Vietnam/Iraq/Afghanistan Wars

Iraq War: 2003-2011was part of the war on terror between the United States and Iraq.

Afghanistan War: 2001-Present is a war on terror between the United States and Afghanistan

Vietnam War: 1955-1975 was a cold war era war between communist North Vietnam and non-communist South Vietnam.

Vietnam

Afghanistan

Vietnam War Uniform: M1 Helmet, Boonie, M17 Gas Mask, Tropical Jungle Jacket, Tropical Jungle Trousers, Jungle Boots, M69 Flak Vest

The M1 helmet was made of hadfield manganese steel, mangalloy. It was painted olive green and weight about 3.16 pounds. The M1 helmet was able to protect soldiers from shrapnel and glancing bullets but it was not able to stop a direct hit.

The tropical combat hat or boonie hat is a full brimmed hat with a band for attaching camouflage and a mosquito net. It was developed in 1966 and was made of cotton wind resistant poplin.

The M17 gas mask was worn when troops used gas to flush out opponents it was also convenient to block the smell of rotten flesh. It was able to protect the soldiers from a variety of chemicals. Developed in 1968

The tropical jungle jacket was developed in 1965 for hot and humid climate. It was lightweight and made of cotton, poplin, and ripstop nylon.

The tropical jungle trouser was developed in 1962 and was lightweight and quick drying. It contained a small pocket for carrying a survival kit. The trouser was made of wind-resistant cotton and ripstop.

The jungle boot was constructed out of leather and cotton canvas duck and the neck of the boot was reinforced with nylon. The sole of the boot was a vibram rubber composition that was vulcanized to the leather. The boots had eyelets to help drain water quickly and came with a removable insole made of fused layers of saran. Later on in 1966, the boots came fitted with stainless steel plates on the inside of boots soles to protect soldiers from stake traps.

The M69 flak vest was armor worn over shirts and under jackets. It was made of 12 piles ballistic nylon. It had a place to carry grenades over the two breast pockets and had adjustable cords on the sides of the vest.

Iraq & Afghanistan War Uniform: Army Combat Uniform (ACI)

The army combat uniform is comprised of jacket, improved outer tactical vest made of Kevlar and containing four ballistic plate inserts, trousers, 100% cotton t-shirt, and advanced combat helmet and tan army combat boots made of moisture-resistant leather and nylon duck. The uniform is designed to prevent 3^rd degree burns and is treated with permethrin, a chemical used to protect the soldiers from insect-borne diseases.

Vietnam War Weapons: M16 Riffle, M16A1 Riffle, M203 Grenade Launcher, M60 Machine gun, M72 LAW, Colt 45 Pistol

The M16 riffle was developed in 1964 and had a range of about 435 yards. Early in the war the weapon would jam due to the wet and dirty conditions and the use of low quality ammunition

The M16A1 riffle was developed in 1966 and succeeded the M16. In order to prevent corrosion the bore and chamber were lined with chrome. The weapon was also equipped with a fiberglass stock and weighted about 4.41pounds.

Iraq & Afghanistan War Weapons: M16A2 Riffle, M4 Carbine, M203 Grenade Launcher, M249 SAW, SMAW, M60 Machine gun, M72 LAW, M9 1911A1 Handgun

The M16A2 Riffle is the standard issued riffle. Although, it is usually called the M16 as it was when it was first introduced in the Vietnam war.

Vietnam War Materials: Mangalloy, Chrome, Stainless Steel, Fiberglass, Poplin, Ripstop, Cotton Canvas Duck, Vibram Rubber, Saran, Velcro

Mangalloy is a tough steel alloy that usually contains around 13% manganese. Mangalloy is a non-metallic steel that resistant to abrasions and can reach 3 time its surface hardness when impacted without increasing in brittleness.

Chromium is a hard metal that has a high melting point and is malleable. It also has a high hardness and resistance to corrosion. For this reason, chrome was used to coat metals.

Stainless Steel is a steel alloy that does not corrode, rust, and to some degree is resistant to water stains. This is because stainless steel contains at least about 11% chromium.

