the conflict. Vietnam War is the most commonly used name in English and it has also been called the Second Indochina War and the Vietnam Conflict. As there have been several conflicts in Indochina, this conflict is known by the names of its primary protagonists to distinguish it from others. In Vietnamese, the war is known as Kháng chiến chống Mỹ. It is also called Chiến tranh Việt Nam, France began its conquest of Indochina in the late 1850s, and completed pacification by 1893. The 1884 Treaty of Huế formed the basis for French colonial rule in Vietnam for the seven decades
4.
1982 Lebanon War
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The military operation was launched after gunmen from Abu Nidals organization attempted to assassinate Shlomo Argov, Israels ambassador to the United Kingdom. Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin blamed Abu Nidals enemy, the PLO, for the incident, the PLO, under the chairmanship of Yasser Arafat, had relocated its headquarters to Tripoli in June 1982. Following the assassination of Gemayel in September 1982, Israels position in Beirut became untenable and the signing of a peace treaty became increasingly unlikely. After Israeli forces withdrew from most of Lebanon, the War of the Camps broke out between Lebanese factions, the remains of the PLO and Syria, in which Syria fought its former Palestinian allies. At the same time, Shia militant groups began consolidating and waging a low-intensity guerrilla war over the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon, the Lebanese Civil War would continue until 1990, at which point Syria had established complete dominance over Lebanon. After the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, Lebanon became home to more than 110,000 Palestinian refugees, after their settlements in Palestine and Israel had been depopulated as a result of the war. After its founding in 1964 and the radicalization among Palestinians, which followed the Six Day War, continual violence near the Lebanese border occurred between Israel and the PLO starting from 1968, this peaked, following the relocation of PLO bases to Lebanon after the civil war in Jordan. The violence between Israel and the PLO peaked during Operation Litani in 1978, provoked by the Coastal Road Massacre which was carried out by Palestinian militants, as early as 1976, Israel had been assisting Lebanese Christian militias in their sporadic battles against the PLO. But Israels main partner was to be the Maronite Phalange party, whose paramilitary was led by Bashir Gemayel, gemayels strategy during the early stages of the Lebanese Civil War was to provoke the Syrians into retaliatory attacks on Christians, such that Israel could not ignore. In 1978, Menachem Begin declared that Israel would not allow a genocide of Lebanese Christians, hundreds of Lebanese militiamen began to train in Israel, at the IDF Staff and Command College. During the period June to December 1980 the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon recorded an increase in activities along the border zone, during the same period Israel protested numerous attacks by Palestinian forces, unrelated to the Lebanese border zone. In contrast the IDF had launched attacks on Lebanese territory often in support of the Lebanese Christian militia. In doing so Israel had violated UN Security Council resolution 425 on hundreds of occasions, in the subsequent period 16 June to 10 December 1981, a relative quiet was reported continuing from 29 May 1981 until 10 July. This was broken when Israeli aircraft resumed strikes against targets in southern Lebanon north of the UNIFIL area, led to exchanges of heavy firing between armed elements, on the one hand, and IDF and the de facto forces on the other. On 13 and 14 July, widespread Israeli air-strikes continued, armed elements fired into the enclave and northern Israel. Israeli-initiated attacks had led to rocket and artillery fire on northern Israel and this pattern continued in the coming days. Israel renewed its air strikes in an attempt to trigger a war that would allow it to out the PLO. On 17 July, the Israel Air Force launched an attack on PLO buildings in downtown Beirut
5.
Gulf War
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The Iraqi Armys occupation of Kuwait that began 2 August 1990 was met with international condemnation, and brought immediate economic sanctions against Iraq by members of the UN Security Council. US President George H. W. Bush deployed US forces into Saudi Arabia, an array of nations joined the coalition, the largest military alliance since World War II. The great majority of the military forces were from the US, with Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia paid around US$32 billion of the US$60 billion cost, the war was marked by the introduction of live news broadcasts from the front lines of the battle, principally by the US network CNN. The war has also earned the nickname Video Game War after the daily broadcast of images from cameras on board US bombers during Operation Desert Storm. The initial conflict to expel Iraqi troops from Kuwait began with an aerial and naval bombardment on 17 January 1991 and this was followed by a ground assault on 24 February. This was a victory for the coalition forces, who liberated Kuwait. The coalition ceased its advance, and declared a ceasefire 100 hours after the campaign started. Aerial and ground combat was confined to Iraq, Kuwait, Iraq launched Scud missiles against coalition military targets in Saudi Arabia and against Israel. The following names have been used to describe the conflict itself, Gulf War, a problem with these terms is that the usage is ambiguous, having now been applied to at least three conflicts, see Gulf War. The use of the term Persian Gulf is also disputed, see Persian Gulf naming dispute, with no consensus of naming, various publications have attempted to refine the name. Other language terms include French, la Guerre du Golfe and German, Golfkrieg, German, Zweiter Golfkrieg, French, most of the coalition states used various names for their operations and the wars operational phases. Operation Desert Storm was the US name of the conflict from 17 January 1991. Operation Desert Sabre was the US name for the offensive against the Iraqi Army in the Kuwaiti Theater of Operations from 24–28 February 1991, in itself. Operation Desert Farewell was the given to the return of US units and equipment to the US in 1991 after Kuwaits liberation. Operation Granby was the British name for British military activities during the operations, Opération Daguet was the French name for French military activities in the conflict. Operation Friction was the name of the Canadian operations Operazione Locusta was the Italian name for the operations, in addition, various phases of each operation may have a unique operational name. The US divided the conflict into three campaigns, Defense of Saudi Arabian country for the period 2 August 1990, through 16 January 1991
6.
General Motors
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With global headquarters at the Renaissance Center in Detroit, Michigan, United States, GM manufactures cars and trucks in 35 countries. In 2008,8.35 million GM cars and trucks were sold globally under various brands, current auto brands are Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Holden, and Wuling. Former GM automotive brands include McLaughlin, Oakland, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Hummer, Saab, Saturn, Vauxhall, the company was founded by William C. Durant on September 16,1908 as a holding company. The company was the largest automobile manufacturer from 1931 through 2007, in addition to brands selling assembled vehicles, GM also has had various automotive-component and non-automotive brands, many of which it divested in the 1980s through 2000s. General Motors produces vehicles in 37 countries under twelve brands, Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, Holden, HSV, Opel, Vauxhall, Wuling, Baojun, Jie Fang, and Ravon. The current company, General Motors Company LLC, was formed in 2009 following the bankruptcy of General Motors Corporation, the new company purchased the majority of the assets of the old GM, including the brand General Motors. In addition to its twelve brands, General Motors also holds a 20% stake in IMM, General Motors employs 212,000 people and does business in more than 140 countries. General Motors is divided into five segments, GM North America, Opel Group, GM International Operations, GM South America. General Motors led global vehicle sales for 77 consecutive years from 1931 through 2007, longer any other automaker. General Motors acts in most countries outside the U. S. via wholly owned subsidiaries, GMs OnStar subsidiary provides vehicle safety, security and information services. In 2009, General Motors shed several brands, closing Saturn, Pontiac, and Hummer, in 2010, the reorganized GM made an initial public offering that was one of the worlds top five largest IPOs to date, and returned to profitability later that year. General Motors Corporation was formed on September 16,1908, in Flint, Michigan, GMs co-founder was Charles Stewart Mott, whose carriage company was merged into Buick prior to GMs creation. Over the years, Mott became the largest single stockholder in GM, and spent his life with his Mott Foundation, GM acquired Oldsmobile later that year. In 1909, Durant brought in Cadillac, Elmore, Oakland, also in 1909, GM acquired the Reliance Motor Truck Company of Owosso, Michigan, and the Rapid Motor Vehicle Company of Pontiac, Michigan, the predecessors of GMC Truck. Durant, along with R. S. McLaughlin, lost control of GM in 1910 to a bankers trust, because of the amount of debt taken on in its acquisitions. The next year, Durant started the Chevrolet Motor Car Company in the U. S. and in Canada in 1915, Durant took back control of the company after one of the most dramatic proxy wars in American business history. Durant then reorganized General Motors Company into General Motors Corporation in 1916, merging Chevrolet with GM, shortly thereafter, he again lost control, this time for good, after the new vehicle market collapsed. These facilities were added to the factories that were exclusive to Cadillac, Buick, Oldsmobile, Oakland
7.
Vehicle armour
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Military vehicles are commonly armoured to withstand the impact of shrapnel, bullets, missiles or shells, protecting the personnel inside from enemy fire. Such vehicles include armoured fighting vehicles like tanks, aircraft and ships, civilian vehicles may also be armoured. These vehicles include cars used by reporters, officials and others in conflict zones or where violent crime is common, armoured cars are also routinely used by security firms to carry money or valuables to reduce the risk of highway robbery or the hijacking of the cargo. Armour may also be used in vehicles to protect from other than a deliberate attack. Some spacecraft are equipped with specialised armour to protect them against impacts from micrometeoroids or fragments of space junk, the design and purpose of the vehicle determines the amount of armour plating carried, as the plating is often very heavy and excessive amounts of armour restrict mobility. In order to decrease this problem, some new materials and material compositions are being researched which include buckypaper, rolled homogeneous armour is strong, hard, and tough. Steel with these characteristics is produced by processing cast steel billets of appropriate size, rolling and forging irons out the grain structure in the steel, removing imperfections which would reduce the strength of the steel. Aluminium is used when weight is a necessity. It is most commonly used on APCs and armoured cars, wrought iron was used on ironclad warships. Early European iron armour consisted of 10 to 13 cm of wrought iron backed by up to one meter of solid wood, titanium is roughly the weight of aluminium, but as strong as iron. So despite being rather expensive, it finds an application in areas where weight is a concern, such as personal armour, because of its high density, depleted uranium can also be used in tank armour, sandwiched between sheets of steel armour plate. Plastic metal was a type of vehicle armour originally developed for merchant ships by the British Admiralty in 1940, the original composition was described as 50% clean granite of half-inch size, 43% of limestone mineral, and 7% of bitumen. It was typically applied in a two inches thick and backed by half an inch of steel. Plastic armour could be applied by pouring it into a cavity formed by the backing plate. Bulletproof glass is a term for glass that is particularly resistant to being penetrated when struck by bullets. The industry generally refers to it as bullet-resistant glass or transparent armour, bullet-resistant glass is usually constructed using a strong but transparent material such as polycarbonate thermoplastic or by using layers of laminated glass. The desired result is a material with the appearance and light-transmitting behaviour of standard glass, the polycarbonate layer, usually consisting of products such as Armormax, Makroclear, Cyrolon, Lexan or Tuffak, is often sandwiched between layers of regular glass. The use of plastic in the laminate provides impact-resistance, such as physical assault with a hammer, the plastic provides little in the way of bullet-resistance
8.
