Humanity’s knack for finding ingenious ways to kill is unpreceded. Throughout history, men and women have designed a variety of weird weapons with the intent to kill. Just imagine if we took all that money and brainpower and invested it in a cure for cancer?
Anyway, humankind’s need for death and destruction has resulted in the creation of many bizarre weapons that don’t fit the usual mold. While soldiers today are equipped with the best technology, such as drones that can drop bombs while being controlled from the other side of the world, it hasn’t always been that easy. Over the centuries humankind has needed to get creative when it comes to weapons. From handheld arms to explosive weapons, here are some of the weird weapons used throughout history.
1. Harmonica Gun
This unique weapon got its name due to the fact that it looks like a harmonica. It has a slide chamber where the ammunition was stored. The problem with this weapon was that as you went through more bullets, the chamber would slide further to one side. This made one side heavier and harder to control, so your aim was impacted. Even with this deficiency, the harmonica gun was in production for around 20 years during the decline of the Wild West in America.
2. Lipstick Pistol
Also known as the ‘Kiss of Death,’ the lipstick pistol was pretty much what you imagine. It was a single shot pistol hidden inside a tube of lipstick. It could hole one bullet. Invented by the KGB and used by spies during the Cold War, the lipstick pistol held a solitary 4.5 mm cartridge that if fired at close quarters, could kill a person. This was the type of weird weapon you would imagine seeing in a James Bond film, with one eventually featuring in the Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater video game.
3. Bat Bomb
This weapon was ludicrous. It was the shape of a traditional bomb, but inside were over a thousand compartments containing hibernating Mexican free-tailed bats. Yes, that’s right, bats! Attached to each bat was a small timed incendiary bomb. The bat bomb was to be dropped over Japanese cities where it would free the bats inside. They would then roost in the roofs of Japanese homes and be detonated, starting fires that would ravage towns throughout Japan.
Somehow this crazy idea actually got approved by the United States President Roosevelt, who was said to have remarked, “It sounds like a perfectly wild idea but is worth looking into.” Codenamed Project X-Ray, the bat bomb suffered numerous problems during testing–on one occasion the bats escaped and blew up a test range–and was never actually used during World War II. PETA probably wouldn’t have been too impressed by this one.
4. Vespa 150 TAP
Imagine encountering this hybrid tank/scooter on the battlefield? The Vespa 150 TAP, also known as the ‘Bazooka Vespa,’ was an anti-tank scooter used by French paratroopers in 1956. It’s basically a Vespa scooter with a cannon mounted on one side. The weapon was actually an M20 75 mm recoilless rifle, which is a light anti-armor weapon created by the USA. Two bikes were dropped from a cargo plane along with two paratroopers. One bike carried the weapon and the other had the ammunition strapped to its side. While the weapon was meant to be set up on a tripod, it could be fired while on the Vespa, although accuracy was a problem.
5. ‘Who Me?’ Stink Bomb
Another head-scratching weapon from the minds of America’s leading military experts was the ‘Who Me?’ stink bomb. Similar to stink bombs you might have messed around with as a child, this sulfur-based nose blocker smelled terrible. It was meant to be used against German soldiers to make them feel sick and demoralize them. “Imagine the worst garbage dumpster left in the street for a long time in the middle of the hottest summer ever-and that gives you a taste of the ‘Who Me?’ quality,” explained Pam Dalton, a cognitive psychologist at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia.
The drawback was that this weapon dispersed so quickly that it was hard to contain to one certain area, so the Allied soldiers who used it would also be caught up in the bomb. As you can imagine, this weapon didn’t last long in the field.
6. Tsar Tank
This weird-looking tank construction was only in development for a year before the Russians threw the plans in the bin. The armored vehicle was basically a tricycle with a mounted cannon. Inspired by Turkic povozki carts, each of the Tsar Tank’s two front wheels was powered by a 240 hp Maybach engine while the cannon turret also had a machine gun attached. The problem the Russians ran into was because the Tsar Tank was so heavy, the rear wheel would easily get stuck on soft ground. It was also found to be vulnerable to artillery fire. Only one of these Tsar Tanks was built before the project was quickly shut down by the High Commission.
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7. The Krummlauf
This unusual weapon looks like a normal rifle, besides the curved barrel. Invented by the Nazis, the Krummalauf was meant to be able to shoot around corners to give soldiers an advantage over their enemies. Of course, bullets don’t shoot around corners and the Krummalauf was besieged by problems. Many of the bullets would disintegrate before exiting the barrel, creating a shotgun pellet effect. Some variants also include a periscope so the user could see what they were shooting at around corners. This is a ridiculous weapon that failed to have any impact during the war.
8. Man Catcher
No, this wasn’t used by women to capture men, although that could be an alternate use for this weird weapon. Utilized by Europeans in the late 18th century, the man catcher was a long pole weapon with a circular type prong on the end. Inside the prong was sharp steel spikes. The weapon was used to takedown men riding horses. As they often wore armor, the man catcher wouldn’t harm them but was designed to make it easier for soldiers to capture enemies.
This is one weapon that is still in use today. A version of the man catcher was operated by police in India during the pandemic. This way they could capture suspects without having to get too close to them and risk catching COVID-19.
9. Bulgarian Umbrella
Another weird weapon straight out of a James Bond movie, the Bulgarian umbrella had a poisonous pellet that could be shot at unsuspecting victims. The pellet contains ricin and was enclosed in the hollow shaft of the umbrella, with the handle used as the trigger. This weapon was actually used in the assassination of the Bulgarian dissident writer Georgi Markov. On September 17, 1978, Markov was shot while walking across Waterloo Bridge in London. He died four days later from the poison.
10. Boeing YAL-1
The Boeing YAL-1 was a plane built by the American Airforce equipped with a laser. As far-fetched as it sounds, the high-energy laser actually worked during the test phases, destroying two test missiles. While it wasn’t designed to shoot laser beams at other aircraft like something out of Star Wars, the laser of the Boeing YAL-1 did have enough power to destroy missile and tactical defense positions. Despite the successful tests, funding was cut in 2010 and the plane was eventually scrapped in 2014.
11. The Claw of Archimedes
The great Greek scientist Archimedes came up with this defensive weapon. To protect Syracuse’s city walls against water attacks, the claw of Archimedes was a type of crane with a large grappling hook on the end. The idea was that the Greeks would use the weapon to grab hold of attacking ships and lift them out of the water. They would then swing them into other ships on the water or drop them from great heights, causing the ships to capsize. The claw was said to be instrumental during the Second Punic War in 214 BC.
While there are queries over whether this weapon actually existed, the Discovery Channel show Superweapons of the Ancient World built a working replica of the claw. Although on a smaller scale, the weapon was successful in capsizing a ship, giving credence to the design.
12. Anti-Tank Dogs
Showing their lack of compassion for animals, the Soviets were the first to come up with anti-tank dogs. These four-legged fluff balls were trained to run under tanks and drop timer-detonated bombs that would destroy the armored vehicles. Unforautnely the Soviet Union trained the dogs using stationary tanks, so when confronted with actual moving ones, they got spooked and returned to their trainers. This often resulted in the bombs detonating in the Russian trenches, killing their own soldiers.
After more training using moving tanks, the Soviets also changed up the bombs. These new weapons had a lever that when struck by the undercarriage of the tank would detonate. Not only would this stop the tank in its track but it also killed the poor dog. Surprisingly there weren’t many volunteers to be part of the team training and controlling these dogs.
While they did have some success, the use of anti-tank dogs during World War II decreased after 1941. The program continued for decades after though, officially being put to bed in 1996.
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