Necessity is the mother of invention. Our progress has mostly been driven by what we deem our needs to have been at a certain time and place. There have been great technological advances in the last 15 years that have been focused towards, or is a direct result of, the battlefield. The goal always is to improve the effectiveness of our forces and increase survivability in combat, while decreasing civilian casualties and collateral damage. The advances in the medical field alone have saved countless lives and limbs. Superior technology is one of the things that have allowed us the advantage throughout the course of our military history.

New Enemy, New Weaponry
Because of these drastically different environments and constant threats, the U.S. Military is continually developing new and dynamic methods of increasing survivability of the troops while inflicting damage on the enemy with surgical precision. There have been many different types of weapons systems fielded during the last eight years since we began our campaign in Afghanistan and later Iraq. Some have been adopted by our armed forces and others are still in the development stages. Many changes have been made in general combat tactics to meet this threat. A change in tactics means a change in the equipment used to fight.