Torsion bar suspension
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A torsion bar suspension, also known as a torsion spring suspension, is a general term for any vehicle suspension that uses a torsion bar as its main weight bearing spring. Vertical motion of the causes the bar to twist around its axis and is resisted by the bars torsion resistance. The effective spring rate of the bar is determined by its length, cross section, shape, material, manufacturers change the torsion bar or key to adjust the ride height, usually to compensate for heavier or lighter engines. Over-rotating the torsion bars can cause the suspension to hit the bump-stop prematurely. Aftermarket forged-metal torsion key kits use relocked adjuster keys to prevent over-rotation, the main advantages of a torsion bar suspension are durability, easy adjustability of ride height, and small profile along the width of the vehicle. It takes up less of the interior volume than coil springs. Torsion bars reached the height of their popularity on mass-production road cars in the middle of the 20th century at the time that unitary construction was being adopted. Using MacPherson struts to achieve independent front suspension with coil springs meant providing strong turrets in the structure of the car. A disadvantage is that torsion bars, unlike coil springs, usually provide a progressive spring rate. In most torsion bar systems, ride height may be changed by simply adjusting bolts that connect the torsion bars to the steering knuckles, in most cars with this type of suspension, swapping torsion bars for a different spring rate is usually an easy task. Some vehicles use torsion bars to provide automatic levelling, using a motor to pre-stress the bars to provide resistance to load and, in some cases. Height adjustable suspension has been used to implement a wheel-change mode where the vehicle is raised on three wheels so that the wheel is lifted off the ground without the aid of a jack. Before World War II, the front wheel drive Citroen Traction Avant had independent front torsion bar suspension, the flexibility of the axle beam provided wheel location features like a twist beam axle. The Czechoslovakian Tatra cars designed by Professor Hans Ledwinka in the mid-1930s used all round independent torsion bar suspension, also in the 1930s, prototypes of the first Volkswagen Beetle incorporated torsion bars—especially its transverse mounting style. The system first saw use in the Swedish Stridsvagn L-60 tank of 1934. It was used extensively in European cars Renault, Citroën and Volkswagen, the Packard used torsion bars at both front and rear, and interconnected the front and rear systems to improve ride quality. Morris Minor and Oxford from the late 1940s onwards used a front torsion bar system very similar to the Citroen, the single torsion bar was mounted through the frame sides behind the rear axle and then attached by arms and links to the front side of the spring U-bolt plates. Axle Flex was discontinued for the 1936 model year, the designer of these cars, Alec Issigonis was inspired by the Traction Avants suspension although the Morris cars were rear-wheel drive and used conventional leaf springs for their rear axles
9.
Howitzer
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In the taxonomies of artillery pieces used by European armies in the 17th to 20th centuries, the howitzer stood between the gun and the mortar. Howitzers, like other artillery equipment, are organized in groups called batteries. The English word howitzer comes from the Czech word houfnice, from houf, crowd, haufen, sometimes in the compound Gewalthaufen, also designated a pike square formation in German. This is particularly true in the forces of the United States. Because of this practice, the howitzer is used in some armies as a generic term for any kind of artillery piece that is designed to attack targets using indirect fire. Thus, artillery pieces that bear resemblance to howitzers of earlier eras are now described as howitzers. Most other armies in the reserve the word howitzer for guns with barrel lengths 15 to 25 times their caliber. The British had a method of nomenclature. In the 18th century, they adopted projectile weight for guns replacing the old naming system of culverin, saker, mortars had been categorized by calibre in inches in the 17th century and this was inherited by howitzers. The modern howitzers were invented in Sweden towards the end of the 17th century, originally intended for use in siege warfare, they were particularly useful for delivering cast-iron shells filled with gunpowder or incendiary materials into the interior of fortifications. In the middle of the 18th century, a number of European armies began to introduce howitzers that were enough to accompany armies in the field. Though usually fired at the high angles of fire used by contemporary siege howitzers. Rather, as the guns of the day were usually restricted to inert projectiles. Many, for the sake of simplicity and rapidity of fire, the Abus gun was an early form of howitzer in the Ottoman Empire. In 1758 the Russian Empire introduced a type of howitzer, with a conical chamber, called a licorne. The most famous of these gun-howitzers was the Napoleon 12-pounder, a weapon of French design that saw service in the American Civil War. The longest-serving artillery piece of the 19th century was the mountain howitzer, in 1859, the armies of Europe began to rearm field batteries with rifled field guns. These new field pieces used cylindrical projectiles that, while smaller in caliber than the spherical shells of smoothbore field howitzers, moreover, their greater range let them create many of the same effects that previously required the sharply curved trajectories of smoothbore field howitzers
10.
United States Army
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The United States Armed Forces are the federal armed forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, from the time of its inception, the military played a decisive role in the history of the United States. A sense of unity and identity was forged as a result of victory in the First Barbary War. Even so, the Founders were suspicious of a permanent military force and it played an important role in the American Civil War, where leading generals on both sides were picked from members of the United States military. Not until the outbreak of World War II did a standing army become officially established. The National Security Act of 1947, adopted following World War II and during the Cold Wars onset, the U. S. military is one of the largest militaries in terms of number of personnel. It draws its personnel from a pool of paid volunteers. As of 2016, the United States spends about $580.3 billion annually to fund its military forces, put together, the United States constitutes roughly 40 percent of the worlds military expenditures. For the period 2010–14, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute found that the United States was the worlds largest exporter of major arms, the United States was also the worlds eighth largest importer of major weapons for the same period. The history of the U. S. military dates to 1775 and these forces demobilized in 1784 after the Treaty of Paris ended the War for Independence. All three services trace their origins to the founding of the Continental Army, the Continental Navy, the United States President is the U. S. militarys commander-in-chief. Rising tensions at various times with Britain and France and the ensuing Quasi-War and War of 1812 quickened the development of the U. S. Navy, the reserve branches formed a military strategic reserve during the Cold War, to be called into service in case of war. Time magazines Mark Thompson has suggested that with the War on Terror, Command over the armed forces is established in the United States Constitution. The sole power of command is vested in the President by Article II as Commander-in-Chief, the Constitution also allows for the creation of executive Departments headed principal officers whose opinion the President can require. This allowance in the Constitution formed the basis for creation of the Department of Defense in 1947 by the National Security Act, the Defense Department is headed by the Secretary of Defense, who is a civilian and member of the Cabinet. The Defense Secretary is second in the chain of command, just below the President. Together, the President and the Secretary of Defense comprise the National Command Authority, to coordinate military strategy with political affairs, the President has a National Security Council headed by the National Security Advisor. The collective body has only power to the President
11.
M115 howitzer
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The M115203 mm howitzer, also known as the M1158 inch howitzer, was a towed howitzer developed and used by the United States Army. Until the 1950s it was designated the 8 inch Howitzer M1, the original design started in 1919 but lapsed until resurrected in 1927 as a partner-piece for a new 155 mm gun. It was standardized as 8 inch Howitzer M1 in 1940, the M115/M1 was towed by the M35 Prime Mover gun tractor or a Mack 7⅓ ton 6×6 truck. The M115 was towed with 21 men per gun, and was shipped over to Germany Oct 1961 in response to the Berlin Crisis, like the British BL8 inch Howitzer of the First World War, the M115 uses a Welin screw for its breech. The carriage was the same as used for the US155 mm gun and was adopted by the British for their 7.2 inch Mark 6 howitzer. It consists of equilibrator assemblies, elevating and traversing mechanisms, two single-wheel, single-axle heavy limber, and a bogie with eight tires and two trails. Four spades, carried on the trails, are used to emplace the weapon, the British 8 inch howitzer was produced in England and under license in the US, for the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe during World War I, as the 8-inch Howitzer MK. It was in service with the US Army till replaced by the M115, there are no reports of the MK. VI or another marks being used during World War II, the first photos of the M115 type 8 inch cannon on its redesign carriage appeared in 1931 but development was slowed by the Great Depression. The M115 saw U. S. service in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. It was also adopted as a weapon by a number of nations in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia and saw service in the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis. United States Republic of China Croatia, former operator,24 systems Denmark, former operator 1953–1992,12 systems Greece, former operator Italy, - Gruppo Artiglieria Pesante Rovigo, 1° Gr. A. Pe. - Gruppo Artiglieria Pesante Adige, Gruppo A. U. C. -T. M, the resulting vehicle was initially designated 8 inch Howitzer Motor Carriage T89 and eventually standardized as 8 inch Howitzer Motor Carriage M43. A total of 48 units were built,8 inch Howitzer Motor Carriage T80 – based on T23 Medium Tank chassis, never advanced past proposal stage. 8 inch Howitzer Motor Carriage T84 – based on T26 Medium Tank chassis, the howitzer was mounted on a purpose-built tracked chassis to become the 8 inch Self-Propelled Howitzer M110. Notably accuracy and rate of fire suffered from having to depress the cannon tube to loading elevation for each round in order to use the track-mounted auto loader, the howitzer fired separate loading, bagged charge ammunition, with seven different propelling charges, from 1 to 7. The M454 Nuclear shell had its own M80 cartridge with three propelling charges, hunnicutt, R. P. Pershing, A History of the Medium Tank T20 Series. Technical Manual TM 9-1901, Artillery Ammunition, missing Lynx TM 9-2300 Standard Artillery and fire Control Material TM 9-335 TM 9-1350 Media related to M115203 mm howitzer at Wikimedia Commons
12.
World War I
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World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
13.
Muzzle brake
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A muzzle brake or recoil compensator is a device connected to the muzzle of a firearm or cannon that redirects propellant gases to counter recoil and unwanted rising of the barrel during rapid fire. They have been used in forms for rifles and pistols to help control recoil. They are used on pistols for practical pistol competitions, and are usually called compensators in this context, the interchangeable terms muzzle rise, muzzle flip, or muzzle climb refer to the tendency of a handheld firearms front end to rise after firing. Firearms with less height from the line to the barrel centerline tend to experience less muzzle rise. The muzzle rises primarily because, for most firearms, the centerline of the barrel is above the center of contact between the shooter and the grip and stock. The reactive forces from the bullet and propellant gases exiting the muzzle act directly down the centerline of the barrel. If that line of force is above the center of the points, this creates a moment or torque rotational force that makes the firearm rotate. The M1946 Sieg automatic rifle had a muzzle brake that made the rifle climb downward. Muzzle brakes are simple in concept, such as the one employed on the 90 mm M3 gun used on the M47 Patton tank and this consists of a small length of tubing mounted at right angles to the end of the barrel. Brakes most often utilize slots, vents, holes, baffles, the strategy of a muzzle brake is to redirect and control the burst of combustion gases that follows the departure of a projectile. All muzzle brake designs share a basic principle, they partially divert combustion gases at a sideways angle. The momentum of the diverted gases thus does not add to the recoil, the angle toward which the gases are directed will fundamentally affect how the brake behaves. If gases are directed upward, they exert a downward force. Construction of a brake or compensator can be as simple as a diagonal cut at the muzzle end of the barrel to direct some of the escaping gas upward. On the AKM assault rifle, the brake also angles slightly to the right to counteract the movement of the rifle under recoil. Another simple method is porting, where holes or slots are machined into the barrel near the muzzle to allow the gas to escape, more advanced designs use baffles and expansion chambers to slow escaping gases. This is the principle behind a linear compensator. Ports are often added to the chambers, producing the long
14.
5th Battalion, 10th Marines
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5th Battalion 10th Marines was a US artillery battalion comprising three firing batteries and a headquarters battery. The battalion was stationed at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, USA and its weapon system was the M777A2 howitzer. They fell under the command of the 10th Marine Regiment and the 2nd Marine Division, provide direct support to 2nd Marine Division in time of conflict. That support may come in the fashion of artillery fires to maneuver forces. The battalion also has the mission of providing civil affairs. The battalion has currently returned from a deployment to Helmand Province. The battalion served as the 2D Marine Expeditionary Brigade Headquarters Group. S, offensive of World War II on 7 August 1942 against a Japanese sniper position on Guadalcanal. After earning two Presidential Unit Citations for service on Guadalcanal and Tarawa, the briefly switched designations to 5th Battalion. The battalion was deactivated in 1945, and its guns remained silent until 1954 when it was re-activated, the battalion was re-designated 5th Battalion, 10th Marines, 2d Marine Division in 1978 and served as the division’s general support artillery battalion. Corporal Besst and Corporal Fuapel distinguished themselves as outstanding Artillery Marines, the battalion most recently served as the Brigade Headquarters Group for 2d Marine Expeditionary Brigade while deployed to Southern Afghanistan. The battalion was deployed as a Civil Affairs Group in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2007, the battalion was deactivated on 1 June 2012 at Camp Lejuene, N. C
15.
