Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online.A weapon is a tool used to apply force for the purpose of hunting, attack, self-defense, or defense in combat. Weapons can be as simple as a club, or as complex as an intercontinental ballistic missile, and include those that damage individual or group morale. Since the mid-18th century North American French-Indian war through the beginning of the 20th century, human-powered weapons were reduced from the primary weaponry of the battlefield yielding to gunpowder-based weaponry. Sometimes referred to as the "Age of Rifles", this period was characterized by the development of firearms for infantry and cannons for support, as well as the beginnings of mechanized weapons such as the machine gun, the tank and above all the wide introduction of aircraft into warfare, including naval warfare with the introduction of the aircraft carriers.