Wanna Fight America? 5 Reasons the U.S. Military Will Make You Dead

TNI Staff

Security,

5 weapon that make it so. 

The B-2, F-22, F-35 and pretty much every other American stealth aircraft originates from those early efforts to defeat the Soviet air defense system.

The United States is the most formidable military power the world has ever seen. Arguably, since the end of the Cold War, America has enjoyed a level of dominance unparalleled in history—neither Rome nor the British Empire enjoyed such a level of superiority over rival powers. While the American military is not the largest on Earth, it is by far the best-trained and best-equipped force on the planet—putting rivals like Russia and China to shame.

(This first appeared in late 2015.)

But it took generations to develop America’s military into the world-beating force it is today, and it wasn’t until the end of the Civil War that the U.S. fielded armies that could challenge European militaries on the battlefield. From then onwards, it took two world wars before the U.S. military finally established itself as the most dominant force on Earth.

Here are five of all-time deadliest innovations in America’s arsenal:

The Gatling Gun

First fielded during the American Civil War—which to this day is the deadliest war in U.S. history with over 600,000 military dead—the Gatling Gun was one of the first rapid fire weapons in history. Consisting of multiple barrels rotating around a central axis, the weapon—invented by Richard Gatling—solved the problem of providing sustained fires for the first time in the gunpowder age.

(Recommended: U.S. Army's 5 Most Lethal Weapons of War) 

Initially, the U.S. Army, due to the service’s conservative nature, was reluctant to adopt Gatling’s invention. After Gatling had improved on his initial six-barrel design that fired 350 rounds per minute, the Army did eventually adopt the new weapon. It was first used in 1864 at the Battle of Petersburg in Virginia.

(Recommended: U.S. Marine Corps' 5 Most Lethal Weapons of War)