British Army
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The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom. As of 2017 the British Army comprises just over 80,000 trained Regular, or full-time, personnel and just over 26,500 trained Reserve, or part-time personnel. Therefore, the UK Parliament approves the continued existence of the Army by passing an Armed Forces Act at least once every five years, day to day the Army comes under administration of the Ministry of Defence and is commanded by the Chief of the General Staff. Repeatedly emerging victorious from these decisive wars allowed Britain to influence world events with its policies and establish itself as one of the leading military. In 1660 the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were restored under Charles II, Charles favoured the foundation of a new army under royal control and began work towards its establishment by August 1660. The Royal Scots Army and the Irish Army were financed by the Parliament of Scotland, the order of seniority of the most senior line regiments in the British Army is based on the order of seniority in the English army. At that time there was only one English regiment of dragoons, after William and Marys accession to the throne, England involved itself in the War of the Grand Alliance, primarily to prevent a French invasion restoring Marys father, James II. Spain, in the two centuries, had been the dominant global power, and the chief threat to Englands early transatlantic ambitions. The territorial ambitions of the French, however, led to the War of the Spanish Succession and the Napoleonic Wars. From the time of the end of the Seven Years War in 1763, Great Britain was the naval power. As had its predecessor, the English Army, the British Army fought the Kingdoms of Spain, France, and the Netherlands for supremacy in North America and the West Indies. With native and provincial assistance, the Army conquered New France in the North American theatre of the Seven Years War, the British Army suffered defeat in the American War of Independence, losing the Thirteen Colonies but holding on to Canada. The British Army was heavily involved in the Napoleonic Wars and served in campaigns across Europe. The war between the British and the First French Empire of Napoleon Bonaparte stretched around the world and at its peak, in 1813, the regular army contained over 250,000 men. A Coalition of Anglo-Dutch and Prussian Armies under the Duke of Wellington, the English had been involved, both politically and militarily, in Ireland since being given the Lordship of Ireland by the Pope in 1171. The campaign of the English republican Protector, Oliver Cromwell, involved uncompromising treatment of the Irish towns that had supported the Royalists during the English Civil War, the English Army stayed in Ireland primarily to suppress numerous Irish revolts and campaigns for independence. Having learnt from their experience in America, the British government sought a political solution, the British Army found itself fighting Irish rebels, both Protestant and Catholic, primarily in Ulster and Leinster in the 1798 rebellion. The Haldane Reforms of 1907 formally created the Territorial Force as the Armys volunteer reserve component by merging and reorganising the Volunteer Force, Militia, Great Britains dominance of the world had been challenged by numerous other powers, in the 20th century, most notably Germany
16.
GBU-28
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The Guided Bomb Unit 28 is a 5, 000-pound laser-guided bunker busting bomb nicknamed Deep Throat produced originally by the Watervliet Arsenal, Watervliet, New York. It was designed, manufactured, and deployed in less than three weeks due to an urgent need during Operation Desert Storm to penetrate hardened Iraqi command centers located deep underground, only two of the weapons were dropped in Desert Storm, both by F-111Fs. The Enhanced GBU-28 augments the laser-guidance with Inertial navigation and GPS guidance systems, in August 1990, the U. S. military began planning an air offensive campaign against Iraq. Planners noticed that a few command and control bunkers in Baghdad were located underground to withstand heavy fire. By January 1991, as the Persian Gulf War was well underway, the initial batch of GBU-28s was built from modified 8 inch/203 mm artillery barrels, but later examples are purpose-built with the BLU-113 bomb body made by National Forge of Irvine, Pennsylvania. They weigh 4,700 pounds and contain 630 pounds of high explosive, the GBU-28 C/B version uses the 4450 pound BLU-122 bomb body, which contains AFX-757 explosive in a 3500-pound casing machined from a single piece of ES-1 Eglin steel alloy. The operator illuminates a target with a designator and the munition guides itself to the spot of laser light reflected from the target. When the GBU-28 hits the ground, a time fuze is activated which triggers detonation when it has penetrated deeply enough to destroy the target. The bomb underwent testing at the Tonopah Test Range, Nevada, an F-111F of the 431st TES based at McClellan AFB in California dropped the first GBU-28 at Tonopah. On the night of 27/28 February 1991, within hours of the ceasefire, the al-Taji Airbase, located 15 mi northwest of the Iraqi capital, had been hit at least three times by GBU-27/Bs from F-117 Nighthawks, digging up the rose garden. The first GBU-28 was dropped due to target misidentification. The second GBU-28 was a hit and penetrated the thick reinforced concrete before detonating, killing everyone inside. The bomb was used during Operations Enduring Freedom in 2002 and Iraqi Freedom in 2003 by USAF F-15Es, the first foreign sale of the GBU-28 was the acquisition of 100 units by Israel, authorized in April 2005. Delivery of the weapons was accelerated at the request of Israel in July 2006, delivery was described as upcoming in a cable dated November 2009 which suggested that the weapon could be used against Irans nuclear facilities. Fifty-five GBU-28s were delivered to Israel in 2009, there were unconfirmed reports that Israel used the GBU-28 during the 2008–2009 Gaza War. In June 2009 United States agreed to sell the GBU-28s to South Korea, the bombs were to be delivered between 2010 and 2014. Under the settlement, Kaman Corp. will pay the government $4.75 million, Israel is concerned it had also received GBU-28 bombs fuzed to prematurely detonate before penetration or at other times. HOPE/HOSBO Notes Bibliography Raas, Whitney, Long, Austin, Osirak Redux, assessing Israeli Capabilities to Destroy Iranian Nuclear Facilities, Security Studies Program Working Paper, MIT
17.
Bunker buster
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A bunker buster is a type of bomb that is designed to penetrate hardened targets or targets buried deep underground, such as military bunkers. Röchling shells were bunker-busting artillery shells, developed by the German engineer August Cönders and they were tested in 1942 and 1943 against the Belgian Fort dAubin-Neufchâteau. These were Earthquake bombs—a concept he had first proposed in 1939, the designs were very aerodynamic, allowing them to exceed the speed of sound as they fell from 22,000 ft. The tails were designed with offset fins causing the bombs to spin as they fell, using the same principle as a spinning top, this enabled them to resist being deflected, thereby improving accuracy. They had casings of high grade steel, much stronger than the typical World War II bomb so that they would survive hitting a hardened surface, or penetrate deep into the ground. Though these bombs might be thought of as bunker busters today, in fact the original theory was more complex. The target then collapses into the hole, no matter how hardened it may be, the bombs had strong casings because they needed to travel through rock rather than reinforced concrete, though they could perform equally well against hardened surfaces. In an attack on the Valentin U-Boat pens at Farge, two Grand Slams went through the 15 ft reinforced concrete hardening—equalling or exceeding the best current penetration specifications, the British Disney bomb was a World War II device designed to be used against U-boat pens and other super-hardened targets. Devised by Captain Edward Terrell RNVR of the Admiraltys Directorate of Miscellaneous Weapons Development, it had a streamlined hardened case, the actual explosive content was about 500 lb. For accuracy, the bombs had to be dropped precisely from a pre-determined height and they would free-fall for around 30 seconds until, at 5,000 ft, the rockets were ignited, causing the tail section to be expelled. The rocket burn lasted for three seconds and added 300 ft/s to the speed, giving a final impact speed of 1,450 ft/s. Post-war tests demonstrated that the bombs were able to penetrate a 14-foot-8-inch thick concrete roof, with the predicted ability to penetrate 16 feet 8 inches of concrete. Post war, the US added a form of guidance to the Tallboy to create the Tarzon. During Operation Desert Storm, there was a need for a deep penetration bomb similar to the British weapons of World War II, as a stop-gap, some were developed over a period of 28 days, using old 8 inch artillery barrels as casings. These bombs weighed over two tons but carried only 647 lb of high explosive and they were laser-guided and were designated Guided Bomb Unit-28. It was proved to be effective for the intended role, an example of a Russian bunker buster is the KAB-1500L-Pr. It is delivered with the Su-24M and the Su-27IB aircraft and it is stated to be able to penetrate 10–20 m of earth or 2 m of reinforced concrete. The bomb weighs 1,500 kg, with 1,100 kg being the high explosive penetrating warhead and it is laser guided and has a reported strike accuracy of 7 m CEP
18.
M107 self-propelled gun
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The M107175 mm self-propelled gun was used by the U. S. Army from the early 1960s through to the late 1970s. It was part of a family of self-propelled artillery that also included the M110 and it was intended to provide long-range fire support in an air-transportable system. It was exported to other countries including Germany, South Korea, Spain, Greece, Iran, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom. The M107s combat history in U. S. service was limited to the Vietnam War, the M107 shared many components with, and in many cases was replaced by, later versions of the M1108 howitzer. Although withdrawn from U. S. service in the late 1970s, the weight of the M55, at 44 metric tons, prohibited air transportation and its gasoline engines limited its range to approximately 260 km, as well as presenting an explosion hazard in combat. The Pacific Car and Foundry company developed several prototypes, the 175 mm T235 self-propelled gun and 203 mm T236 self-propelled howitzer were driven by a diesel engine and, aside from the different armament, were essentially the same vehicle. They were introduced into U. S. Army service as the M107 and M110 in 1962 and 1963, paccar received the M107 and M110 design contracts and initial manufacturing single source bid from Detroit Arsenal. Two other firms also produced the M107, FMC, between 1965 and 1980, and Bowen-McLaughlin-York, both the M107 and M110 use the same drive train components as the M578 light recovery vehicle. In addition to its use in performing maintenance on the M107 and M110, and for recovery of damaged or inoperable vehicles, many of the M107s were rebuilt into the M110A2 configuration. The engine and transmission are mounted in the front right, with the driver to its left, the engine had an attached hydraulic pump used to traverse the turret with a manual backup hand crank. The hydraulic pump was sometimes used to dig in the rear spade. The manual backup was used to lay the gun, since the control was too coarse. The M107/M110 chassis only provides protection to the driver, with 13mm of aluminum armor sufficient to only small arms. Later on after out of the U. S, long thin barrel without a fume extractor or muzzle brake. Gun is in an unprotected mount towards the rear of the hull with a spade at the rear that is raised for traveling. Chassis is same as M110203 mm self-propelled howitzer with five road wheels on each side. The top speed recorded by one M107 driver was 50 mph at the Grafenwöhr Training Area, Germany and this speed was also achieved in an M107 by the U. S. Armys Vilseck Maintenance Facility after replacing a broken torsion bar. The M107 has an open working space than the closed space of tank-like self-propelled artillery such as the M109 howitzer
19.
