Welcome to WatchMojo, and in today’s video, we’re counting down our picks for the top 20 craziest military weapons you won’t believe were invented.
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00:00 Welcome to WatchMojo and in today's video we're counting down our picks for the top
00:09 20 craziest military weapons you won't believe were invented.
00:23 There was seemingly no end to the innovation of offence during the Second World War, with
00:27 this Japanese invention serving as one of the least effective yet potentially deadly
00:31 weapons of the conflict.
00:32 In some ways, the Japanese fire balloon was frighteningly successful, as these quick-moving
00:37 hydrogen balloons actually did make their way to North American shores.
00:48 This was the longest-ranged war attack recorded at the time, despite the fact that the balloons
00:52 caused little damage with their incendiary contents.
00:55 Others were worried about the potential for biological or chemical warfare with the balloons
00:59 however, leading to a government-initiated press cover-up concerning their existence
01:04 and success.
01:20 The practice of using immense war elephants on the battlefield was a common sight during
01:24 the age of Roman warfare, with the beasts' effectiveness as mounts leading to research
01:28 for a way to combat their advantage.
01:32 A simple, if troubling solution was found when it was discovered that elephants were
01:36 intensely frightened and disorientated by the sound of a pig's squeal.
01:40 The idea?
01:41 Cover an array of war pigs in oil, set them on fire, and let the enemy elephants trample
01:45 the opposing forces to death as they try to get away.
01:48 It may not have been animal-friendly, but it certainly was effective.
02:01 From one cute animal to another next, although this is a hedgehog you'd want to stay well
02:05 away from.
02:06 The concept of the Royal Navy-developed hedgehog was quite simple.
02:09 It featured a cluster of up to 24 spigot mortars, which looked a little like the spines of a
02:13 hedgehog, and they would be fired from a ship into the oncoming path of a submerged U-boat.
02:23 These explosive devices would then create a wall of destruction for a boat to sail into.
02:28 Unlike depth chargers, which were designed to detonate when they reached a certain depth,
02:32 hedgehog mortars featured contact fuses, meaning they only detonated when making contact with
02:36 the surface of a boat, in turn creating more destruction.
02:42 The term "Wunderwaffe" refers to covert German plans for the development of so-called
02:49 superweapons during World War II.
02:52 One of these proposed weapons was known as the "Windkanone", which roughly translated
02:56 could be described as a "wind cannon".
03:04 The Windkanone was a ground-based cannon that was packed with a mixture of hydrogen and
03:08 ammonia, though some sources say oxygen.
03:10 It was designed to shoot out a shell of compressed air at its targets, with the intention of
03:14 grounding planes or otherwise disturbing airborne threats.
03:18 Windkanones were tested, but their effects against targets weren't to the liking of
03:22 German officials, and anyone manning it was essentially a sitting duck, so the idea was
03:27 scrapped.
03:32 This ornithological oddity was thought up by the American behaviourist B.F.
03:36 Skinner, and his vision was to create a pigeon-controlled guided bomb.
03:40 This device took the form of a deadly explosive glider, with one to three pigeons mounted
03:44 in the nose in front of three lenses.
03:47 These lenses would project an image of a target onto a small screen, a target the pigeons
03:51 were trained to recognise.
03:53 The pigeons would then effectively direct the glider by pecking at the screen when they
03:56 recognised said target, and get a treat each time they did.
04:00 Think "homing pigeon holding a bomb".
04:07 The project didn't really take off, so to speak, with creator B.F.
04:11 Skinner stating "our problem was no one would take us seriously".
04:24 Need to build an aircraft carrier but steel and aluminium are in short supply?
04:27 Well, construct it out of ice.
04:29 Or at least this was the idea proposed to England's Winston Churchill by inventor
04:33 Geoffrey Pike, in a plan he dubbed "Project Habakkuk".
04:39 Pike rationalised that a large ice carrier could easily operate while under torpedo attack,
04:44 as the missiles would only damage small sections of the ship's hull.
04:47 A mixture of ice and wood pulp, called pykrete, was used to make the carrier stronger and
04:52 more resilient, pushing "Project Habakkuk" to the point where a smaller-sized test ship
04:57 was built.
04:58 Unfortunately, its slow speed and the high demand for materials doomed the project before
05:03 it could even start.
05:11 The Russian Novgorod was a circular, flat-bottomed warship whose intentions were to be a heavily
05:16 armoured protector ship, with the ability to carry a large amount of artillery on board.
05:20 Built in 1871, the reality of its strange design made Novgorod almost impossible to
05:25 manoeuvre effectively in anything other than perfect weather conditions.
05:29 Its circular shape also means that it could take nearly an hour for Novgorod to make a
05:33 U-turn, thanks to an incompatible rudder system.
