The U.S Army has made the change to a larger rifle caliber in a bid to defeat the body armor of Americas adversaries. Body armor will see advances in the future that will render firearms ineffective in warfare, only serving to pepper the enemy without killing them. Body armor will make guns obsolete in warfare. Soldiers will be forced into hand to hand combat. The sword will see a return in the wars of the future.
Soldiers can only carry so much ammunition before running out during a fight with no logistical support where more ammo is being delivered to the front lines. Soldiers will have to fight with their knives and hands, with the only use of their empty rifles and pistols being to bludgeon their enemies.
at no point will the energy and difficulty of fighting someone in physical combat be worthwhile over advancing technology to defeat whatever the armor of the day is with the pull of a trigger.
killing someone at a distance>>>>>
someone face to face
Even in your hypothetical scenario, grenades or a return to bolt-actions, only chambered in .50 cal would be more probable than people trying to kill these futuristic crab men with metal sticks.
And America already uses tomahawks as a CQW that can do more on the side. Sords just can't complete.
Missiles will become obsolete the advancement of lasers. Hypersonic missiles will be shot down with future advancements in laser weaponry. Laser weaponry will temporarily dominate the battlefield before countermeasures are developed. Countermeasure for countermeasure. There will only be the use of swords in close combat at the end of it. We will see vast armies face off against vast armies face to face. Missiles will [email protected] vaporized in the skies before they reach their targets
>muh swords
Yeah, nah. Get better armor and the other side will get better guns. Simple as.
It would be a real shame if your massed infantry formation of swordsmen were hit by napalm or sarin or the raw concussive force of explosives shattering their sinus cavities or any of dozens of threats that no amount of personal armor would or could protect against.
>And America already uses tomahawks as a CQW, that can do more on the side
*Liberty Intensifies*
All day every day.
>future projectile or direct energy weapons won't penetrate armor but some guy's arm will do the job
Sorry, but unless we see personal shield technology, a la Dune, swords aren't coming back
That makes sense, but only time will tell
Katana etc etc etc
But if swords never make a return, then we will see the development of weapons beyond our comprehension that will defeat all countermeasures. There will be no stopping them. The only way swords will return is if civilization gets set hundreds of years back by nuclear war.
My prediction for Nuclear war is that Russia and America will flatten eachother, most of Europe will be intact, most of the middle east will be intact, and South America and Africa will be relatively untouched. I doubt nuclear war will set civilization back to the iron age. Guns will still be used
>most of Europe
You don't think that Germany, France, and England are on the nuke list?
>Amerifats guarding the pallet of MREs
pottery.
>RETVRN to swords
>not just putting the bayonet lug back on the rifle
yeah okay moron
>hmm, my opponent is wearing armour that will stop a pellet of dense metal traveling at supersonic speeds
>Therefore I need to attack them with a sword, which is made from a less dense metal and travels much more slowly
I kinda thought about this. Basically, what the different groups would adopt if the Dune shields were a thing.
>regular army
good old reliable halberd.
>cav
either mandatory stetsons and cavalry sabers or just a short version of the halberd
>green berets
LARP as whatever locals use
>delta
arkansas toothpick
>SEALS
$150,000 a piece tridents that come with an automatic book deal
>PJs
who knows?
>marines
doggone what you mean private you need a melee weapon doggone corps already gave you a doggone k bar
>FPV drone
>laser pointer pointing at shield
Nothing personnel, kid
Why would you ever want a sword over a spear though?
Not OP but unless it's retractable, I bet people want something they can easily carry in a scabbard or on a belt. Then again, it begs the question why not a bayonet design.