M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System
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The M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System is an armored, self-propelled, multiple rocket launcher, a type of rocket artillery. Since the first M270s were delivered to the U. S. Army in 1983, some 1,300 M270 systems have been manufactured in the United States and in Europe, along with more than 700,000 rockets. The production of the M270 ended in 2003, when a last batch was delivered to the Egyptian Army, the weapon can fire guided and unguided projectiles up to 42 km. Firing ballistic missiles, such as the U. S. Army Tactical Missile System, it can hit targets 300 km away, the M270 can be used in shoot-and-scoot tactics, firing its rockets rapidly, then moving away to avoid counter-battery fire. MLRS was developed jointly by the United Kingdom, United States, West Germany, France and it was developed from the older General Support Rocket System. The M270 MLRS weapons system is known as the M270 MLRS Self-propelled Loader/Launcher. The SPLL is composed of three subsystems, the M269 Loader Launcher Module, which also houses the electronic Fire Control System, is mated to the M993 Carrier Vehicle. The M993 is a derivative of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle chassis, the rockets and ATACMS missiles are contained in interchangeable pods. Each pod contains six standard rockets or one guided ATACMS missile, the LLM can hold two pods at a time, which are hand-loaded using an integrated winch system. All twelve rockets or two ATACMS missiles can be fired in under a minute, one launcher firing twelve rockets can completely blanket one square kilometer with submunitions. For this reason, the MLRS is sometimes referred to as the Grid Square Removal System, a typical MLRS cluster salvo consisted of three M270 vehicles each firing all 12 rockets. With each rocket containing 644 M77 grenades, the salvo would drop 23,184 grenades in the target area. However, with a two percent dud rate, that would leave approximately 400 undetonated bombs scattered over the area, in 2006, MLRS was upgraded to fire guided rounds. Phase I testing of a guided unitary round was completed on a schedule in March 2006. Due to an Urgent Need Statement, the guided unitary round was quickly fielded and used in action in Iraq, Lockheed Martin also received a contract to convert existing M30 DPICM GMLRS rockets to the XM31 unitary variant. The M31 GMLRS Unitary rocket transformed the M270 into a point target system for the first time. The unitary warhead also made the MLRS able to be used in urban environments, the GMLRS has a minimum engagement range of 15 km and can hit a target out to 70 km, impacting at a speed of Mach 2.5. A German developmental artillery system, called the Artillery Gun Module, has used the MLRS chassis on its developmental vehicles, in 2012, a contract was issued to improve the armor of the M270s and improve the fire control to the standards of the HIMARS
20.
Sarin
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Sarin, or GB, is a colorless, odorless liquid, used as a chemical weapon owing to its extreme potency as a nerve agent. It is generally considered a weapon of mass destruction, production and stockpiling of sarin was outlawed as of April 1997 by the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993, and it is classified as a Schedule 1 substance. In June 1994, the UN Special Commission on Iraqi disarmament destroyed the nerve agent sarin under Security Council resolution 687 concerning the disposal of Iraqs weapons of mass destruction, Sarin is an organophosphorus compound with the formula CH3PF. People who absorb a non-lethal dose, but do not receive medical treatment. Sarin is a molecule because it has four chemically distinct substituents attached to the tetrahedral phosphorus center. The SP form is the active enantiomer due to its greater binding affinity to acetylcholinesterase. The P-F bond is broken by nucleophilic agents, such as water. At high pH, sarin decomposes rapidly to nontoxic phosphonic acid derivatives and it is usually manufactured and weaponized as a racemic mixture—an equal mixture of both enantiomeric forms, as this is a simpler process and provides an adequate weapon. A number of pathways can be used to create sarin. The final reaction typically involves attachment of the group to the phosphorus with an alcoholysis with isopropyl alcohol. Two variants of this process are common and this reaction also gives sarin, but hydrochloric acid as a byproduct instead. The Di-Di process was used by the United States for the production of its unitary sarin stockpile, the scheme below describes an example of Di-Di process. The selection of reagents is arbitrary and reaction conditions and product yield depend on the selected reagents, inert atmosphere and anhydrous conditions are used for synthesis of sarin and other organophosphates. As both reactions leave considerable acid in the product, bulk sarin produced without further treatment has a poor shelf life. Various methods have been tried to resolve these problems, triethylamine was added to UK sarin, with relatively poor success. The Aum Shinrikyo cult experimented with triethylamine as well, N, N-Diethylaniline was used by Aum Shinrikyo for acid reduction. N, N′-Diisopropylcarbodimide was added to sarin produced at Rocky Mountain Arsenal to combat corrosion, isopropylamine was included as part of the M687 155mm field artillery shell, which was a binary sarin weapon system developed by the US Army. Another byproduct of these two processes is diisopropyl methylphosphonate, formed when a second isopropyl alcohol reacts with the sarin itself
21.
W33 (nuclear warhead)
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The W33 was an American nuclear artillery shell, fired from an eight-inch M110 howitzer and M115 howitzer. A total of 2,000 W33 projectiles were produced, the first of which was manufactured in 1957, the W33 remained in service until 1992. The warhead used oralloy as its fissile material and could be used in two different yield configurations. This required the assembly and insertion of different pits, with the amount of materials used controlling whether the destructive yield was low or high. The highest-yield version of the W33 may have been a boosted fission weapon, information regarding the W33 has suggested that it was either a double gun and/or that it may have used an annular barrel assembly. The devices internal mechanism was apparently code-named Fleegle, a double gun mechanism reduces the required velocity of each projectile by half, which reduces the gun system weight by a factor of 8. An annular bore may allow a larger projectile which remains subcritical by itself, titanium was used to reduce weight of some components. Judging by the photographic evidence, it is likely that the exterior casing of the artillery shell itself was made of titanium. This is logical, given that the driving band around the base of the shell is the only part of the shell which engages with the rifling on the artillery pieces barrel. The W33 mechanism has been reported to have comprised two critical nuclear parts which were required to assemble a complete W33 warhead. The initial disassembly of stockpiled W33 warheads in 1992 proceeded first by disassembling all existing parts for one of the components, the W33 is the third known model of gun-type fission weapons to have been detonated as a test. The W33 was tested twice, first in Operation Plumbbob Laplace, on September 8,1957, neither test involved firing a W33 from an actual howitzer. Laplace Plumbob was test fired with the hanging from a balloon at an altitude of 750 feet. Nougat Aardvark was test fired underground, at a depth of 1,424 feet, list of nuclear weapons W79 Allbombs. html list of all US nuclear weapons models at nuclearweaponarchive. org Historical nuclear weapons list at GlobalSecurity. org
22.
Nuclear artillery
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Nuclear artillery is a subset of limited-yield tactical nuclear weapons, in particular those weapons that are launched from the ground at battlefield targets. Nuclear artillery is associated with shells delivered by a cannon. The development of artillery was part of a broad push by nuclear weapons countries to develop nuclear weapons which could be used tactically against enemy armies in the field. Nuclear artillery was developed and deployed by a small group of states, including the United States, the Soviet Union. The United Kingdom planned and partially developed such weapon systems but did not put these systems into production, a second group of states has derivative association with nuclear artillery. These nations fielded artillery units trained and equipped to use nuclear weapons, instead, the devices were held by embedded custodial units of developing countries. These custodial units retained control of the weapons until they were released for use in a crisis. This second group has included such North Atlantic Treaty Organisation countries as Belgium, West Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Turkey, today, nuclear artillery has been almost entirely replaced with mobile tactical ballistic missile launchers, carrying missiles with nuclear warheads. United States developments resulted in weapons for various artillery systems. Delivery systems include, in order of development, MGR-1 Honest John free flight rocket delivering W7 nuclear weapon,1953. M65 Atomic Cannon delivering 280mm W9 and W19 nuclear shells,1953, mGM-5 Corporal missile delivering W7 nuclear weapon,1955. 16 inches battleship guns delivering 410 mm W23 nuclear shells,1956, m110 howitzer and M115 howitzer delivering 203mm W33 nuclear shell, deployed in 1957. M-28/M-29 Davy Crockett M-388 warhead derived from W54, 1961–71, mGM-18 Lacrosse missile with nuclear warhead. It was deployed in West Germany from 1959 to 1963, M109 self-propelled, M114 towed howitzers and M198 towed howitzers delivering 155mm W48 nuclear weapon starting in 1963. MGM-29 Sergeant missile delivering W52 nuclear weapon,1963, mGM-31 Pershing missile delivering W50 nuclear weapon,1969. MGM-52 Lance missile delivering W70 nuclear weapon,1972, m110 howitzer and M115 howitzer delivering 203mm W79 nuclear shell,1976. Pershing II missile delivering W85 nuclear weapon,1983, 155mm W82 nuclear artillery shell, cancelled. Likely would have delivered by M109 self-propelled, M114 towed howitzers
23.
Port of Antwerp
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The Port of Antwerp, in Belgium, is a port in the heart of Europe accessible to capesize ships. It is Europe’s second-largest seaport, after Rotterdam, Antwerp stands at the upper end of the tidal estuary of the Scheldt. The estuary is navigable by ships of more than 100,000 Gross Tons as far as 80 km inland, like Hamburg, the Port of Antwerps inland location provides a more central location in Europe than the majority of North Sea ports. Antwerps docks are connected to the hinterland by rail, road, as a result, the port of Antwerp has become one of Europes largest sea ports, ranking second behind Rotterdam by total freight shipped. Its international rankings vary from 11th to 20th, in 2012, the Port of Antwerp handled 14,220 sea trade ships,57,044 inland barges, and offered liner services to 800 different maritime destinations. Antwerps potential was recognized by Napoleon Bonaparte and he ordered the construction of Antwerps first lock and dock in 1811, called the Bonaparte Dock, it was joined by a second dock - called the Willem Dock after the Dutch King - in 1813. When the Belgian revolution broke out in 1830, there was a fear that the Dutch would blockade the Scheldt again but, in the event. With his support, the Belgian government was able to redeem the Dutch Toll in 1863, by that time, the Kattendijk Dock had been completed in 1860 and the all important Iron Rhine Railway to the Ruhr had been finished in 1879. Antwerp then experienced a golden age and by 1908 eight docks had been constructed. The opening of the Royers Lock, commenced in 1905, meant that ships drawing up to 31 feet of water were able to enter the docks and access the new Lefèbvre. Such was the situation at the outbreak of the First World War, allied forces liberated Antwerp on 4 September 1944. The port and facilities were relatively undamaged and no reconstruction work was required. However, Walcheren was the key that allowed use of the port, Walcheren was attacked by Canadian and British forces and on 8 November all German resistance on the island had been overrun. An agreement assigned a portion of the northern section of the port to the Americans and the southern section. The first US cargo vessel James B. Weaver arrived on 28 November 1944 with men of the 268th Port Company, by mid-December the port was operating in high gear and, on average, some 9,000 civilians were employed by the Americans. Despite enemy air attacks, rockets and buzz bombs, operations were never entirely halted, in the first half year of 1945, the average amount of cargo discharged was around 0.5 million tons per month. After the close of the hostilities in Europe, the port was used for shipments of ammunition, vehicles, tanks, after the capitulation of Japan, shipments were directed to the United States. As from November 1945 the activities declined and by October 1946 all US Army operations ceased, when peace returned work started on the Grote Doorsteek, an ambitious plan which ultimately resulted in the extension of the docklands on the right bank of the Scheldt to the Dutch border
24.
Egypt
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Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia by a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. Egypt is a Mediterranean country bordered by the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Gulf of Aqaba to the east, the Red Sea to the east and south, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west. Across the Gulf of Aqaba lies Jordan, and across from the Sinai Peninsula lies Saudi Arabia, although Jordan and it is the worlds only contiguous Afrasian nation. Egypt has among the longest histories of any country, emerging as one of the worlds first nation states in the tenth millennium BC. Considered a cradle of civilisation, Ancient Egypt experienced some of the earliest developments of writing, agriculture, urbanisation, organised religion and central government. One of the earliest centres of Christianity, Egypt was Islamised in the century and remains a predominantly Muslim country. With over 92 million inhabitants, Egypt is the most populous country in North Africa and the Arab world, the third-most populous in Africa, and the fifteenth-most populous in the world. The great majority of its people live near the banks of the Nile River, an area of about 40,000 square kilometres, the large regions of the Sahara desert, which constitute most of Egypts territory, are sparsely inhabited. About half of Egypts residents live in areas, with most spread across the densely populated centres of greater Cairo, Alexandria. Modern Egypt is considered to be a regional and middle power, with significant cultural, political, and military influence in North Africa, the Middle East and the Muslim world. Egypts economy is one of the largest and most diversified in the Middle East, Egypt is a member of the United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement, Arab League, African Union, and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Miṣr is the Classical Quranic Arabic and modern name of Egypt. The name is of Semitic origin, directly cognate with other Semitic words for Egypt such as the Hebrew מִצְרַיִם, the oldest attestation of this name for Egypt is the Akkadian
25.
