• In times of war, people may wonder what types of weapons the soldiers, the sons and daughters of the American people, are using to fend off the enemy. There is a wide variety of weapons and ammunitions caches at the disposal of the U.S. military, from handguns to tanks, and mortar rounds to missiles. This list of 10 types of weapons will exhibit just how powerful the U.S. military is.
  
  

Pistols

• The U.S. military utilizes a trio of pistols for combat at close quarters, including the Marines standard-issue M1911A1 .45-caliber pistol, the Army standard issue M9 9mm pistol and the MEU (SOC) pistol, which is a modified M1911A1 .45-caliber pistol. The modifications increase the pistol's accuracy and its lethality.
  
  

Rifles and Shotguns

• A wide array of shotguns is at the disposal of the U.S. armed forces, and they are used for various operations including guard duty, riot control and sniping. There are four versions of the 12-gauge shotgun currently being used by the military. The M14 7.62mm rifle is reserved for the Competition in Arms program and has been replaced in action by the M16A2 5.56mm rifle. The sniper rifles used by the military include the M24 sniper rifle, M25 sniper rifle and the M40A1 sniper rifle (an update of the original M40 that was introduced in 1966). Other rifles include the M82A1 SASR, M4 carbine (a compact modification of the M16A2 rifle) and the Objective Individual Combat Weapon, which has the kind of efficiency that will allow it to replace three weapons: the M16A2, the M203 grenade launcher and the M4 carbine.
  
  

Machine Guns

• Machine guns are probably the most well-known military weapons, given their use in popular army-oriented films like the ones in the "Rambo" franchise, "Missing in Action," "Commando" and the two "Transformers" films. The machine guns used by the military include the M-240B machine gun, M2 .50-caliber machine gun, M240G medium machine gun, M249 SAW, M60 machine gun, MK19 40-mm machine gun, MOD 3 (this weapon is equipped to fire grenades) and the MP-5N 9mm submachine gun, which is the Marines' primary close quarters combat weapon.
  
  

Grenade Launchers and Shoulder Launchers

• A variety of weapons are used by individual ground troops to launch grenades and missiles. The AT4 Viper is an anti-tank weapon. The M203 40mm grenade launcher is attached to the M16A2 to give the rifle the ability to launch grenades. The Shoulder-launched Multipurpose Assault Weapon (SMAW) is an armor-piercing weapon that is used to destroy bunkers and tanks, and the Stinger Weapons System fires missiles guided by infrared beams and is designed to destroy planes and helicopters.
  
  

Armored Vehicles

• The Light Armored Vehicle-Mortar (LAV-M) is an all-terrain vehicle that can become fully aquatic in 3 minutes or less. It carries up to 94 bombs, with five ready for firing; 800 rounds of ammunition, with 200 rounds ready for firing; and 16 smoke grenades. The M198 155mm Towed Howitzer is a stationary weapon that can fire up to four rounds per minute, and, depending on the weight of the missile, the range can go from just over 18,000 meters to 30,000 meters.
  
  

Ground Artillery

• Ground artillery normally consists of weapons that fire mortar. The U.S. military has a pair of these weapons. The M-252 mortar is able to fire all types of mortar, from the older versions to the new, and the M224 60mm lightweight mortar is highly accurate and has longer range than the M-252 at up to 5,650 meters.
  
  

Air Defense Systems

• All branches of the armed forces have weapons that are fired at airborne targets from the ground. These weapons include the Avenger Weapons System, the Hawk Surface-to-Air Missile System, the Patriot Missile (renowned for its ability to shoot down incoming missiles), the RIM-116A Rolling Airframe Missile (anti-ship missile designed by Americans and Germans), Sea Sparrow Missile (an air-to-air missile with surface-to-air capabilities that is used on Navy ships to attack aircraft and missiles), Standard Missile and the Vertical Launch ASROC (VLA) Missile (this missile is fired from Navy surface ships to attack submarines).
  
  

Aircraft-mounted Weaponry

• Along with missiles and bombs, aircraft are equipped with weapons that are handled by gunmen inside the vessels. The AN/GAU-17 7.62mm machine gun is equipped by helicopters and is handled by a soldier who fires it out of an open compartment. The AN/GAU-8 30mm cannon is equipped on the anti-tank A10 Thunderbolt II and can fire 3,900 armor-piercing rounds per minute. The M61A1 20mm cannon can be attached outside of an aircraft or added to one so that a man on the inside can fire it. This weapon hasn't been modified since it was created shortly after World War II.
  
  

Naval Weapons

• The Navy utilizes a variety of weapons that can attack incoming missiles, planes, submarines travelling beneath the surface and targets on land. The weapons mounted on the ships include the Aegis combat system, the Mark 38 25mm machine gun system, the Mark 45 5-inch / 54-caliber lightweight gun system, the Mark 75 3-inch/62 caliber gun system, the Phalanx close-In weapons system (the missiles are fired from a tower) and a trio of torpedoes used by submarines: the Mark 46, Mark 48 and Mark 50 models.
  
  

Tanks

• The U.S. military has three tanks and a missile launcher that resembles a tank. The M1 Abrams tank is the main battle tank of the military, and the M1A2 tank is an improved version of it. The M109 Paladin A6 is a smaller battle tank used for indirect fire and wields a 155mm Howitzer cannon, and the Multiple Launch Rocket System can attack various targets, including airborne targets, light armored vehicles and ground troops.