Fiberglass is a lightweight and extremely strong material. It is composed of thin fibers of glass that have been reinforced by plastic. However, in order for it to have a high tensile strength the fibers need to be as free form defects as possible.

Poplin is a strong fabric that has been weaved together. It was usually made of cotton or raylon or a combination of materials.

Ripstop is a light weight fabric that is made out of nylon and reinforced by the technique used to weave the fabric together. The way the fabric is constructed makes it resistant to tearing and ripping and could also be made water resistant.

Cotton canvas duck usually just called canvas is a heavy duty, coarse fabric that is tightly woven together.

Vibram rubber was and is a compound rubber that is made by the high performance Italian rubber sole company Vibram.

Saran is a polymer made of polyvinylidene chloride. It was was woven together to create a mesh that could increase ventilation and could reduce blisters and tropical ulcers when used as insoles in boots.

Velcro is used as a fastener. Is is made of fabric, typically nylon or polyester and is known to make a tearing sound when the two fastened end are pulled apart. This is because one of the fabric fasteners is made up of small hooks and the other is made up of loops and when the two ends are pressed together the hooks become intertwined with the loops.

Iraq & Afghanistan Materials: Permethrin, Kevlar

Permethrin is a synthetic chemical that is used as an insect repellent and insecticide. It is supposed to be safe for human exposure and is said to be poorly absorbed by the skin.

Kevlar or poly-paraphenylene is a synthesized material. Kevlar fiber has a high tensile strength of around 3,600 MPa. It also maintains its strength and resilience at temperatures of -196 degrees celcius.

Medieval

Medieval Attire

Cloth Armor, Chain Mail, Plate Armor, Helmets, and Shields

Cloth armor usually came in the form of a padded jacket called a gambeson or aketon. It was made out of layers of heavy cloth usually linen or wool and sometimes leather which quilted together and stuffed in order to provide the wearer with with more protection. Although, cloth armor was inexpensive it was hot to wear and did not provide very adequate protection.

Early knights wore chain mail, or mail, which was made up of thousands of small interlocked metal rings. The metal rings in chain mail were usually made of iron which made the armor heavy, around 50 pounds. In order to construct this armor, metal worker would cut and heat thin strips of iron. While still hot the iron was first pulled into a tube shaped and then hammered it to a circular shape and let to cool. Once cooled, the iron rings were linked together with rivets and hammered flat. Although, chain mail provided more protection than cloth armor alone, it was expensive and more time consuming to make. Furthermore, once constructed chain mail was difficult to clean and dry which would then cause the armor to rust easily which in turn severely impacted the quality of the armor. Ultimately however, chain mail armor only really protected the wearer from cuts and blunt blows from a sword but did not provide much more protection. After the onset of longbows and cross bows chain mail thus became less effective.

Later on in the late middle ages knights began to wear plate armor. This type of armor protected the wearer's body and bent at the joints. It was constructed from solid overlapping metal plates. These metal plates were first cut into workable pieces and then heated and hammered into the shape desired before being connected by rivets. Although, this armor weighed about the same as chain mail, around 45 to 55 pounds, it usually polished or painted in order to prevent the metal from rusting and provide more protection than chain mail alone.
Also during this time, even a knights horse wore a type of plate armor. It was called barding and it covered the horse's head, neck, body and chest.

Similar to a knight's armor their helmets and shields also changed depending on evolving technology, weapons, and battle tactics. Helmets weighed about 4 to 8 pounds and were mainly used to protect the head in battle. This was because they were usually difficult to wear and did not provide much ventilation or visibility when worn. Three types of helmets worn were, the Norman helmet, the Great Helm, and the Bascinet. The Norman helmet provide the least protection of the three. It consisted of a conical shaped top and a nasal bar to protect the wearers head and nose in combat. The Great Helm was a helmet the covered the entire head. It contained hole used for breathing and slits for seeing both of which provided limited ventilation and view. Later on Bascinet helmets provided knights with the option of lift-able or movable visors that were able to provide more ventilation and much more visibility when opened.
Another tool that medieval soldiers used to defend themselves were shields. Depending on the materials available and the wealth of an individual, shields were made from leather, wood, metal, or a combination of the three. Shields like helmets also came in a variety of different styles and size and sometimes were ornately decorated.