Egyptian Army
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The Egyptian Army is the largest service branch within the Egyptian Armed Forces, and is the largest army in Africa. The modern army was established during the reign of Muhammad Ali Pasha, the Egyptian army was also engaged heavily in the protracted North Yemen Civil War, and the brief Libyan-Egyptian War in July 1977. As of 2014, the army has a strength of 310,000 soldiers, of which, approximately 90. For most parts of its history, ancient Egypt was unified under one government. The main military concern for the nation was to keep enemies out, the arid plains they wanted to get rid of and deserts surrounding Egypt were inhabited by nomadic tribes who occasionally tried to raid or settle in the fertile Nile river valley. Nevertheless, the expanses of the desert formed a barrier that protected the river valley and was almost impossible for massive armies to cross. The Egyptians built fortresses and outposts along the borders east and west of the Nile Delta, in the Eastern Desert, small garrisons could prevent minor incursions, but if a large force was detected a message was sent for the main army corps. Most Egyptian cities lacked city walls and other defenses, the history of ancient Egypt is divided into three kingdoms and two intermediate periods. During the three kingdoms Egypt was unified under one government, during the intermediate periods government control was in the hands of the various nomes and various foreigners. The geography of Egypt served to isolate the country and allowed it to thrive and this circumstance set the stage for many of Egypts military conquests. They weakened their enemies by using small projectile weapons, like bows and arrows and they also had chariots which they used to charge at the enemy. Following his seizure of power in Egypt, and declaration of himself as khedive of the country, Muhammad Ali Pasha set about establishing a bona fide Egyptian military. Prior to his rule, Egypt had been governed by the Ottoman Empire, to further this aim, he brought in European weapons and expertise, and built an army that defeated the Ottoman Sultan, wresting control from the Porte of the Levant, and Hejaz. Egypt was involved in the long-running 1881–99 Mahdist War in the Sudan, during Muhammad Ali Pashas reign, the Egyptian army became a much more strictly regimented and professional army. The recruits were separated from daily life and a sense of the impersonal of law was imposed. Muhammad Ali Pasha previously attempted to create an army of Sudanese slaves and Mamluks, instead, the Pasha enforced conscription in 1822 and the new military recruits were mostly Egyptian farmers, also known as fellah. Because of harsh military practices, the 130,000 soldiers conscripted in 1822 revolted in the south in 1824, the Pashas goal was to create military order through indoctrination by two new major key practices, isolation and surveillance. In previous times, the wives and family were allowed to follow the army wherever they camped and this was no longer the case
26.
Greece
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Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, historically also known as Hellas, is a country in southeastern Europe, with a population of approximately 11 million as of 2015. Athens is the capital and largest city, followed by Thessaloniki. Greece is strategically located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, situated on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the northeast. Greece consists of nine regions, Macedonia, Central Greece, the Peloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus, the Aegean Islands, Thrace, Crete. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, the Cretan Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin and the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13,676 km in length, featuring a vast number of islands, eighty percent of Greece is mountainous, with Mount Olympus being the highest peak at 2,918 metres. From the eighth century BC, the Greeks were organised into various independent city-states, known as polis, which spanned the entire Mediterranean region and the Black Sea. Greece was annexed by Rome in the second century BC, becoming a part of the Roman Empire and its successor. The Greek Orthodox Church also shaped modern Greek identity and transmitted Greek traditions to the wider Orthodox World, falling under Ottoman dominion in the mid-15th century, the modern nation state of Greece emerged in 1830 following a war of independence. Greeces rich historical legacy is reflected by its 18 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, among the most in Europe, Greece is a democratic and developed country with an advanced high-income economy, a high quality of life, and a very high standard of living. A founding member of the United Nations, Greece was the member to join the European Communities and has been part of the Eurozone since 2001. Greeces unique cultural heritage, large industry, prominent shipping sector. It is the largest economy in the Balkans, where it is an important regional investor, the names for the nation of Greece and the Greek people differ from the names used in other languages, locations and cultures. The earliest evidence of the presence of human ancestors in the southern Balkans, dated to 270,000 BC, is to be found in the Petralona cave, all three stages of the stone age are represented in Greece, for example in the Franchthi Cave. Neolithic settlements in Greece, dating from the 7th millennium BC, are the oldest in Europe by several centuries and these civilizations possessed writing, the Minoans writing in an undeciphered script known as Linear A, and the Mycenaeans in Linear B, an early form of Greek. The Mycenaeans gradually absorbed the Minoans, but collapsed violently around 1200 BC and this ushered in a period known as the Greek Dark Ages, from which written records are absent. The end of the Dark Ages is traditionally dated to 776 BC, the Iliad and the Odyssey, the foundational texts of Western literature, are believed to have been composed by Homer in the 7th or 8th centuries BC. With the end of the Dark Ages, there emerged various kingdoms and city-states across the Greek peninsula, in 508 BC, Cleisthenes instituted the worlds first democratic system of government in Athens
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Hellenic Army
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The Hellenic Army, formed in 1828, is the land force of Greece. Along with the Hellenic Air Force and the Hellenic Navy, it makes up the Hellenic Armed Forces and it is currently the largest branch of the three. The army is headed by the chief of the Hellenic Army General Staff, the motto of the Hellenic Army is Ἐλεύθερον τὸ Εὔψυχον, Freedom Stems from Valour, from Thucydidess History of the Peloponnesian War. The Hellenic Army Emblem is the eagle with a Greek Cross escutcheon in the centre. The Hellenic Army is also the main contributor to, and lead nation of, the Balkan Battle Group, the contribution to international security and peace. The contribution to activities of social aid and the support of services for the confrontation of emergency situations. The Hellenic Army traces its origin to the regular units established by the Greek provisional government during the Greek War of Independence, the first of these, an infantry regiment and a small artillery battery, were established in April 1822, and were commanded by European Philhellenes. Lack of funds however forced its disbandment soon after, and it was not until July 1824 that regular units were reformed, in May 1825, the first law on conscription was passed, and the command of the entire regular forces entrusted to the French Colonel Charles Fabvier. Under Fabvier, the corps expanded, and for the first time came to include cavalry, military music detachments. After Kapodistrias assassination in 1831 and in the subsequent internal turmoil over the two years, however, the regular army all but ceased to exist. The first king of the newly independent Greek kingdom, the Bavarian prince Otto, initially relied on a 4, the royal government re-established the regular army and dissolved the irregular forces that had largely fought the War of Independence. Following the ousting of Otto in 1862, the Army continued relying on the Army Organization Statute of 1833, the first major reforms were undertaken in 1877, in response to the Balkan Crisis that eventually led to the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878. Among other measures, for the first time the Hellenic Army was briefly subdivided into divisions and brigades. The Army also underwent its first mobilizations, in July 1880 – April 1882 due to the Greek annexation of Thessaly, and again in September 1885 – May 1886, when Bulgaria annexed Eastern Rumelia. The great financial burden of long periods of mobilization, however, exhausted the public treasury. As a result, the superior, better organized, equipped and led Ottoman forces pushed the Greek forces south out of Thessaly. The dismal performance of the Hellenic Army in the war of 1897 led to a major reform programme under the administration of Georgios Theotokis. A new Army Organization Statute was issued in 1904, purchases of new material and of the Mannlicher–Schönauer rifle were made
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Iran
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Iran, also known as Persia, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a sovereign state in Western Asia. Comprising a land area of 1,648,195 km2, it is the second-largest country in the Middle East, with 82.8 million inhabitants, Iran is the worlds 17th-most-populous country. It is the country with both a Caspian Sea and an Indian Ocean coastline. The countrys central location in Eurasia and Western Asia, and its proximity to the Strait of Hormuz, Tehran is the countrys capital and largest city, as well as its leading economic and cultural center. Iran is the site of to one of the worlds oldest civilizations, the area was first unified by the Iranian Medes in 625 BC, who became the dominant cultural and political power in the region. The empire collapsed in 330 BC following the conquests of Alexander the Great, under the Sassanid Dynasty, Iran again became one of the leading powers in the world for the next four centuries. Beginning in 633 AD, Arabs conquered Iran and largely displaced the indigenous faiths of Manichaeism and Zoroastrianism by Islam, Iran became a major contributor to the Islamic Golden Age that followed, producing many influential scientists, scholars, artists, and thinkers. During the 18th century, Iran reached its greatest territorial extent since the Sassanid Empire, through the late 18th and 19th centuries, a series of conflicts with Russia led to significant territorial losses and the erosion of sovereignty. Popular unrest culminated in the Persian Constitutional Revolution of 1906, which established a monarchy and the countrys first legislative body. Following a coup instigated by the U. K. Growing dissent against foreign influence and political repression led to the 1979 Revolution, Irans rich cultural legacy is reflected in part by its 21 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the third-largest number in Asia and 11th-largest in the world. Iran is a member of the UN, ECO, NAM, OIC. Its political system is based on the 1979 Constitution which combines elements of a democracy with a theocracy governed by Islamic jurists under the concept of a Supreme Leadership. A multicultural country comprising numerous ethnic and linguistic groups, most inhabitants are Shia Muslims, the largest ethnic groups in Iran are the Persians, Azeris, Kurds and Lurs. Historically, Iran has been referred to as Persia by the West, due mainly to the writings of Greek historians who called Iran Persis, meaning land of the Persians. As the most extensive interactions the Ancient Greeks had with any outsider was with the Persians, however, Persis was originally referred to a region settled by Persians in the west shore of Lake Urmia, in the 9th century BC. The settlement was then shifted to the end of the Zagros Mountains. In 1935, Reza Shah requested the international community to refer to the country by its native name, opposition to the name change led to the reversal of the decision, and Professor Ehsan Yarshater, editor of Encyclopædia Iranica, propagated a move to use Persia and Iran interchangeably
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Islamic Republic of Iran Army
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The Islamic Republic of Iran Army acronymed AJA, simply known as the Iranian Army or Artesh, is the conventional military of Iran and part of Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The army is tasked to protect the integrity of the Iranian state from external and internal threats. Artesh has its own Joint Staff which coordinates its four separate branches, Ground Forces, Air Force, Navy. The Iranian government makes a show of force on Iran Army Day with parades every 18 April. The former Supreme Leader of Iran, Ruhollah Khomeini named 18 April as Army Day, the Iranian military honors the countrys National Army Day by annual military parading in many cities of Iran every 18th day of April. The biggest march is held in front of the mausoleum of Ruhollah Khomeini, Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution Official site of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army
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Israel
