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Thread: Civilian inventions used in war

  1. #1
    The Queen Zuul's avatar
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    Default Civilian inventions used in war

    This had briefly come up in chat, but we didn't discuss it much, alas. I was thinking about inventions and innovations that started out in the civilian sector, but ended up being picked up by the military.

    One example that immediately comes to mind: The caterpillar track was used on Holt tractors during WWI for hauling heavy artillery, but it had been invented for agricultural use. That didn't stop several countries from adopting the design after they saw how well it managed uneven terrain and the modern tank was born.

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    Curmudgeon OtakuLoki's avatar
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    The bulldozer. If I recall correctly, the bulldozer was one of four machines that Halsey claimed won the war in the Pacific. Included as construction vehicles, they provided useful mobile cover and combat vehicles where the hybrids of the European front had never been sent. Not only were they useful for the cover they offered, they could be used to destroy pill boxes or tunnels, too.

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    Free Exy Cluricaun's avatar
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    Airplanes ftw.
    Hell, if I didn't do things just because they made me feel a bit ridiculous, I wouldn't have much of a social life. - Santo Rugger.

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    The Queen Zuul's avatar
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    Quote Originally posted by Cluricaun View post
    Airplanes ftw.
    I was just coming back to post this one.

    I mean, damn. Talk about a civilian invention that changed things.

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    Curmudgeon OtakuLoki's avatar
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    Dynamite was originally intended by Nobel for construction uses. It didn't take it long to get into the military, though.

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    Free Exy Cluricaun's avatar
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    Would the atomic bomb count? It was government sponsored for sure, but I don't know that I'd call the principals of the Manhattan Project really anything but civilians.
    Hell, if I didn't do things just because they made me feel a bit ridiculous, I wouldn't have much of a social life. - Santo Rugger.

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    Curmudgeon OtakuLoki's avatar
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    Ryan, they were all working under the direction of Brig. Gen Leslie Groves. A brilliant man in his own right, if not of the calibre of brain of Feynman, Fermi, or Oppenheimer.
    Last edited by OtakuLoki; 27 Mar 2010 at 09:42 AM. Reason: linking fail

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    The Queen Zuul's avatar
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    Quote Originally posted by Cluricaun View post
    Would the atomic bomb count? It was government sponsored for sure, but I don't know that I'd call the principals of the Manhattan Project really anything but civilians.
    Personally, I'd say that anything that received government funding with an intent to create a weapon doesn't count as a truly civilian accomplishment. The most important figures in its creation were civilians, but they were being supported by the military.

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    Curmudgeon OtakuLoki's avatar
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    What about people making private efforts to meet the standards of some military development prize? IIRC the story of the Jeep, the Willys-Overland company took what they had on the drawing boards for a four-wheel drive vehicle, and then presented it to the military when they put in a call for a general purpose four wheel drive vehicle. The prototype was then basically pirated with the connivance of the Army by the winning bid, because the Army didn't think that Willys-Overland would be able to meet the production they needed. Willys-Overland never, AFAIK, got paid for their design work by the military, but I'd call it very much a military driven project in the way it worked out. (If not in original plan)

    Now, four wheel drive, in general, is a civilian development that was picked up by the military, after they saw its use.

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    Curmudgeon OtakuLoki's avatar
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    KEVLAR!!!!!

    Kevlar was originally used as a reinforcing fiber for automobile tires. Then an entrepreneur used it to make bullet-proof vests for police use. And then they got picked up by the military.

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    Curmudgeon OtakuLoki's avatar
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    A few other one word products:

    Velcro

    Superglue (though that was about bass-ackwards, since the medical uses were originally funded by a DARPA-type grant, IIRC. The civilian use was the general mend-all that it's most well known for.)

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    The Queen Zuul's avatar
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    Ooh, good ones, Loki. Which puts me in mind of:

    Boron carbide. A by-product discovery by civilians that eventually went on to be used in tank armor and bulletproof vests.

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