Infantry in the Middle Ages heavy toll on the English invaders of their lands. Adapted by the English, the longbow was nevertheless a difficult weapon to master, requiring long years of use and practice. Even bow construction was extended, sometimes taking as much as four years for seasoned staves to be prepared and shaped for final deployment. A skilled longbowman could shoot 12 arrows a minute, a rate of fire superior to competing weapons like the crossbow or early gunpowder weapons. The nearest competitor to the longbow was the much more expensive crossbow or Arbalest, used often by urban militias and mercenary forces. It required
Silent Hunter (laser weapon) Silent Hunter (laser weapon) The Silent Hunter is an anti-drone laser weapon developed in China by Poly Technologies. It is an improved version of the 30 kilowatt Low-Altitude Laser Defending System (LASS) and is available in both fixed and mobile versions. The Silent Hunter uses an electrically powered fiber optic laser and according to one Poly official, has a maximum power that is between 30 and 100 kilowatts and a maximum range of four kilometers. Although it is primarily designed to search, track, and destroy low-flying drones, it is powerful enough to "ablate" or penetrate five 2 millimeter steel plates