05:39 To be fair, although Novgorod holds a reputation as one of the worst wartime naval ships ever
05:44 constructed, it actually achieved its intended aim for coastal defence, even if it might
05:48 have looked a tad silly while doing so.
05:58 Although this spectacular-looking, rocket-propelled, explosive-laden cart was never used in battle,
06:02 it helped form part of the British military's Experimental Weapons Initiative towards the
06:06 end of World War II.
06:08 The Pangeandrum featured a drum of explosives, mounted between two 10ft wheels.
06:12 The idea was that this device would be propelled forward with rockets and be able to storm
06:16 beaches, exploding when hitting enemy defences.
06:19 There were issues with directing this 60mph rolling death trap, however, and it would
06:24 often tip over briefly after exiting the water.
06:27 Although flawed, this explosive Catherine Weir-like weapon is still pretty intriguing.
06:43 We're so used to remote-controlled devices nowadays, but back in the 1940s, this thing
06:47 would have been mind-boggling to see.
06:50 Developed by the German Army, the Goliath Track Mine was effectively a mini remote-controlled
06:54 vehicle used to infiltrate enemy defences or vehicles and then blow them up.
06:58 The Goliath would be controlled via a long, tethered cable, and it was capable of being
07:01 detonated remotely, being particularly useful when attacking tanks or buildings from a distance.
07:08 Although effective when used successfully, the Goliath was ultimately deemed a failure,
07:12 due to high unit costs, limited manoeuvrability and vulnerability to its tether cable and
07:17 armour.
07:18 But imagine one of those things coming at you!
07:28 Due to featuring in sci-fi movies and video games, many believe that the Railgun is pure
07:32 fantasy.
07:33 Well, it isn't.
07:34 It's very much a real concept, albeit still at an experimental stage of development.
07:38 A Railgun skirts the traditional concept of gunpowder to fire projectiles.
07:41 Instead, it utilises electromagnets to propel a projectile between two parallel metal rails.
07:53 In very, very simple terms, it throws a projectile using magnets, as opposed to firing them like
07:58 regular bullets.
08:00 The potential military benefits of Railguns are huge, as they don't rely on explosive
08:04 projectiles, which is cheaper, and they can fire at much higher velocities, meaning they're
08:08 more destructive and can fire from further distances.
08:11 Exactly how fast can a Railgun propel a projectile, you ask?
08:15 Well, about nine times the speed of sound, or 11,000km/h, or 3km/s.
08:31 Similar to the Daser Laser - more on that one later - this non-lethal laser weapon is
08:35 currently at the prototype stage and being developed by the US Department of Defence.
08:39 The Personnel Halting and Stimulation Response Rifle, or PHASER for short, uses bursts of
08:45 light to temporarily blind and disorientate its target.
08:50 The PHASER technology has been designed for use by US soldiers and law enforcement, but
08:54 like we said, it's still very much in the R&D phase.
08:57 Weapons intended to blind targets have been previously banned, but due to the temporary
09:01 effects of the PHASER, it's not prohibited - at least for now, anyway.
09:09 We're heading into some murky, conspiracy-laden waters next.
09:14 It's been well known for years that the US and Soviet militaries have trained marine
09:18 animals to assist in military operations.
09:21 This usually takes the form of underwater mine location and the recovery of lost equipment.
09:26 However, many conspiracy theorists believe that mammals, like bottlenose dolphins, have
09:30 been used in more nefarious missions, like those that involve attacking divers, or kamikaze
09:35 explosions of enemy warships.
09:43 The US Navy has denied these rumours, but the fact that dolphins can be used for mine
09:46 detection and equipment recovery is still pretty baffling.
09:49 But where do you sit on the killer dolphin debate?
09:52 Let us know in the comments below.
09:55 A weapon that heats things using a beam of waves.
09:58 Sounds like a microwave, right?
09:59 Well, the HEATRAY actually uses the same principle as the trusty kitchen appliance.
10:04 Developed by the US military, the HEATRAY, which is officially called the Active Denial
10:08 System, was intended primarily for perimeter security and crowd control, and it's capable
10:13 of aggravating the water and fat molecules of the skin.
10:17 Ouch.
10:18 This, of course, acts as a deterrent to anyone in its path, and leaves them with pain similar
10:27 to that of some nasty sunburn.
10:29 And its effects have been compared to that of standing in front of a big hot oven and
10:33 it being suddenly open in your face.
10:36 Active Denial System technology is still around, with the US military still looking at the
10:40 best way for it to be utilised in the future.
10:44 As we've already seen, sometimes it isn't about killing your opponents, but rather just
10:48 incapacitating them.
