HowStuffWorks Newsletter
Explore the weapons and combat systems used by the armed services. A broad range of topics in the Military Channel includes tanks, aircraft, biological warfare and stealth technologies.
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HowStuffWorks explains two ways that gun owners are modifying their semi-automatic weapons to fire like automatic ones.
Puerto Rico is finally getting much-needed aid after Hurricane Maria, and much of that is coming from USNS Comfort.
Bump fire stocks enable a shooter like Las Vegas killer Steven Paddock to fire a semi-automatic rifle at nearly the rate of an automatic. How do they work?
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New evidence shows that Big Tobacco specifically targeted U.S soldiers, because they were "less educated" among other reasons.
By Alia Hoyt
The Kim Jong Un regime continues to demonstrate its desire to threaten the U.S. and its allies with nuclear-armed ICBMs. But can any of these missiles actually reach the U.S. mainland?
By Julia Layton & Sarah Gleim
Sheltering in place could give you the best chance of surviving a nuclear attack.
Most experts agree that the all-volunteer military is what makes the U.S. armed forces the best in the world. Would that change if the draft was reinstated?
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A new study shows gun sales in the U.S. for self-defense soars, while sales for recreational shooting and hunting languish.
By Alia Hoyt
The history of the secret spy training school may be overlooked, but Camp X played a vital role in intelligence gathering during World War II.
The sci-fi weapon's destructive power may be closer to reality thanks to a recent test of the General Atomics Blitzer system.
In one of its more bizarre moments, the U.S. Army created voice tapes of allegedly wandering souls to depress Viet Cong morale.
By Alia Hoyt
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The MOAB is the largest nonnuclear bomb ever used by the U.S. So what makes it OK to drop this bomb and not a nuclear warhead? We dive in to find out.
By John Donovan
With tens of millions of active landmines still buried around the globe, scientists are looking for efficient and safe methods to remove them.
The Air Force currently handles U.S. military activities in space. But some experts argue that the country needs a new, independent Space Corps.
Despite the phrase "going ballistic," the term "ballistic" refers to how a missile travels through the air, not its explosive capability.
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Would populations boom and violence cease? Or would humans and human nature essentially remain the same?
For instance, gun silencers don't make guns all that quiet.
By Dave Roos
How did it work? Is it still around? The BrainStuff team investigates.
Aloft in the 1930s, the helium-filled USS Akron and Macon were aircraft carriers that docked biplanes. Today both rest beneath the waters off California's Pacific coast.
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With military combat roles opening to all, should women have the responsibility to register for the draft at 18 like men? A bill aims to catalyze the conversation.
If you're traveling during the winter time, there's a good chance that your flight may be delayed because the plane needs deicing. Why do they wait until the last minute to do this?
Why the skies aren't exactly so friendly for drone pilots.
By Chris Opfer
Military types are looking to drones to fly the deadly skies.
By Chris Opfer
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"Star Wars" at sea? That's sort of the promise of a new generation of laser-firing jets now being developed by the U.S. military.
By Dave Roos
We know how drone strikes are supposed to work: After careful monitoring, the bad guy is targeted and taken out. The reality is often much hazier — and deadlier.