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Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in the Middle East, on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea. The country contains geographically diverse features within its small area. Israels economy and technology center is Tel Aviv, while its seat of government and proclaimed capital is Jerusalem, in 1947, the United Nations adopted a Partition Plan for Mandatory Palestine recommending the creation of independent Arab and Jewish states and an internationalized Jerusalem. The plan was accepted by the Jewish Agency for Palestine, next year, the Jewish Agency declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel, to be known as the State of Israel. Israel has since fought several wars with neighboring Arab states, in the course of which it has occupied territories including the West Bank, Golan Heights and it extended its laws to the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, but not the West Bank. Israels occupation of the Palestinian territories is the worlds longest military occupation in modern times, efforts to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict have not resulted in peace. However, peace treaties between Israel and both Egypt and Jordan have successfully been signed, the population of Israel, as defined by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, was estimated in 2017 to be 8,671,100 people. It is the worlds only Jewish-majority state, with 74. 8% being designated as Jewish, the countrys second largest group of citizens are Arabs, at 20. 8%. The great majority of Israeli Arabs are Sunni Muslims, including significant numbers of semi-settled Negev Bedouins, other minorities include Arameans, Armenians, Assyrians, Black Hebrew Israelites, Circassians, Maronites and Samaritans. Israel also hosts a significant population of foreign workers and asylum seekers from Africa and Asia, including illegal migrants from Sudan, Eritrea. In its Basic Laws, Israel defines itself as a Jewish, Israel is a representative democracy with a parliamentary system, proportional representation and universal suffrage. The prime minister is head of government and the Knesset is the legislature, Israel is a developed country and an OECD member, with the 35th-largest economy in the world by nominal gross domestic product as of 2016. The country benefits from a skilled workforce and is among the most educated countries in the world with one of the highest percentage of its citizens holding a tertiary education degree. The country has the highest standard of living in the Middle East and the third highest in Asia, in the early weeks of independence, the government chose the term Israeli to denote a citizen of Israel, with the formal announcement made by Minister of Foreign Affairs Moshe Sharett. The names Land of Israel and Children of Israel have historically used to refer to the biblical Kingdom of Israel. The name Israel in these phrases refers to the patriarch Jacob who, jacobs twelve sons became the ancestors of the Israelites, also known as the Twelve Tribes of Israel or Children of Israel. The earliest known artifact to mention the word Israel as a collective is the Merneptah Stele of ancient Egypt. The area is known as the Holy Land, being holy for all Abrahamic religions including Judaism, Christianity, Islam
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GOC Army Headquarters
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The Israeli GOC Army headquarters, known unofficially as Mazi, is a multi-corps command headquarters created in 1998, which amalgamates the ground forces of the Israel Defense Forces. The current size of the Israeli Ground Forces is estimated at roughly 133,000 active soldiers and 380,000 soldiers in reserve, after this renaming, the acronym MAZI officially refers nowadays to Commander of the Ground Arm. However the old acronym MAZI still remains the name for the GOC Army Headquarters. Until the creation of MAZI, IDF ground forces were subordinated to the Chief of Staff through the Regional Commands. The proposed reform for the Ground Arm was rejected and the forces remain subordinated to the three regional commands. Likewise with combat support and rear-line corps, which are subordinated to the respective Directorates. In times of war, the Ground Arm Commander acts as an advisor to the IDF Chief of Staff on ground warfare. As an IDF arm, the Ground Arm is meant to build of the forces strength and working toward balance, combination. It does so by instruction and training of units, planning and publishing the relevant doctrine, organizing the forces respectively for their missions. Its authority ranges up to the corps level, above it, meaning the regional commands themselves, the authority is of the IDF Joint Staff. Due to the training and equipment among army reservists, large numbers will be dismissed. Ground Arm website Army Headquarters LIC2005, a conference on Warfare in Low Intensity Conflict
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Japan
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Japan is a sovereign island nation in Eastern Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asia Mainland and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea, the kanji that make up Japans name mean sun origin. 日 can be read as ni and means sun while 本 can be read as hon, or pon, Japan is often referred to by the famous epithet Land of the Rising Sun in reference to its Japanese name. Japan is an archipelago consisting of about 6,852 islands. The four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku, the country is divided into 47 prefectures in eight regions. Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture and Okinawa being the southernmost one, the population of 127 million is the worlds tenth largest. Japanese people make up 98. 5% of Japans total population, approximately 9.1 million people live in the city of Tokyo, the capital of Japan. Archaeological research indicates that Japan was inhabited as early as the Upper Paleolithic period, the first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other regions, mainly China, followed by periods of isolation, from the 12th century until 1868, Japan was ruled by successive feudal military shoguns who ruled in the name of the Emperor. Japan entered into a period of isolation in the early 17th century. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan is a member of the UN, the OECD, the G7, the G8, the country has the worlds third-largest economy by nominal GDP and the worlds fourth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It is also the worlds fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer, although Japan has officially renounced its right to declare war, it maintains a modern military with the worlds eighth-largest military budget, used for self-defense and peacekeeping roles. Japan is a country with a very high standard of living. Its population enjoys the highest life expectancy and the third lowest infant mortality rate in the world, in ancient China, Japan was called Wo 倭. It was mentioned in the third century Chinese historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms in the section for the Wei kingdom, Wa became disliked because it has the connotation of the character 矮, meaning dwarf. The 倭 kanji has been replaced with the homophone Wa, meaning harmony, the Japanese word for Japan is 日本, which is pronounced Nippon or Nihon and literally means the origin of the sun. The earliest record of the name Nihon appears in the Chinese historical records of the Tang dynasty, at the start of the seventh century, a delegation from Japan introduced their country as Nihon
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Jordan
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Jordan, officially The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is an Arab kingdom in Western Asia, on the East Bank of the Jordan River. Jordan is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the east and south, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north, Israel, Palestine and the Dead Sea to the west, Jordan is strategically located at the crossroads of Asia, Africa and Europe. The capital, Amman, is Jordans most populous city as well as the countrys economic, what is now Jordan has been inhabited by humans since the Paleolithic period. Three stable kingdoms emerged there at the end of the Bronze Age, Ammon, Moab, later rulers include the Nabataean Kingdom, the Roman Empire, and the Ottoman Empire. After the Great Arab Revolt against the Ottomans in 1916 during World War I, the Emirate of Transjordan was established in 1921 by the then Emir Abdullah I and became a British protectorate. In 1946, Jordan became an independent state known as The Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan. Jordan captured the West Bank, which it later lost in 1967, during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Jordan is a founding member of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and is one of two Arab states to have signed a peace treaty with Israel. The country is a monarchy, but the king holds wide executive and legislative powers. Jordan is a relatively-small, semi-arid, almost-landlocked country with a population numbering at 9.5 million, Sunni Islam, practiced by around 92% of the population, is the dominant religion in Jordan. It coexists with an indigenous Christian minority, Jordan is considered to be among the safest of Arab countries in the Middle East, and has avoided long-term terrorism and instability. The kingdom is also a refuge to thousands of Iraqi Christians fleeing the Islamic State, while Jordan continues to accept refugees, the recent large influx from Syria placed substantial strain on national resources and infrastructure. Jordan is classified as a country of high human development with a middle income economy. The Jordanian economy, one of the smallest economies in the region, is attractive to foreign investors based upon a skilled workforce, the country is a major tourist destination, and also attracts medical tourism due to its well developed health sector. Nonetheless, a lack of resources, large flow of refugees. Jordan is named after the Jordan River, where Jesus is said to have been baptized, the origin of the rivers name is debated, but the most common explanation is that it derives from the word yarad, found in Hebrew, Aramaic, and other Semitic languages. Others regard the name as having an Indo-Aryan origin, combining the words yor and don, another theory is that it is from the Arabic root word wrd, as in people coming to a major source of water. The name Jordan appears in an ancient Egyptian papyrus called Papyrus Anastasi I, the lands of modern-day Jordan were historically called Transjordan, meaning beyond the Jordan River. The name was Arabized into Al-Urdunn during the Muslim conquest of the Levant, during crusader rule, it was called Oultrejordain
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Jordanian Armed Forces
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The Jordanian Armed Forces, also referred to as the Arab Army, are the military forces of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. They consist of the forces, air force, and navy and is under the direct control of the King of Jordan who is the Commander-in-Chief. The current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is Lieutenant General Mahmoud Freihat, first organized army in Jordan was established on 22 October 1920, and was named the Mobile Force, at the time it was 150 men strong. On its third anniversary in 1923, the force was renamed the Arab Legion, by the time Jordan became an independent state in 1946, Arab Legion numbered some 8,000 soldiers in 3 mechanized regiments. In 1956, all British generals were dismissed, and the name was changed into the Jordanian Army. The army fought in wars and battles, mostly against Israel. In the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the capture of the West Bank by Jordan, several confrontations followed with Israel, Retribution operations, Six Day War, War of Attrition and Yom Kippor War. Jordan also had to face the PLO and the Syrian Army during the events of Black September, the signing of the Israel–Jordan peace treaty in 1994 ended the state of hostility between the two countries, and allowed them to resume normal functioning. It is today considered to be among the most professional in the region, the first organized army in Jordan was established on 22 October 1920, and was named the Mobile Force, at the time it was 150 man strong under the command of the British Captain Frederick Peake. On its third anniversary, in October 1923, the now 1000 man force was renamed the Arab Legion, in 1939, John Bagot Glubb, better known as Glubb Pasha, became the Legions commander, and continued in office until the dismissal of British officers in March 1956. On 1 April 1926, the Transjordan Frontier Force was formed, consisting of only 150 men, the Jordanian Armed Forces was formed on 1 March 1956 by renaming the Arab Legion. Then-King Hussein wanted at the time to himself from the British and disprove the contention of Arab nationalists that John Glubb. Glubb was dismissed on the date and replaced with Maj. -Gen. Radi Annab, the first Arab commander of the Arab Legion and these have been transformed into a lighter, more mobile forces, based largely on a brigade structure and considered better capable of rapid reaction in emergencies. An armoured division has become the element of a strategic reserve. The main objectives of the Jordanian Armed Forces are, Protect the Kingdom of Jordan borders from any invasion, Protect the people inside the Kingdom and their rights. In order to cope with a range of potential threats. There has been an emphasis on rapid reaction and special forces
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Morocco
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Morocco, officially known as the Kingdom of Morocco, is a sovereign country located in the Maghreb region of North Africa. Geographically, Morocco is characterized by a mountainous interior, large tracts of desert. Morocco has a population of over 33.8 million and an area of 446,550 km2 and its capital is Rabat, and the largest city is Casablanca. Other major cities include Marrakesh, Tangier, Tetouan, Salé, Fes, Agadir, Meknes, Oujda, Kenitra, a historically prominent regional power, Morocco has a history of independence not shared by its neighbours. Marinid and Saadi dynasties continued the struggle against foreign domination, the Alaouite dynasty, the current ruling dynasty, seized power in 1666. In 1912 Morocco was divided into French and Spanish protectorates, with a zone in Tangier. Moroccan culture is a blend of Arab, indigenous Berber, Sub-Saharan African, Morocco claims the non-self-governing territory of Western Sahara as its Southern Provinces. Morocco annexed the territory in 1975, leading to a war with indigenous forces until a cease-fire in 1991. Peace processes have thus far failed to break the political deadlock, Morocco is a constitutional monarchy with an elected parliament. The King of Morocco holds vast executive and legislative powers, especially over the military, foreign policy, the king can issue decrees called dahirs which have the force of law. He can also dissolve the parliament after consulting the Prime Minister, Moroccos predominant religion is Islam, and the official languages are Arabic and Tamazight. The Moroccan dialect, referred to as Darija, and French are also widely spoken, Morocco is a member of the Arab League, the Union for the Mediterranean, and the African Union. It has the fifth largest economy of Africa, the full Arabic name al-Mamlakah al-Maghribiyyah translates to Kingdom of the West, although the West in Arabic is الغرب Al-Gharb. The basis of Moroccos English name is Marrakesh, its capital under the Almoravid dynasty, the origin of the name Marrakesh is disputed, but is most likely from the Berber words amur akush or Land of God. The modern Berber name for Marrakesh is Mṛṛakc, in Turkish, Morocco is known as Fas, a name derived from its ancient capital of Fes. The English name Morocco is an anglicisation of the Spanish Marruecos, the area of present-day Morocco has been inhabited since Paleolithic times, sometime between 190,000 and 90,000 BC. During the Upper Paleolithic, the Maghreb was more fertile than it is today, twenty-two thousand years ago, the Aterian was succeeded by the Iberomaurusian culture, which shared similarities with Iberian cultures. Skeletal similarities have been suggested between the Iberomaurusian Mechta-Afalou burials and European Cro-Magnon remains, the Iberomaurusian was succeeded by the Beaker culture in Morocco
