Random Greatest Weapons That Never Saw Action (16 items)

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  (#12) XM29 OICW

  Standing for "Objective Individual Combat Weapon," the XM29 OICW was part of an endeavor to improve on existing combat devices. The machine looked like something out of a futuristic war videogame. In addition to having all the capabilities of a standard assault rifle, it included a semiautomatic six-round grenade launcher.

  The XM29 OICW could also be taken apart and used as two separate entities, if ever necessary on the battlefield. However, the main drawback was that it was extremely bulky and difficult to handle. Operations for XM29 OICW have since been shut down.
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  (#7) Japanese I-400 Aircraft-Carrying Submarine

  The I-400 is not the only submarine ever to carry aircraft inside, but it was the first. This secret advantage of the Japanese navy in WWII was originally conceived by Admiral Yamamoto, who saw this stealth machine as Japan's only hope of hitting the United States or the Panama Canal.

  It carried three Seiran planes armed with either incendiary devices or anti-ship projectiles and used a unique side-by-side double hull to keep from tipping over with the weight of the aircraft hangar on top.
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  (#15) 2,000 M1 Abrams Tanks

  America has a government program known as "The Military Industrial Complex," and that complex needs something to do whether the military needs it or not. Case in point, the Abrams tank, assembled in Lima, Ohio. After "contributing" $5.3 million to the re-election campaigns of House Armed Services Committee Member Hank Johnson (D-GA) and several other members of defense appropriation subcommittees, manufacturer General Dynamics got a $3 billion contract for 2,000 tanks that the Pentagon explicitly said it didn't need or want. Not just because it had enough tanks, either.

  The Abrams, with its flat bottom, has proven very vulnerable to the mines and IEDs typically employed in the middle east, essentially rendering these incredible tools utterly useless. The Pentagon literally would have been better off spending $3 billion on horses and muskets. So, now we've got 2,000 brand new, useless tanks sitting in the desert in the American West, and that great social welfare program known as the Military Industrial Complex rolls on another day. 
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  (#3) F-22 Raptor

  The $450 million machine that is the F-22 Raptor has never once in its 25-year history fired a shot in anger. The world's first fifth-generation fighter has yet to find a target deserving of risking its expensive hide, especially since the Soviet Union collapsed. True, there are other fifth-gen fighters out there, but they're all still playing catch-up to the F-22 in terms of design and performance.

  Lockheed won't be making any new F-22s for the foreseeable future. You could call that a shame, but as long as we're not using it, that means we're not at war with anyone dangerous enough. 
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  (#2) Excalibur Space Laser

  Otherwise known as "the project that bankrupted the Soviet Union," this space laser was at the heart of the 1984 "Star Wars" program touted by Ronald Reagan. It harnesses the power of a small nuclear blast to create a concentrated dose of X-ray or infrared energy at the Earth. That might sound like a Doctor Evil doomsday device, but this laser was meant to prevent doomsday for the United States.

  It was designed as part of a projectile defense system and would have been used to shoot down incoming ICBMs while they were near orbit themselves. Technical problems, as well as the inability to target multiple warheads, kept this one from becoming a reality, but we could easily do it with modern technology. The air force is already working with airplane-mounted laser cannons to do exactly the same thing.
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  (#10) Tsar Bomba Hydrogen Device

  How does one describe the most powerful man-made explosion in history - Russia's 50 megaton "Tsar Bomba"? All right, imagine a piece of the Sun about 2.2 miles in diameter suddenly appearing overhead. Now, imagine that 2-mile fusion fireball (itself bigger than the whole blast radius of "Little Boy") suddenly explodes, releasing all of its energy and simply vaporizing everything in a 20-mile radius. That's the entire city of London, turned into ash.

  Everything within 50 miles perishes within hours, and within 100 miles a couple of days later. The mushroom cloud could be seen from 100 miles away, and the fallout could spread from New York to Colorado. The Tsar Bomba was never so much a weapon as it was a statement to the West: Beware the power of Mother Russia.

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