Norman Helmet



Bascinet Helmet







Great Helm Helmet

Medieval Weapons

Longsword, Dagger, Mace, War Hammer, Morning Star, Lance, Longbow and Crossbow

The Longsword was usually the weapon of choice for medieval knights. The swords were usually made from low carbon mild steel and where characterized by having a double sided blade, a cross shaped hilt with a cross-guard on one side to protect the knights hands and a pommel on the other end to act like a counter weight. The sword also had a long grip that allow the knight to wield it with two hands.
The knightly dagger was a close combat weapon and was usually the knights secondary defense weapon. A dagger is simply a metal fighting knife that a knight could use stab an opponent.
A mace was a weapon similar to a club. It had a handle with a heavy head on one side. During the middle ages solid metal maces were used against chain mail armor. Although, the mace did not usually pierce the armor it was able to deliver a powerful blow to the opponent that caused damage to the individual.
A late medieval weapon intended for close combat was the war hammer. They began to be more heavily used when plate armor made of wrought iron began to be surface hardened with steel. Thus, hammers were used to deliver more forceful blow to the armor and helmet, denting armor and injuring an opponent. The war hammers sometimes also contained blade or spikes that could penetrate the weak points of the armor and cause more damage to an individual.

A morning star was a weapon that came in may shapes and size. It could be club like weapon similar to a mace with many spikes or it could be like a flail with a shaft and chain containing a spiked ball at the end. However, the morning star was shaped it usually contained a wooden shaft and metal spikes usually arranged as a ball and sometimes attached to the shaft with a chain. The morning star was a brutal weapon that could cause severe damage to in opponent if struck in the face or limbs.
The lance was a weapon that a knight could use on horseback. Lances were pole weapons that were long, thick, and heavy and were used to impact an opponent while ridding. Lances were usually made of wood with a metal tip which usually splintered on impact.
The longbow was a weapon knights could use at a distance. The bow and arrow was fashioned out of wood and strings were made from hemp, silk, or flax and attached to the bow. The longbow was an important weapon and sometimes a decisive factor in winning battles during the middle ages.
Another bowed weapon was the crossbow. Although less accurate and having a slower shooting rate than a longbow, the crossbow had advantages that it could be used by an inexperience individual and could provide more kinetic energy to the projectile then the longbow could. This is because the wooden bow of a crossbow was mounted on a stock which was mechanized to hold the string place it then allowed an individual to fire a projectile at an opponent.



Longsword






Longbow

Morning Star Flail

Medieval Materials

Leather, Iron, Steel, and Brass

Leather was a very versatile material. It has a high tensile strength, resists tearing and puncturing, and is good insulator. Also leather was mildew and fire resistant. Being that leather was comfortable to wear it sometimes was used as armor on its own or more often in metal armor for interior components and straps. Furthermore, leather could be easy molded to make shapes needed in armor and shield making.
One of the most common metals used in making armor was iron. Since iron is strong and malleable, it was easy to work with. However, iron is heavy and will rust when exposed to moisture which will then severely degrade it's structure.
Steel was another metal frequently used in making armor. Steel has a good malleability and durability. Thus, making it easy for metal workers to shape it into a suit of armor. Furthermore, steels durability and strength provided better protection for knights than iron.

Another metal used in armor making was brass. Brass was used for its strength, hardness, and resistance to corrosion and wear. It was also easy to shape since it has a good malleability. However, brass was usually used as a secondary metal for decorative purposes due to it's color and not usually as the main construction metal or a suit of armor.

Norman knight

Knight in plate armor

Napoleonic and independance wars

Napoleonic and Independence wars, are the wars that took place in the periods between 1770 and 1820 approximately. These wars are sometime considered a direct product of the philosophical current at the time: The enlightenment.

The wars in this period include, the United States of America independence wars from the British Empire. the French revolution, the seven years war between the colonies possessed by the richest families in Europe (the Hohenzollern, the Hasburg and the Bourbon), the post-revolution wars or Napoleonic wars, and the independence of the american colonies of the kingdoms of Spain and Portugal.