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Royal Moroccan Army
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The Royal Moroccan Army is the branch of the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. Army forces from Morocco have taken part in different wars and battles during the century, from World War I. The Moroccan army has existed continuously since the rising of Almoravid Empire in the 11th-century, during Colonisation and the protectorates period, large numbers of Moroccans were recruited for service in the Spahi and Tirailleur regiments of the French Army of Africa. Many served during World War I, during World War II more than 300,000 Moroccan troops served with the Free French forces in North Africa, Italy, France and Austria. The two world conflicts saw Moroccan units earning the nickname of Todesschwalben by German soldiers as they showed particular toughness on the battlefield. After the end of World War II, Moroccan troops formed part of the French Far East Expeditionary Corps engaged in the First Indochina War from 1946 to 1954. The Spanish Army also made use of Moroccan troops recruited in the Spanish Protectorate. Moroccan Regulares, together with the Spanish Legion, made up Spains elite Spanish Army of Africa, a para-military gendarmerie, known as the Mehal-la Jalifianas and modelled on the French goumieres, was employed within the Spanish Zone. The Royal Armed Forces were created on 14 May 1956, after French Morocco, fourteen thousand Moroccan personnel from the French Army and ten thousand from the Spanish Armed Forces transferred into the newly formed armed forces. This number was augmented by approximately 5,000 former guerrillas from the Army of Liberation, the first wars that Moroccan troops have taken part in the 20th century as an independent country were the Ifni War and Sand War. In the early 1960s, Moroccan troops were sent to the Congo as part of the first multifunctional UN peacekeeping operation, ONUC. The Royal Moroccan Army fought during the Six-Day War and on the Golan front during the Yom Kippur War of 1973, after Shaba II, Morocco was part of the Inter-African Force deployed on the Zaire border, contributing about 1,500 troops. The Armed Forces also took part in the Gulf War with a Mechanized Battalion, in the 1990s, Moroccan troops went to Angola with the three UN Angola Versification Missions, UNAVEM I, UNAVEM II, and UNAVEM III. They were also in Somalia, with UNOSOM I, the U. S. -led Unified Task Force, sometimes known by its U. S. codename of Restore Hope, and the follow-on UNOSOM II. They saw fighting during the 3–4 October 1993 confrontation in Mogadishu to rescue a U. S. anti-militia assault force. Other peace support involvement during the 1990s included United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia in Cambodia, and the missions in the former Yugoslavia, IFOR, SFOR, the Army of Liberation was a force fighting for the independence of Morocco. In 1956, units of the Army began infiltrating Ifni and other enclaves of Spanish Morocco, initially, they received important backing from the Moroccan government. In the Spanish Sahara, the Army rallied Sahrawi tribes along the way, in early 1958, the Moroccan king reorganized the Army of Liberation units fighting in the Spanish Sahara as the Saharan Liberation Army
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Pakistan
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Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a federal parliamentary republic in South Asia on the crossroads of Central Asia and Western Asia. It is the sixth-most populous country with a population exceeding 200 million people, in terms of area, it is the 33rd-largest country in the world with an area covering 881,913 square kilometres. It is separated from Tajikistan by Afghanistans narrow Wakhan Corridor in the north, Pakistan is unique among Muslim countries in that it is the only country to have been created in the name of Islam. As a result of the Pakistan Movement led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah and it is an ethnically and linguistically diverse country, with a similarly diverse geography and wildlife. Initially a dominion, Pakistan adopted a constitution in 1956, becoming an Islamic republic, an ethnic civil war in 1971 resulted in the secession of East Pakistan as the new country of Bangladesh. The new constitution stipulated that all laws were to conform to the injunctions of Islam as laid down in the Quran. Pakistan has an economy with a well-integrated agriculture sector. The Pakistani economy is the 24th-largest in the world in terms of purchasing power and it is ranked among the emerging and growth-leading economies of the world, and is backed by one of the worlds largest and fastest-growing middle classes. The post-independence history of Pakistan has been characterised by periods of military rule, the country continues to face challenging problems such as illiteracy, healthcare, and corruption, but has substantially reduced poverty and terrorism and expanded per capita income. It is also a member of CERN. Pakistan is a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol, the Paris Agreement, the name Pakistan literally means land of the pure in Urdu and Persian. It is a play on the word pāk meaning pure in Persian and Pashto, the letter i was incorporated to ease pronunciation and form the linguistically correct and meaningful name. Some of the earliest ancient human civilisations in South Asia originated from areas encompassing present-day Pakistan, the earliest known inhabitants in the region were Soanian during the Lower Paleolithic, of whom stone tools have been found in the Soan Valley of Punjab. The Vedic Civilization, characterised by Indo-Aryan culture, laid the foundations of Hinduism, Multan was an important Hindu pilgrimage centre. The Vedic civilisation flourished in the ancient Gandhāran city of Takṣaśilā, the Indo-Greek Kingdom founded by Demetrius of Bactria included Gandhara and Punjab and reached its greatest extent under Menander, prospering the Greco-Buddhist culture in the region. Taxila had one of the earliest universities and centres of education in the world. At its zenith, the Rai Dynasty of Sindh ruled this region, the Pala Dynasty was the last Buddhist empire, which, under Dharampala and Devapala, stretched across South Asia from what is now Bangladesh through Northern India to Pakistan. The Arab conqueror Muhammad bin Qasim conquered the Indus valley from Sindh to Multan in southern Punjab in 711 AD, the Pakistan governments official chronology identifies this as the time when the foundation of Pakistan was laid
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Pakistan Army
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Pakistan Army is the land-based service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. It came into existence after the independence of Pakistan in 1947, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies it had an active force of approximately 620,000 active personnel as of 2017. In Pakistan, there is 16–23 years of age for military service. Pakistan Army has started inducting women as commissioned officers, Pakistani Air Force and Pakistani Navy have inducted their first female pilots and sailors in 2012 see details at Women in the Pakistan Armed Forces. Since its establishment in 1947, the Army has been involved in four wars with neighbouring India, since 1947, it has also maintained a strong presence along with its inter-services in the Arab states during the past Arab-Israeli Wars, and aided the coalition in the first Gulf War. Recently, major joint-operations undertaken by the Army include Operation Zarb-e-Azb, Operation Toar-e-Tander, the Army has also been an active participant in United Nations peacekeeping missions, including playing a major role in rescuing trapped US soldiers in Operation Gothic Serpent in 1993. Under Article 243 of the Constitution of Pakistan, the President is appointed the civilian Commander-in-Chief, the Chief of Army Staff, by statute a four-star general, is appointed by the President with the consultation and confirmation needed from the Prime Minister. The Pakistan Army is currently commanded by General Qamar Javed Bajwa, the Pakistan Army was created on the 30th of June of the year 1947 from the division of the British Indian Army. Fearing that India would take over the state of Kashmir, irregulars, scouts, in response to this, the Maharaja acceded to India. The Indian Armed Forces were then deployed to Kashmir and this led to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. A ceasefire followed on UN intervention with Pakistan occupying the northwestern part of Kashmir and this aid greatly expanded the Pakistan Army from its modest beginnings. The Pakistan Army took over from politicians for the first time when General Ayub Khan came to power through a coup in 1958. He formed Convention Muslim League which included Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who would later become Pakistans first democratically elected Prime Minister, tensions with India flared in the 1960s and a brief border skirmish was fought near the Rann of Kutch area during April 1965. The War began after the failure of Operation Gibraltar on 5 August 1965, on the night of 6 September 1965, the Indian Army opened the war front to the Province of Punjab of Pakistan, the Indian Army almost reached the Pakistani city of Lahore. The Indian Army conquered around 360 square kilometres square kilometres of Pakistani territory on the outskirts of Lahore. Indian forces halted their assault on Lahore once they had reached the village of Burki, the rationale for this was that a ceasefire was to be signed soon, and had India captured Lahore it would likely have been returned in ceasefire negotiations. The War eventually ended with a United Nations backed ceasefire and was followed by the Tashkent Declaration, losses were relatively heavy—on the Pakistani side, twenty aircraft,200 tanks, and 3,800 troops. Pakistans army had been able to withstand Indian pressure, but a continuation of the fighting would only have led to further losses, at the time of ceasefire declaration, India reported casualties of about 3,000 killed
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Bahrain
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Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is a small Arab monarchy in the Persian Gulf. Bahrains population is 1,234,567, including 666,172 non-nationals and it is 780 km2 in size, making it the third smallest nation in Asia after the Maldives and Singapore. Bahrain is the site of the ancient Dilmun civilisation and it has been famed since antiquity for its pearl fisheries, which were considered the best in the world into the 19th century. Bahrain was one of the earliest areas to convert to Islam, following a period of Arab rule, Bahrain was occupied by the Portuguese in 1521, who in turn were expelled in 1602 by Shah Abbas I of the Safavid dynasty under the Persian Empire. In 1783, the Bani Utbah clan captured Bahrain from Nasr Al-Madhkur and it has since been ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family, in the late 1800s, following successive treaties with the British, Bahrain became a protectorate of the United Kingdom. Formerly a state, Bahrain was declared a Kingdom in 2002, in 2011, the country experienced protests inspired by the regional Arab Spring. Bahrain had the first post-oil economy in the Persian Gulf, since the late 20th century, Bahrain has invested in the banking and tourism sectors. Many large financial institutions have a presence in Manama, the countrys capital, Bahrain has a high Human Development Index and was recognised by the World Bank as a high income economy. In Arabic, Bahrayn is the form of bahr, so al-Bahrayn means the two seas, although which two seas were originally intended remains in dispute. The term appears five times in the Quran, but does not refer to the modern island—originally known to the Arabs as Awal— but rather to all of Eastern Arabia. Today, Bahrains two seas are generally taken to be the bay east and west of the island. In addition to wells, there are areas of the sea north of Bahrain where fresh water bubbles up in the middle of the water as noted by visitors since antiquity. An alternate theory with regard to Bahrains toponymy is offered by the al-Ahsa region, another supposition by al-Jawahari suggests that the more formal name Bahri would have been misunderstood and so was opted against. Until the late Middle Ages, Bahrain referred to the region of Eastern Arabia that included Southern Iraq, Kuwait, Al-Hasa, Qatif, the region stretched from Basra in Iraq to the Strait of Hormuz in Oman. This was Iqlīm al-Bahrayns Bahrayn Province, the exact date at which the term Bahrain began to refer solely to the Awal archipelago is unknown. The entire coastal strip of Eastern Arabia was known as Bahrain for a millennium, the island and kingdom were also commonly spelled Bahrein into the 1950s. Bahrain was home to the Dilmun civilization, an important Bronze Age trade centre linking Mesopotamia, Bahrain was later ruled by the Assyrians and Babylonians. From the 6th to 3rd century BC, Bahrain was part of the Persian Empire ruled by the Achaemenian dynasty, by about 250 BC, Parthia brought the Persian Gulf under its control and extended its influence as far as Oman
40.
