Wartime Inventions

Nobody likes war (well, most people) but sometimes it is a necessary evil. However, despite the atrocities that occur during these dark times in human history, creativity can be pushed to it’s limits. The need to be one step ahead of the enemy means that armies have had to come up with creations to combat everything from hungry soldiers to lack of equipment, logistical nightmares to stealthy clandestine activities. Whilst some of these technologies will have been closely guarded by the military, there are some inventions from the army that have managed to permeate their way into everyday life. Here we take a look at a few items that we can thank the army for:

GPS

Global Positioning Systems were first introduced by the U.S Airforce in the early 90’s yet today can be found in most cars in the form of either a Satnav, or more recently, as an app on your mobile phone.

The systems work by using a network of satellites to triangulate the latitude and longitude of a location. In terms of Army utilisation, much like the civilian utilisation, it enabled users to navigate with considerable precision whether by land, air or sea. Other military uses include weapon precision and land surveying.

Further civilian uses include Satnav systems, Search and Rescue and animal tracking.

Duct Tape

That multi use roll of tape that sticks to just about anything was originally created during WWII for soldiers to seal their ammunition cans to prevent water leaking in. Due to it’s versatility, strength and its water resistance, duct tape started to be used for repairing equipment and clothing.

Today see’s people use duct tape in much the same way, it’ll stick to just about anything and stay there.

The Internet

We all love it, we all hate it and we all can’t live without it. The internets first iteration was ARPANET, created by the US Military when modern computing was becoming popular. ARPANET allowed the military to be able to link machines together into a reliable network and transmit information from one machine to another.

Over the course of the next 20 years the system was improved and refined until Tim Berners-Lee wrote the code that brought the worldwide web to life in 1989.

Tinned Food

Before tinned food, the military had to find different ways of preserving food, this usually included salting or pickling food in glass jars. Although tinned food has been around since the 1800’s it was only after WWII, when more variety of tinned foods became available, that it became more of a household item. This was mainly due to the increase in variety of tinned can contents, done during the war to increase soldier morale.

EpiPen

The little auto-injecting syringe that can save your life. EpiPen’s deliver a lifesaving shot of epinephrine to counteract allergic reactions. This design sprung up from a similar device given to soldiers to protect them from nerve agents and chemical weapons.

Cargo Pants

First worn by British Soldiers in the 1930’s due to their ability to store military gear and ammo. American troops adopted them just a few years later, and the general public began to wear them in the 1990s.

Jeep

Jeep has been around for 70 years and has come a long way since it’s inception during WWII. The closest model that resembles the early models is the wrangler which is still available today. However, they also have a full range of SUVs for every purpose, from off-roading to doing the school run.