These wars have an interesting quality that differentiate them from all the previous armed conflicts. Mainly the standardization of the military units: infantry, cavalry and artillery; And the subsequent modification of combat techniques. Its worth noticing that the geographical extension of the wars was increasing and becoming a new powerful and decisive factor to account for. An clear example being Napoleon's invasion to Russia in 1812.

The ever increasing need for bigger and better trained armies, led to the creation of drafted citizen soldiers, and the implementation of cheap small arms into the infantry, clearly shaping the political order at the time; The big number of soldiers that composed the army, led to the creation, and later standardization, of army divisions and corps; Which facilitated communication, organization of the big massive armies that took part in the wars.

A representative army, not only from the historical point of view, but also from the point of view interesting to us, is Napoleon's army; More specifically, the army that he used in his campaign against Russia.

The campaign against Russia took place on 1812. Napoleon's army was one of the biggest and better trained armies in the world. Napoleon had an impressive military career as commander, and had an impressive 16-year long interval of undefeated battles. His army consisted of 370000 infantry units, 80000 cavalry units and 1400 artillery units; However impressive the number were (and still are under today's standards) the army was only half french; The other half was a unstable mixture of defeated Germans, Italians, Spaniards and Portuguese troops. Ont he other hand of the conflict was Russia with three major armies which together the were able to gather 180000 Infantry units, 40000 cavalry units and 800 artillery units.

Napoleon himself took charge of the logistics of the invasion. He was aware of the possible risk his campaign will undergo as they marched into the vast Russian territories. He knew the enemies would run towards the interior of the country, we knew they would do their best to left nothing for the Napoleonic troop to use, they would burn their own cities and crops just to make Napoleon's army starve and demoralize; In response to this, Napoleon decided to took with them all the necessary food and garments they would use during the invasion; He designed the supply routes, which included over 10000 wagon pulled by oxen. The wagon were build without any specifications other than carry as much food as possible, and the oxen were planned to be part of the menu once the provisions of the wagon have been used. All this minor details were taken into account by the great commander.

The Russian army was aware of the difficulties the French would have to undergo if the war was to be prolonged for too long. They were well aware of the demoralizing effect of their retreats, the vastness of the Russian territories, and most significant of all, the crudeness of the Russian winter.

Napoleon, as great commander as he was, left Paris hoping to obtain a victory in 4 weeks or less. He was confident the Russians would surrender without resistance once his army had crossed the Polish borders. He was wrong; Indeed, 4 weeks later, Napoleon had change his war strategy and his army was now marching towards Moscow. The army had been reduced by 150000 units at a rate of about 3000 units a day due to malnutrition, exhaustion, and infections.

By September that year Napoleon's army had reach Moscow. They took it without any resistance (since the Russian army, and Russian inhabitants left the city with all their belongings when they saw the french army coming) and had 2/3 of the city burned down. At this moment the remaining soldiers had their bag filled with some extra clothes, some food and many treasures , mostly gold relics and golden objects gained over the course of the war. It was customary among the soldiers to lighten their bags, by leaving behind the extra clothes that seemed unnecessary in September. At the en of September, the remaining 120000 soldiers started their march back to Paris.

Napoleon had calculated that winter would come until him, and his army had reach Poland, but that year, an abnormally cold winter, came abnormally soon. It is estimated that less than 25000 soldiers came back to Paris after the campaign.

This is a short abstract of Napoleon's campaign of invading Russia in 1812. But it is enough for us to realize the important role of materials in this context. We see, one more time the urge to find the optimum combinations of weight and strength, flexibility and toughness, between specialized components and multifunctional components. And all this in mass production, and for the least possible price.

A few examples that illustrate how decisive could have turned the right pick of materials include, the material from which the wagons were build. A wagon build out of fast burning wood could have help resists the inclement crude Russian winter. Oak wood is, in recent times, the best possible wood; It burns the longest, hottest, and basically the most efficient BTU available. Oak wood is not the strongest wood, but Napoleon's army didn't really need that.

