A superweapon is an extremely powerful weapon by the standards of its time and its scale. Examples include the Tsar Bomba (the most powerful nuclear bomb ever made), various superguns and other various weapons employed to give a decisive advantage over opposing countries or forces. The given advantage is usually based on intimidation and demoralization of the opposing side. Historically, the majority of superweapons have given little to no tactical advantage at best, instead being part of a greater strategy. The bayonet, still used in war as both knife and spearpoint. ... Tsar Bomba casing on display at Arzamas-16 Site of detonation Tsar Bomba (Russian: , literally Emperor of bombs) is the Western name for the largest nuclear explosive ever detonated. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 km (11 mi) above the hypocenter. ... A supergun is a large cannon with an extremely high muzzle velocity; they were originally designed to bombard an enemy from extremely far away. ... Tactics is the collective name for methods of winning a small-scale conflict, performing an optimization, etc. ...

In modern times superweapons are usually considered to be weapons of mass destruction, and close attention is paid to countries who possess and/or operate such weapons, as well as countries who have operated, researched, funded, or otherwise sought to gain such weaponry. This is especially true of so called "Rogue states", as most people feel that possession of a superweapon by such nations would pose a threat to international security. Weapons of mass destruction (WMD) generally include nuclear, biological, chemical and, increasingly, radiological weapons. ... Rogue States Rogue state is a term used almost exclusively by the government of the United States and has not gained wide acceptance. ...

Weapons that have been regarded as superweapons

• Vergeltungwaffen
  • V-1 flying bomb
  • V-2 rocket
  • V-3 cannon
• Artillery
  • Big Bertha
  • Schwerer Gustav
  • Paris Gun
  • Nuclear artillery
• B-52 Stratofortress

Vergeltungswaffe is German for retaliation weapon or reprisal weapon, and was a term assigned during World War II by the Nazi propaganda ministry to a few revolutionary superweapons. There are three weapons in the V-weapons series, however some other weapons have become associated with the series, or are known... The Fieseler Fi 103/FZG-76 (Vergeltungswaffe-1, V-1), known as the Flying bomb, Buzz bomb or Doodlebug, was the first modern guided missile used in wartime and the forerunner of todays cruise missile. ... The V-2 rocket or Vergeltungswaffe 2 (Retaliation Weapon 2) was an early ballistic missile used by the German Army during the later stages of World War II against mostly British and Belgian targets. ... Like the V-1 flying bomb and the V-2 rocket, V-3 cannon was one of the three vengeance weapons (German: Vergeltungswaffe) built by Nazi Germany during World War II. Unlike the V-1 and the V-2, however, the V-3 was not a guided missile, but a... Historically, artillery refers to any engine used for the discharge of projectiles during war. ... Big Bertha Big Bertha (German: Dicke Bertha; literal translation Fat Bertha) is the name of the L/14 model of heavy mortar-like howitzers built and used by Germany during World War I. The name Big Bertha is often mistakenly applied to the Langer Max and Paris Gun railway guns. ... Preparing to fire the gun Schwerer Gustav and Dora were the names under which the German 80 cm K (E) railway guns were known. ... The Paris Gun was the name of an artillery piece with which the Germans bombarded Paris during World War I. This oversized railway gun was used from March to August 1918. ... A nuclear artillery shell is a limited yield nuclear weapon delivered by artillery. ... A B-52 in flight The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is a long-range strategic bomber flown by the United States Air Force (USAF) since 1954, replacing the Convair B-36 and the Boeing B-47. ...

Superweapons in Fiction

In many works of science fiction, superweapons are often far more powerful than their real-life counterparts, capable of devestating entire cities, continents, planets, stars, or even entire galaxies. See also Orbital bombardment and Planet killer. The best known example of a fictional superweapon is the Death Star from the Star Wars movies. Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... Orbital bombardment is the act of attacking a planet, moon or other such object from orbit, in the sense of not being suborbital like an ICBM. It is most often encountered in fiction. ... The Lexx, from the series Lexx In science fiction, a planet killer is an entity, often a large spaceship, expressly designed to destroy or render uninhabitable a planet. ... The first Death Star The second Death Star The Death Star was a giant military space station in the fictional Star Wars universe. ... The cover of the 2004 DVD widescreen release of the modified original Star Wars Trilogy. ...

In the Halo universe, seven collective orbitals, known as Halos to mankind, are capable of eliminating all sentient life within the galaxy. However, the life eliminated by the Halos must be of sufficient biomass to sustain a parasitic race known as the Flood. Theoretically, this allows smaller life forms, such as bacteria, to survive and reproduce. The Halo universe is a fictional setting for the video games Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, a possible future game Halo 3, and the books listed on Halo (video game series). ... In Iain M. Banks fictional Culture universe, an Orbital is a purpose-built space habitat. ... An image depicting an island, referred to as Relic, on one of the massive Halos. ... Sentience is a capacity for basic consciousness—the ability to feel or perceive, not necessarily including the faculty of self-awareness. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... A parasite is an organism that spends a significant portion of its life in or on the living tissue of a host organism and which causes harm to the host without immediately killing it. ... The Flood is a fictional alien life form in the video games Halo and Halo 2. ...

Strategy Games

The term is often used in Real Time Strategy games to define a special weapon or spell ability that is capable of inflicting massive damage on enemy forces, but with great cost and usually with a hefty time-delay between uses. Many nuclear weapons fall into this category, as well as more exotic weapons such as the Ion cannon from the Command & Conquer series and the Weather Control Machine in Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2. Dune 2 (1992), an early RTS A real-time strategy (RTS) game is a type of computer strategy game which does not have turns like conventional turn-based strategy video or board games. ... The Global Defense Initiatives space-based Ion Cannon. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...

See also

• Weapons of mass destruction
• Doomsday device