70 March 2019 _ PopularMechanics.com
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6DECEMBER 1939(^1) War Machines
of Land, Sea, and Air
“No big gun at all but
an aircraft spotter, the
range finder is a ‘big
brother’ of the focusing
device on your camera.”
FEBRUARY 1941
(^2) War Birds
Without Wings
“A fleet of super-giros,
heavily armored to stand
off raiding planes, might
hover over the arse-
nal, ready to meet dive
bombers or any other
attacking aircraft with a
deadly barrage of shells
discharged from cannons
aboard each giro.”
MAY 1943
(^3) Your Hobby Can
Help Win the War
“Men whose hobby is
model railroading, or
who used their work-
benches and tools simply
for building garden fur-
niture and knickknacks,
are now a vital part of the
arsenal of democracy,
producing at home small
parts for guns, tanks, and
airplanes.”
SEPTEMBER 1948
How the War
Came to Me in Tokyo
“When we got into the
open space, we were
terrified to see the
dreadful scene outside.
Stars were glittering
above us as if they did
have no concern with
human conflict down
below. Oil scattered from
incendiary bombs were
burning on the ground;
above fences; on the
branches of trees; and
above roof of houses,
as if thousands of small
Christmas candles were
lighted up all at one time
for devil’s sake.”
AUGUST 1968
(^4) How Can We
Stop Those
Vietcong Rockets?
“A small rocket motor
in the projectile’s shaft
cuts in after the 80mm
round leaves the tube
to give it great range, a
flatter trajectory, and
increased accuracy. The
setup makes the U.S.
3.5-inch bazooka look
like a popgun.”
JUNE 1991
(^5) Lessons of
the Black Box War
“Iraq was blind and we
could see. Radar and
electro-optic sensors
borne by aircraft and
satellites blanketed the
battlefield, tipping us off
to every movement of
men or materiel.”
JULY 2003
Call to War
“In April, I decided to
cover the war in Iraq as
a mobile war reporter.
I spent a month in a
post-post-modern
experiment, running a
mobile wire service using
email, a satellite phone,
and a laptop—as well as
a fair amount of guts and
insanity.”
NOVEMBER 2014
(^6) The Missile Bubble
“Shooting missiles to
hit missiles is nothing
new, but the brains of
Israel’s Iron Dome are
truly unique, allowing the
system to automatically
identify a never-before-
seen missile and shoot it
down if it’s projected to
hit a populated area.”
2
As battlefield technolog y
changed with every conflict,
Popular Mechanics was
there, reporting on the
action and the equipment.
“Moonshine”
Outf it in Use
Among Eskimos
APRIL 1914
ELECTRIC “NIGHTCAPS” USED
FOR WARMING COLD HEADS
JANUARY 1922
FEBRUARY
1934