The typical decision among soldier of sacrificing spare clothes to gain space where to put their treasures might have been alleviated by better clothing. It is true that in the 1800's there were no GoreTex membranes, Polartec insulation, or waterproof material like there are today, but many useful clothing was intentionally left aside because of its visual appearance. It was very important to fight in the army uniform and wear the nation's (or royal family's) colours in the uniform. A thick cloak, although ugly, might have offered better insulation during cold seasons, a dry place to sleep, it could be worn opened, thus offering good ventilation, or simply get detached in hot days.

Another example, this time of something that actually happened, as opposed to something that could have happened, is the material of which the cannons were made. During the seven years war, Napoleon's army had perfected their metallurgy, and the cuspid of this development was the implementation of the Gribeauval guns. The Gribeauval guns where a series of artillery units that in average weighted 2/3ths of the enemies cannons, thus allowing Napoleons army to advance faster and break the line formations more effectively (One of Napoleon's main war strategies.) As a comparison, the British 12-pounder cannons weighted around 6500 pound including the carriage and the limber; The Gribeauval 12-pounder only weighted 4367 pounds.

The technology used to create these weapons lied on the reduction of the manufacturing tolerance of the cannons. To achieve this, instead of pouring molten iron or bronze around a clay cylinder (and later removing the cylinder), these guns casted the entire solid volume, and later drilled the whole inside the iron or bronze core. This had numerous advantages, for example, in early cannons, the amount of power required to make a cannon ball flight a certain distance was bigger since most of the power was dissipated through the imperfections of the inside cylinder. The increased amount of powder made the mechanical loads present in the cannon very big, and this needed the implementation of external metal rings around the cannon tube to absorb the shock of the explosion. With the advent of the new method, the amount of powder required was smaller (since the imperfections in the inner cylinder were also smaller) and the loads the cannon tube had to withstand were totally absorbed by the cannon alone. This allowed the metallurgist to spare the extra metallic rings ,thus lightening the whole piece, and reducing the amount of material needed to produce every cannon.

The french army had the best artillery in Europe, this led Napoleon to create the French empire as we know it today, and some of its glory can be traced back to the understanding of new materials and new, smarter, ways of using them in our favor.

World Wars

Increasingly in the past two centuries, radically new science‐based technologies—inventions providing new power sources and means of transportation and communication, for example, have had a transformative effect on society, and on warfare. But despite widespread popular belief in technology as a determinative agent of change, indeed as part of the culture of modernity, a debate continues over the inevitability of the social consequences of particular major inventions. While some see technology as a virtually autonomous agent of change, others contextualize it in larger socio‐cultural processes. The latter emphasize that material innovation is initiated and developed, or not developed by human beings with particular abilities and resources (the gun was largely banned from feudal Japan, for example, for more than two centuries; see Noel Perrin, Giving up the Gun: Japan's Reversion to the Sword, 1543–1879, 1979). Despite the power of a technological development once it has begun, the beginning and end of every such sequence, as Robert L. O'Connell (Of Arms and Men, 1989) has said, is a point when human choice can and does exert itself.

World war I

World war I happened between 1914 - 1918. The weapons used in this war can be divided into individual use and group use. 

For individual use, The main weapon used by British soldiers in the trenches was the bolt-action rifle. 15 rounds could be fired in a minute and a person 1,400 metres away could be killed.

Machine guns needed 4-6 men to work them and had to be on a flat surface. They had the fire-power of 100 guns.

Large field guns had a long range and could deliver devastating blows to the enemy but needed up to 12 men to work them. They fired shellswhich exploded on impact.

For massive killing:

1. Gas. The German army were the first to use chlorine gas at the battle of Ypres in 1915. Chlorine gas causes a burning sensation in the throat and chest pains. Death is painful - you suffocate! The problem with chlorine gas is that the weather must be right. If the wind is in the wrong direction it could end up killing your own troops rather than the enemy.

Mustard gas was the most deadly weapon used. It was fired into the trenches in shells. It is colourless and takes 12 hours to take effect. Effects include: blistering skin, vomiting, sore eyes, internal and external bleeding. Death can take up to 5 weeks.

