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
CBU-107 Passive Attack Weapon CBU-107 Passive Attack Weapon The CBU-107 Passive Attack Weapon is an air-dropped guided bomb containing metal penetrator rods of various sizes. It was designed to attack targets where an explosive effect may be undesirable, such as fuel storage tanks or chemical weapon stockpiles in civilian areas. The weapon consists of a Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser-equipped SUU-66/B Tactical Munitions Dispenser containing 3,750 non-explosive steel and tungsten penetrator rods of various sizes. There is no other version of the CBU-107. The weapon is notable for the speed with which it was developed and fielded, a total of 98 days. This was to