# Weapons platform

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> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Weapons_platform.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weapons_platform
> Source revision: 1260312582
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|Structure that can carry weapons}}
{{history of war}}
{{Refimprove|date=August 2008}}
A '''weapons platform''' is generally any [structure](/source/building), [vehicle](/source/vehicle) or [mechanism](/source/mechanism_(engineering)) on which a [weapon](/source/weapon) can be installed (via various [mounting mechanism](/source/weapon_mount)s) for optimal stability and performance. The mounted weapons, the platform and all other associated supporting equipments together form the '''weapon system'''.

In more general use, a weapons platform could be structured around a [gun](/source/gun), such as a [gun turret](/source/gun_turret) on a [ship](/source/ship), or [bracing](/source/Wing_configuration) on an [aircraft](/source/aircraft). For example, a [jet aircraft](/source/jet_aircraft) is a weapons platform for [missile](/source/missile)s, [bomb](/source/bomb)s or [autocannon](/source/autocannon)s, and the resultant weapon system is the [fighter jet](/source/fighter_jet); a [motorboat](/source/motorboat) can serve as a weapons platform for [automatic weapon](/source/automatic_weapon)s, [torpedo](/source/torpedo)es and [flamethrower](/source/flamethrower)s, resulting in weapon systems such as [gunboat](/source/gunboat)s and [fast attack craft](/source/fast_attack_craft)s. Land vehicles, either [wheeled](/source/wheeled_vehicle), [tracked](/source/tracked_vehicle) or [mixed](/source/halftrack), are also considered weapons platforms for [grenade launcher](/source/grenade_launcher)s, [machine gun](/source/machine_gun)s, [recoilless gun](/source/recoilless_gun)s and some [missile launcher](/source/missile_launcher)s, which transform the vehicles into weapon systems such as [armored car](/source/armored_car_(military))s (such as the [Humvee](/source/Humvee)), [IFV](/source/infantry_fighting_vehicle)s and [technical](/source/technical_(vehicle))s ([improvised](/source/improvised_fighting_vehicle) from civilian [pickup truck](/source/pickup_truck)s). In addition, [artificial satellite](/source/artificial_satellite)s have been proposed as potential [space weapon](/source/space_weapon) platforms. These satellites could carry an arsenal of weapons, such as to threaten other countries with the possibility of an orbital [nuclear strike](/source/nuclear_strike) (see [Rods from God](/source/Rods_from_God)).

The earliest weapons platforms were [chariot](/source/chariot)s, followed by [war wagon](/source/war_wagon)s. The ancient Greek [Helepolis](/source/Helepolis), a massive [siege tower](/source/siege_tower) which mounted catapults, could also be considered a weapons platform. The next attempt to mount weapons on platforms was made at sea, with catapults and eventually cannon mounted on their final form as [ships of the line](/source/ships_of_the_line) before the advent of [ironclad warships](/source/ironclad_warships) mounting turrets.

On land, the attempt to mount weapons on mobile platforms in the modern period was first made with [railway gun](/source/railway_gun)s. These, as forms of [artillery](/source/artillery), were the last vestiges of development of the super-weapon thinking before the advent of the [tank](/source/tank)s that changed the use of weapons platforms in warfare, although the largest railway guns were still used during the [Second World War](/source/Second_World_War) on the [Eastern Front](/source/Eastern_Front_(World_War_II)).<ref>{{cite web | access-date=2019-09-01 | archive-date=2009-03-03 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090303081327/http://www.aopt91.dsl.pipex.com:80/railgun/Content/Railwayguns/German/Dora%20index.htm | url-status=dead | url=http://www.aopt91.dsl.pipex.com:80/railgun/Content/Railwayguns/German/Dora%20index.htm | title=Dora, the world's largest railway gun | website=The Railway Gun Web-Museum}}</ref>

== References ==
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Weapons platform](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weapons_platform) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weapons_platform?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.