Taiwan
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Taiwan, officially the Republic of China, is a state in East Asia. Neighbours include China to the west, Japan to the northeast, Taiwan is the most populous state that is not a member of the United Nations, and the one with the largest economy. The island of Taiwan, also known as Formosa, was inhabited by Taiwanese aborigines before the 17th century. After a brief rule by the Kingdom of Tungning, the island was annexed by the Qing dynasty, the Qing ceded Taiwan to Japan in 1895 after the Sino-Japanese War. While Taiwan was under Japanese rule, the Republic of China was established on the mainland in 1912 after the fall of the Qing dynasty, following the Japanese surrender to the Allies in 1945, the ROC took control of Taiwan. However, the resumption of the Chinese Civil War led to the ROCs loss of the mainland to the Communists, and the flight of the ROC government to Taiwan in 1949. As a founding member of the United Nations, the ROC continued to represent China at the United Nations until 1971, in the early 1960s, Taiwan entered a period of rapid economic growth and industrialization, creating a stable industrial economy. In the 1980s and early 1990s, it changed from a one-party military dictatorship dominated by the Kuomintang to a multi-party democracy with universal suffrage, Taiwan is the 22nd-largest economy in the world, and its high-tech industry plays a key role in the global economy. It is ranked highly in terms of freedom of the press, health care, public education, economic freedom, the PRC has consistently claimed sovereignty over Taiwan and asserted the ROC is no longer in legitimate existence. Under its One-China Policy the PRC refused diplomatic relations with any country that recognizes the ROC, the PRC has threatened the use of military force in response to any formal declaration of independence by Taiwan or if PRC leaders decide that peaceful unification is no longer possible. There are various names for the island of Taiwan in use today, the former name Formosa dates from 1542, when Portuguese sailors sighted the main island of Taiwan and named it Ilha Formosa, which means beautiful island. The name Formosa eventually replaced all others in European literature and was in use in English in the early 20th century. This name was adopted into the Chinese vernacular as the name of the sandbar. The modern word Taiwan is derived from this usage, which is seen in forms in Chinese historical records. Use of the current Chinese name was formalized as early as 1684 with the establishment of Taiwan Prefecture, through its rapid development, the entire Formosan mainland eventually became known as Taiwan. The official name of the state is the Republic of China and it was a member of the United Nations representing China until 1971, when it lost its seat to the Peoples Republic of China. Over subsequent decades, the Republic of China has become known as Taiwan. In some contexts, especially ones from the ROC government
41.
Republic of China Army
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The Republic of China Army is the largest branch of the Republic of China Armed Forces. An estimated 80% of the ROC Army is located on Taiwan, while the remainder are stationed on the islands of Kinmen, Matsu. As the final line of defense against an invasion by the Peoples Liberation Army. The ROC Armys current operational strength includes 3 armies,5 corps, as of 2005, the Armys 35 brigades include 25 infantry brigades,5 armoured brigades and 3 mechanized infantry brigades. All infantry brigades stood down and transferred to Reserve Command after 2005 and this update reflects the ROCA order of battle at the conclusion of the Jinjing Restructuring Plan in 2008. A new type of unit called defense team is being introduced and these are formed by elements of de-activated brigades under each area defense command. The strength of a team may vary from one or more reinforced battalions. The team CO is usually a full colonel, the ROC Army CHQ is headed by a 3-star general and is responsible for overall command of all ROC Army assets. Army GHQ is subordinate to the Chief of the General Staff, the Minister of National Defense, internal Units, Personnel, Combat Readiness and Training, Logistics, Planning, Communications, Electronics and Information, General Affairs, Comptroller, Inspector General, Political Warfare. Armed Force Reserve Command 9 active infantry brigades,24 Reserve brigades ROC Armys former Army Missile Command was transferred to ROC Air Force in 2006, the Republic of China Military Academy trains officers for the army in a four-year program. Whampoa Military Academy, which was presided by Chiang Kai-shek, was tasked with the objective of training a professional Chinese revolutionary army (革命軍人） to unify China during the Warlord Era. It participated in the Northern Expedition, the Second Sino-Japanese War, after 1949, the ROC Army has participated in combat operations on Kinmen and the Dachen Archipelago against the PLA in the Battle of Kuningtou, and in the First and Second Taiwan Strait Crisis. In addition to major conflicts, ROCA commandos were regularly sent to raid the Fujian. Until the 1970s, the mission of the Army was to retake the mainland from the Peoples Republic of China. Following the lifting of martial law in 1988 and the democratization of the 1990s, subsequent to this shift in emphasis, the ROC Navy and Air Force have taken precedence over the ROC Army in defense doctrine and weapons procurement. The Army is also in the process of transitioning to an all volunteer force, orders were placed with the United States for M60A3 Patton tanks, M109A6 Paladin howitzers and AH-1W SuperCobra attack helicopters, as well as updating existing equipment. The U. S. Government announced on October 3,2008 that it plans to sell $6.5 billion worth of arms to Taiwan ending the freeze of arms sales to Taiwan. And 182 Javelin missiles will also be available with 20 Javelin command launchers and is estimated to cost $47 million, on January 29,2010, US Government announced 5 notifications to US Congress for arms sales to Taiwan
42.
Turkey
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Turkey, officially the Republic of Turkey, is a transcontinental country in Eurasia, mainly in Anatolia in Western Asia, with a smaller portion on the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. Turkey is a democratic, secular, unitary, parliamentary republic with a cultural heritage. The country is encircled by seas on three sides, the Aegean Sea is to the west, the Black Sea to the north, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. The Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles, Ankara is the capital while Istanbul is the countrys largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. Approximately 70-80% of the countrys citizens identify themselves as ethnic Turks, other ethnic groups include legally recognised and unrecognised minorities. Kurds are the largest ethnic minority group, making up approximately 20% of the population, the area of Turkey has been inhabited since the Paleolithic by various ancient Anatolian civilisations, as well as Assyrians, Greeks, Thracians, Phrygians, Urartians and Armenians. After Alexander the Greats conquest, the area was Hellenized, a process continued under the Roman Empire. The Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm ruled Anatolia until the Mongol invasion in 1243, the empire reached the peak of its power in the 16th century, especially during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. During the war, the Ottoman government committed genocides against its Armenian, Assyrian, following the war, the conglomeration of territories and peoples that formerly comprised the Ottoman Empire was partitioned into several new states. Turkey is a member of the UN, an early member of NATO. Turkeys growing economy and diplomatic initiatives have led to its recognition as a regional power while her location has given it geopolitical, the name of Turkey is based on the ethnonym Türk. The first recorded use of the term Türk or Türük as an autonym is contained in the Old Turkic inscriptions of the Göktürks of Central Asia, the English name Turkey first appeared in the late 14th century and is derived from Medieval Latin Turchia. Similarly, the medieval Khazar Empire, a Turkic state on the shores of the Black. The medieval Arabs referred to the Mamluk Sultanate as al-Dawla al-Turkiyya, the Ottoman Empire was sometimes referred to as Turkey or the Turkish Empire among its European contemporaries. The Anatolian peninsula, comprising most of modern Turkey, is one of the oldest permanently settled regions in the world, various ancient Anatolian populations have lived in Anatolia, from at least the Neolithic period until the Hellenistic period. Many of these peoples spoke the Anatolian languages, a branch of the larger Indo-European language family, in fact, given the antiquity of the Indo-European Hittite and Luwian languages, some scholars have proposed Anatolia as the hypothetical centre from which the Indo-European languages radiated. The European part of Turkey, called Eastern Thrace, has also been inhabited since at least forty years ago. It is the largest and best-preserved Neolithic site found to date, the settlement of Troy started in the Neolithic Age and continued into the Iron Age
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Turkish Land Forces
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The Turkish Land Forces, or Turkish Army, is the main branch of the Turkish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. Official claims state that the army was founded by Modu Chanyu of the Xiongnu Empire in 209 BC, but the modern history of the army began with its formation after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Significant events since the foundation of the Army include combat in the Korean War and in the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus, the army holds the preeminent place within the armed forces. It is customary for the Chief of the General Staff of the Republic of Turkey to have been the Commander of the Turkish Land Forces prior to his appointment as Turkeys senior ranking officer. Alongside the other two armed services, the Turkish Army has frequently intervened in Turkish politics, which has now been regulated to an extent with the reform of the National Security Council, the current commander of the Turkish Land Forces is General Salih Zeki Çolak. A more recent estimate put the figure at 391,000, factors contributing to this are further destabilization of Syria and Iraq due to ISIS and the Russian intervention in Syria, as-well as the re-emergence of a PKK insurgency in Turkeys south east. On 28 June 1963, the Turkish Army celebrated the 600th anniversary of its foundation, back then, the accepted theory was that the Turkish Armed Forces had been founded in 1363, when the Pençik corps had been formed. In 1968, Yılmaz Öztuna proposed this theory to Cemal Tural, in 1973, when the Turkish Army celebrated the 610th anniversary of its foundation, Nihal Atsız published his claim again. After the 1980 Turkish coup détat, the Turkish Army formally adopted the date 209 BC as its year of foundation, the modern Turkish Army has its foundations in nine remnant Ottoman Army corps after the Armistice of Mudros at the end of World War I. On November 8,1920, the GNA decided to establish an army instead of irregular troops. On August 26,1922, the Army of the Grand National Assembly launched the general offensive known as the Great Offensive against the Greek forces around Kara Hisâr-ı Sâhip. Nurettin Pashas 1st Army and Yakup Şevki Pashas 2nd Army encircled the main body of Major General Nikolaos Trikoupiss group, fahrettin Pashas V Cavalry Corps entered Smyrna on September 9,1922. Şükrü Naili Pashas III Corps entered Constantinople peacefully on October 6,1923, subsequently to the founding of the Republic of Turkey, the Army of the GNA was reorganized into three army inspectorates. In 1935, Turkey purchased 60 T-26 mod.1933 light tanks from the USSR, the Armoured Brigade of the Turkish Army consisted of the 102nd and the 103rd Companies armed with the T-26 mod.1933 tanks in the end of 1937. The reserve group of the brigade had 21 T-26 tanks also, in the beginning of 1940, the Turkish Army had the Armoured Brigade in Istanbul, which belonged to the 1st Army, and the 1st Tank Battalion, which belonged to the 3rd Army. Turkish T-26 tanks were out of service in 1942. During World War II, Turkey mobilized more than a million personnel, the Turkish Army order of battle in 1941 shows a number of formations. The command of the Turkish Army was formed on July 1,1949, the brigade also fought at Gimnyangjang-ni, Operation Ripper, or the Fourth Battle of Seoul, and Vegas
Egyptian Army Received 144 as M110A2 as aid in 1996.[3]
Greek Army 145 as M110A2.
Islamic Republic of Iran Army 30.
Israeli Army 36 as M110.
Japan Ground Self-Defense Force 91 as M110A2.
Jordanian Armed Forces 120 as M110A2.
Moroccan Army 60 as M110A2.
Pakistan Army 60 in service as of 2010.[4]
Royal Bahraini Army 13 as M110A2 from Netherlands delivered in 1994,[5] 25 as M110A2 from US delivered in 1996.[6]
Republic of China Army 60 as M110A2.[7]
Turkish Army, currently phasing out 219 as M110A2 in favor of T-155 Fırtına
Army of the Republic of Vietnam.
Belgian Army 11 M110A2 between 1972 and 1993 used by the 20 Artillery Regiment in Germany (BSD).
German Army M110A2 until 1993.
Italian Army M110A2, phased out by 1998.
Republic of Korea Army M110 until 2008.
Royal Netherlands Army M110A1 and M110A2, replaced by the M109 in the 1990s
Spanish Army as 64 M110A2, deployed in divisional fire support regiments until 2009.
British Army as M110A2 firing high explosive and nuclear shells only. (The FV433 Abbot SPG, the M109A2, and the M110A1 were replaced by the AS-90 in the early-mid-1990s.) Used in Operation Granby/Gulf War.[2]
United States Army and United States Marine Corps.
