THE BAZOOKA
THE BAZOOKA Immediately recognizable and with a name that everyone remembers after the first mention, the bazooka is one of the most iconic weapons of all time. Developed in the early 20th century, this recoilless anti-tank rocket launcher, nicknamed also "stovepipe", was first introduced widely during World War II. Although it had its flaws, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force mentioned the bazooka among the four "tools of victory" in WWII along with the atomic bomb, the C-47 Skytrain transport plane, and the Jeep. Today, bazooka has become a generic term for shoulder-fired rocket launchers in the public. The development of the bazooka entailed two separate technologies: rocketry and shaped-charge warheads. Like many weapons of World War II, it was a high-powered weapon that was scaled down for increased mobility and ease of fire. The concept behind the bazooka was to create a handheld weapon that could inflic...