Area denial weapons are used to prevent an adversary from occupying or traversing an area of land. The most common are land mines of various types. Various anti-tank and anti-personnel land mines A landmine is a type of self-contained explosive device which is placed onto or into the ground, exploding when triggered by a vehicle or person. ...

The massive use of defoliants such as Agent Orange can be considered as an interdiction measure because, at their highest concentration use, they leave areas empty of any form of vegetation cover. In the desert-like terrain that ensues, it is impossible for an adversary to travel without being seen, and there is nothing much left for taking cover in case of an attack. U.S. Military planes cropdusting in Vietnam during Operation Ranch Hand Agent Orange is the code name for a powerful herbicide and defoliant used by the U.S. military in its Herbicidal Warfare program during the Vietnam War. ...

Today, area denial systems have moved beyond land mines and cover destruction. One example is a projectile system offered by Metal Storm, Ltd., that fires projectiles using projectiles pre-stacked in the barrels of the weapon, and sequentially fired at very high rates of speed by computer control, up to one million rounds per minute, covering a large area. A projectile is any object sent through space by the application of a force. ...

Other area denial methods include the fallout from nuclear weapons as well as chemical agents that are by design non-degrading, such as the nerve agent VX. Map of hypothetical fallout dispersal after a large-scale nuclear attack against the United States. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 km (11 mi) above the epicenter. ... Chemical warfare is warfare (and associated military operations) using the toxic properties of chemical substances to kill, injure or incapacitate an enemy. ... Nerve agents (also known as nerve gases, though these chemicals are liquid at room temperature) are a class of phosphorus-containing organic chemicals (organophosphates) that disrupt the mechanism by which nerves transfer messages to organs. ... VX The VX nerve agent is the most well-known of the V-series of nerve agents. ...

In medieval warfare, sharp and sturdy stakes were buried at the bottom of long lines of ditches, pointed end up, in order to prevent cavalry charges in a given area. The correct layout of these extensive lines of ditches and the quality control of stake size, form and placement (they had to be big and sturdy enough to impale a very heavy horse) was part of the craft of war. The anti-infantry punji stick is similar. Medieval warfare is the warfare of the European Middle Ages. ... Trous de loup In mediaeval fortification, a trou de loup (plural trous de loup) was a type of booby trap or defensive obstacle. ... Cavalry is also a common misspelling of the Biblical hill Calvary. ... The only atomic weapons ever used in war - the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan by the United States on August 9, 1945, effectively ending World War II. The bombs over Hiroshima (August 6) and Nagasaki immediately killed over 120,000 people. ... An American marine walks through a gully of punji sticks during the Vietnam War The Punji stick or Punji stake is a type of a non-explosive booby trap. ...

See also

• Salting the earth
• Sea denial
• Active Denial System, non-lethal energy weapon system