I was talking to some friends about this and was wondering what you guys thought!
I say the machine gun, though some friends have said the baker rifle of the napoleonic wars as it was the first proper rifle, the nuke, cannons? What do you think?

It has to be the first device that prevented the actual contact of personnel from the battlefied engaging each other directly: The Bow and Arrow.

By allowing the stand off and delivery of the projectile, it allowed the commanders the ability to move and flank the enemy without losing the majority of his force through physical contact to do it.

All other principles of standing off and extending the range of engagement come from this weapon.

I agree with Mark, the creation of projectiles made fighting more stragetic than just an all out mansalughter. It allowed commanders to come up with more stragetic intelligent plans.

yep can def see the reasoning! huge impact on warfare, been around for over 2000 yrs! def more influential then any other apart from the knife! this has been around even longer, allowed our ancestors to kill more easily!

The Atomic Bomb obviously

Originally Posted by Trevor

The Atomic Bomb obviously

yup

There are many candidates:
- the gladius, which enabled the Romans to use swords in tight formation (in comparison with the greek phalanx, which used spears)
- the trebuchet, which meant that besieging armies could take down the walls of a castle rather than starving out the garrison
- the socketed bayonet, which meant that musketeers could defend themselves against cavalry, rather than needing pikemen to do it

Of all the choices, I'd say the one to go with is the aircraft.

Whether dropping bombs on cities, flying men and material behind the lines, strafing ground forces, or sinking battleships, it has changed conflict in almost every way. When we took to the air, war became a different thing.

I think the machine gun was the greatest invention in modern combat! It lead to many if our American victories. I helped in close and long range warfare. It was the best.
P.S.,
To all the guys that know me srry i've been away so lomg. I went to go mature and learn some things. Thanx.

discovery of sharp object to be used in combat

Plane, A-bomb, gunpowder weaponary, tanks........................... Everything!