10:53 Already on this list we've seen light guns, HEATRAYs, and now we have the Daser Laser.
10:57 There were three different designs made of the Daser Laser - a small pistol, a baton,
11:01 and a larger, multi-function weapon.
11:06 All of them emit what is called a "mean beam", a mixture of modulating pulses and
11:10 light, which, when combined, can induce feelings of nausea, vomiting or disorientation within
11:16 their target.
11:17 You may have heard the Daser Laser be referred to as a "puke ray", and although this
11:21 may not be the weapon's intended function, it sure could prove to be a handy bonus in
11:25 battle.
11:28 The image of this old-school European weapon could be considered to be the stuff of nightmares.
11:42 The Mancatcher possessed a relatively simple design, consisting of a spring-loaded trap
11:46 located at the end of a long stick or pole.
11:49 Its main purpose was to drag enemy targets from horseback and restrain them, presumably
11:53 for such ends as capture, interrogation or ransom.
11:56 One particularly devious aspect of the Mancatcher were the sharp spikes located within the spring
12:01 trap, which could prove intensely painful, or even fatal, should the target not be wearing
12:06 some sort of protective armour.
12:12 The next weird weapon on our list possesses a strange name for an equally strange idea.
12:16 Who Me was an idea that first came to light thanks to the proto-CIA agency known as Office
12:21 of Strategic Services.
12:23 This American intelligence sector designed the horrible-smelling stench weapon known
12:27 as Who Me for the French Resistance fighting against Germany in World War II.
12:36 The compound was placed within small atomiser devices similar to a cologne dispenser, and
12:41 was intended to disorientate its target with the overwhelming stench of faeces.
12:48 Unfortunately, the spraying of Who Me often backfired against its user, making it yet
12:54 another quickly disregarded idea in the ever-evolving fight against Nazi Germany.
13:05 No Bruce Wayne didn't develop these.
13:07 Bat bombs were an idea developed by the United States during World War II in an attempt to
13:11 infiltrate Japanese territory.
13:13 This was proposed to be achieved by arming bats with incendiary devices, letting them
13:17 loose at dawn to roost and later detonating those bombs.
13:25 Although initial tests led to a massive explosion when the bats roosted under the fuel tank
13:29 of a New Mexico Air Force base, another test in Utah was more successful.
13:33 The bat bomb project was dropped due to rising costs and implementation delays, although
13:37 its developer, dentist Lytle S. Adams, maintained its use could have circumvented America's
13:42 dropping of the atomic bomb in 1945.
13:46 In what could only be described as one of the most head-scratching weapons proposals
13:55 on our list, the gay bomb was an idea dreamt up by scientists in Ohio's Wright Laboratory.
14:00 The idea behind their proposed gay bomb was to utilise female sex pheromones as a biological
14:06 weapon, spraying them over enemy soldiers in order to make them sexually attracted to
14:09 each other.
14:18 The fact that this idea was concocted during the mid-90s makes it all the more anachronistic,
14:24 with Wright Laboratories going on to receive an Ig Nobel Peace Prize by scientific humorists
14:29 in 2007 as a satirical jab at this most bizarre plan.
14:38 The corner shot rifle.
14:45 A gun that shoots around corners.
14:47 That's the top and bottom of it, really.
14:48 Well actually, the corner shot is an accessory, which allows the user to mount a small firearm
14:53 such as a pistol and operate its trigger from cover.
14:56 In other words, it doesn't bend bullets, but rather acts as a nifty remote control
15:00 that holds a gun and uses a camera to allow you to see around corners.
15:09 This device has been used by SWAT teams and special forces, and is very much a futuristic-looking
15:13 weapon that's being used right now.
15:15 In the future, the corner shot will be developed for use with larger weapons, like the US M16
15:25 and the M19.
15:44 No this thing isn't photoshopped.
15:45 It's the Gustav Gun, the largest calibre rifled weapon ever used in combat.
15:50 This railway gun was developed by the Germans in the 1930s, specifically designed to destroy
15:54 strong fortifications.
15:56 The whole thing weighed around 1,350 tonnes, stood four storeys high and 155 feet long.
16:03 And each shell weighed seven tonnes.
16:15 This gigantic gun was used in combat and ultimately destroyed by the Germans to avoid it being
16:19 captured by the Soviets.
16:20 Although effective, the Gustav Gun was extremely impractical, relying on specialised railway
16:26 tracks, locomotives and cranes to position it.
16:29 Regardless, this thing was big and powerful, and remains a thing of nightmares to this
16:33 day.
16:38 So what did you think of our list?
16:40 Did we miss anything amazing or terrifying?
16:42 Let us know in the comments section below.
16:54 Bye!
17:02 (upbeat music)
17:05 (upbeat music)