For group use:

1. Zeppelin. The Zeppelin, also known as blimp, was an airship that was used during the early part of the war in bombing raids by the Germans. They carried machine guns and bombs. However, they were abandoned because they were easy to shoot out of the sky.

2. Tank. Tanks were used for the first time in the First World War at the Battle of the Somme. They were developed to cope with the conditions on theWestern Front. The first tank was called 'Little Willie' and needed a crew of 3. Its maximum speed was 3mph and it could not cross trenches.

The more modern tank was not developed until just before the end of the war. It could carry 10 men, had a revolving turret and could reach 4mph.

3. Planes were also used for the first time. At first they were used to deliver bombs and for spying work but became fighter aircraft armed with machine guns, bombs and some times cannons. Fights between two planes in the sky became known as 'dogfights'

4. Torpedoes were used by submarines. The Germans used torpedoes to blow up ships carrying supplies from America to Britain.

The Germans torpedoed the passenger liner Lusitania on May 1st 1915 which sank with a loss of 1,195 lives. Americans were outraged and joined the war in 1917 on the side of the allies.

World war II

World War 2 required a massive outpouring of manufacturing capabilities, giving rise to one of the world's largest industrial producers in the United States of America. The war, and its global reach, challenged many-a-nation to rise up and fight the fascist incursion brought about by Adolph Hitler and Benito Mussolini in Europe and North Africa and the empirical reach of Japan in the Pacific. With its roots planted firmly in the First World War, it was not surprising to see the fusion of man and machine to the extent that was witnessed in the Second World War. It was a war of defined heroes and villains, tyranny and democracy, meekness and strength. In the end, it would be a war of wars, setting the stage for the conflicts now witnessed throughout the 21st Century - most notable in the Middle East. Below you will find a listing of aircraft, infantry weapons, tanks, artillery, grenades and naval vessels used throughout World War 2 by the major players and world powers.

From the main list of weapons we can see that with the  growth of weapon"effects", the materials and the manufacture also needed to be improved.

For personal use, the goal is to be more flexible and deadly. This required the weight of the weapon could not be too heavy for a soldier to carry. On the other hand, too light could cause the accuracy issue. So this dilemma required new materials and new technology.

For group use, the goal was to kill as many as possible. So the weapon required accuracy less  than individual use but more powerful.

Ancient

Weapons are meant to kill or harm living things. Historically speaking, the development of human civilization followed the pace of the evolution of weapons, which stands for the highest level of the current technology.


Stone age.

At ancient times, materials that human being could access to were far limited, which were only ones came directly from nature, like wood, stone, bones, etc. As a half man-made thing, weapons in that time was only used to hunt in order to survive. Wars were only between human being and nature.

The main principle of how to choose weapon material is basically considering the strength and hardness of a material. With these properties people could get work done more efficient.
And also there were tools of combinations of different materials, which was mainly decided by the combinations of good properties of different materials. Take a spear for example, the long wood part was chosen because of the low density, which enabled people to hold for a long time without loosing the attacking distance, while the sharp part was stone. With big hardness, the stone part had the capability to kill animals fast.


Bronze and iron age.

With the development of productive forces, there were enough food for everyone to survive and even some left. As the left things got accumulated, selfish was firstly came up and this led to the fights between man and man, which was "true war" or the war we now defined.

In order to win the war, mankind were forced to invent more powerful weapons. But the renovation of weapons need great society source support, which means the richer a society was, the more advanced weapons they probably own. Of course there were exceptions. Like China in Qing dynastic.

So on this level, the relationship between weapons and the level of society was some how promote each other.

Copper was first smelted around 3,300 B.C., followed quickly by the development of bronze. Iron tools first started to appear in the Near East in the 12th Century B.C., although iron remained relatively expensive for centuries and was often used concurrently with bronze tools. However, first bronze and then iron and steel were major leaps forward in weapon-making, producing arms that were heavier, more durable and kept a sharper edge longer. In addition to these materials improving the killing power of all previous weapons, the era also saw the domestication of the horse. That opened the doors to both cavalry and chariots. Chariots fell out of favor by the 4th Century B.C.; but cavalry would remain important for more than a millennia after that. The ancient world also saw the development of siege weapons that used cables, animal sinew and counterweights to store mechanical power for use in things like trebuchets, catapults, and ballistas. This was also an era that saw a primitive form of napalm, the famous "Greek Fire," come into being.

