Atlas Trail
Reach and Reply: Missiles, Aircraft and Drones of the Modern Arsenal
This path follows the long-range delivery systems of the late twentieth century and the weapons built to stop them or to replace them, from a bomber designed for the Cold War to a cheap drone that became a symbol in a new war. Each stop is a weapon whose page records what it was built to do and where it was used.
Stop 1 of 10.
Weapons Systems
The B-52 entered United States Air Force service in 1955, designed to carry nuclear weapons deep into Soviet territory. It has been upgraded repeatedly, flew in Vietnam, the Gulf War, Afghanistan and Iraq, and is planned to keep flying past the 2050s.
Stop 2 of 10.
Weapons Systems
The Scud began with the R-11, which entered Soviet service in 1957, and gave the army a mobile strike system with a single liquid-fuel engine far simpler than the German V-2 engine. Iraq fired 88 of them in the 1991 Gulf War.
Stop 3 of 10.
Weapons Systems
Patriot reached initial operational capability in 1984 as a truck-mounted system that could intercept both aircraft and ballistic missiles. It was first used in combat against Iraqi Scuds in 1991, though how well it worked there remains debated.
Stop 4 of 10.
Weapons Systems
The Trident II D5 entered service in 1990 as a submarine-launched ballistic missile carrying multiple independently targetable warheads. Launched from a submerged submarine, it forms the sea-based leg of the American and British deterrent.
Stop 5 of 10.
Weapons Systems
The Javelin entered service in 1996 as a man-portable, fire-and-forget anti-tank missile with a top-attack profile that strikes a tank at its thinner upper armor. In the Russo-Ukrainian War the first 112 fired by Ukrainian forces scored 100 hits, according to Pentagon assessments.
Stop 6 of 10.
Weapons Systems
The F-22 entered Air Force service in December 2005 as a stealth air-superiority fighter with supercruise. Production ended in 2011 after 187 aircraft, and by law it has never been exported.
Stop 7 of 10.
Weapons Systems
HIMARS entered service in June 2005 as a wheeled rocket launcher light enough to be flown in a C-130, firing six guided rockets or one ATACMS missile. From June 2022 the United States supplied it to Ukraine, which had received 36 systems by late 2024.
Stop 8 of 10.
Weapons Systems
Iron Dome became operational in 2011, built to intercept short-range rockets and shells. Its battle management system fires a Tamir interceptor only at projectiles it calculates will strike a populated area, saving costly interceptors.
Stop 9 of 10.
Weapons Systems
The Bayraktar TB2 entered Turkish service in 2014 as a long-endurance combat drone able to loiter for over 24 hours and strike with laser-guided munitions. Its low cost made it attractive to export customers and it drew attention in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war and in Ukraine in 2022.
Stop 10 of 10.
Weapons Systems
The F-35 began operational service in 2015 in three variants sharing one airframe program. It stresses stealth and networked sensor fusion over the raw performance of the F-22, is the most widely adopted fifth-generation fighter, and is also the most expensive weapons program in history.
Create an account to keep this trail. Saving copies its stops into a collection of your own, which you can add to, reorder and share.
Where you have got to in this trail is kept by your own browser and is never sent to us. Clearing your browser data clears it. All trails.