Greek and Roman

The historical period considered here is mostly represented by the Classical era of the Greek civilization. An era of great influence on human history as it enriched every aspect of human culture. The classical period is commonly accepted to be the 200 year period between the 5^th and the 4^th centuries BC.

The Roman contribution is mainly represented by the 500 years-long period of the Roman Empire, historically placed between 27BC to 476 AD. During this period the Roman Legions tripled their territories going from 2.7 million km², to an outstanding 6.5million km².

This success can be tracked back to two main revolutionary concepts; The first being the military war tactics, in which discipline and obedience are key factors to maintain the front lines unbroken, and the second, and more relevant to us, the superiority of their war equipment.

As we can see from the pictures, the roman legionaries, greatly resembles the Greek hoplites. This can be explained by understanding that the Greek classical period had a tremendous influence over the roman empire. Influencing every aspect of their culture, from architecture to religion, from politics to war tactics.

The typical roman legionary can be considered to have some defensive and some offensive equipment. In the defensive we can include an extensive armor that effectively covered its vulnerable points. This armor consisted of a shield, a helmet and a body armor, all of which were thicker and covered more body parts than those of their enemies, which were mostly dressed with nothing other than clothing and defended with shields. The improved thickness of their armor was decisive in the prolonged engagement that battles often implied. The defensive equipment was usually made out of bronze, iron  and later steel. The use of each of these new materials were major leaps forward in the military superiority of the soldiers since stronger materials protected them better, lighter materials allowed them to be faster and more agile, cheap materials allowed the armies to grow bigger and so on. Usually, the lowest ranges didn't have the means or the privileges to wear a armor, instead they were protected by leather which acted as a thicker and more resistant skin (specially against the thrusting of swords), and wooden shields, perhaps reinforced with natural fibers (taking advantage of the anisotropicity of these materials) or even metallic parts.

On the offensive side, the legions had swords and spears mainly, they also were provided with chariots and some forms of cavalry. The swords themselves were generally made out of bronze or copper; Bronze is rarely encounter naturally and its very likely to have been produced by smelting of naturally occurring ores. Spears played an important role in battle, being for example a decisive war instrument in the Macedonian troops. The long spears, or Sarissa,  when used together with the phalanx formation proved to be the winning strategy responsible for the undefeated campaigns of Alexander the Great. Although the materials were common among trained enemy troops, the techniques used by the Romans resulted in higher lethality in combat. An example of this is the military training focused on thrusting of the sword rather than the slash which was only possible due to the use of materials that could stay sharpen for longer periods of time.

The differences between a roman legion and a well trained enemy troop didn't always lie on the materials they used, but rather on the ways they used these materials, or the processing the materials undergo. In the case of savages, this difference might have been decisive since savages probably didn't have access to the forging facilities and specialized blacksmiths the Roman Empire had, putting them from the beginning in the losing side. Another example might be the use of exotic alloys that offered dramatic mechanical improvements at the cost of being toxic to the soldiers, like for example the use of arsenical bronzes.

We can conclude that military superiority during the classical period can be tracked back to the discovery of superior materials, superior forging techniques, and use of these products accordingly to the military task expected.

Medieval

Early knights wore chainmail. It was a form of armor made of many small rings locked together. The rings were usually made of iron and was very heavy (around 23kg) . It easily rusted and was hard to clean. It protected the wearer from cuts but not much else.

Knights also whore metal helmets and shielding on their arms and legs.

Later on knights began wearing armor made up of solid metal plates that protected the wearer's body and bent at the joints. This armor weighed about the same as chain mail but was usually polished or painted in order to prevent the metal from rusting.

Even horse wear armor. It was called barding and covered the horse's head, neck, body and chest.