The rifle cartridge range is farther and more effective than ever before. The M16A2 can also fire all NATO standard 5.56mm ammunition and, equipped with the M203 Grenade Launcher, can fire 40mm missiles.

Lightweight, air-cooled, gas-operated, magazine-fed, the M16A2 can be fired from the shoulder or the hip. A selector level allows the soldier to shoot in modes of automatic fire, in 3-round bursts, or single-shot semiautomatic fire. A muzzle compensator improves the control and accuracy of the M16A2, and a fully adjustable rear sight has been enhanced for wind and range changes.

Factoid:The M16A2 has a modified upper receiver that changes the way cartridges are ejected. They used to hit left-handed shooters in the face.

Primary function: 5.56 mm light machine gun for use in infantry squads

Weight:With bipod and tools, 15.16 pounds (6.88 kilograms); 200-round box magazine adds 6.92 pounds (3.14 kilograms); 30-round magazine adds 1.07 pounds (0.49 kilograms)

Maximum effective range:3,281 feet (1,000 meters)

Rate of fire:Cyclic, 725 rounds per minute; sustained, 85 rounds per minute

Gas operated, and air-cooled, it has a collapsible stock and can be fitted with rubber bullets for crowd control. The M4A1, the version made for Special Operations Forces, has a full automatic mode. But the tradeoff for making a shorter, handier version of the M16 has been in penetration, velocity and accuracy over longer ranges.

Primary function: 5.56 mm rifle for close-quarters battle
Weight: 7.92 pounds (3.6 kilograms)
Maximum effective range: area target, 2,624.8 feet (800 meters); point target, 1,650 feet (500 meters)
Rate of fire: 45 rounds per minute, semiautomatic
Other features: Can be fitted with M203 grenade launcher
Used by: Marine Expeditionary Units and U.S. Army units

The RPK is essentially a variant of the AKM assault rifle with a longer, heavier barrel and is fed either by a 40-round curved box magazine or a 75-round drum magazine.

It can also use the AKM's 30-round box magazine. The RPKS-74 version with folding butt was intended for airborne paratroops. These machine guns differ from the AK-74 assault rifle in barrel length and weight, sight windage mechanism, butt shape, dimensions weight and the design of the recoil compensator.

Primary function: 7.62 mm squad machine gun
Weight: Up to 15 pounds (7 kg) depending on magazine
Rate of fire: 150 rounds per minute in automatic mode
Maximum effective range: 2,640 feet (800 meters)

Weight: 14 oz.
Explosive: 6.5 oz., Composition B.

It also has an overpressure clean-air conditioning air system, a radiological warning system, and a chemical agent detector to protect itself from nuclear, biological, and chemical warfare. The tank uses a special fording system to cross rivers and surf zones and has an electronically-operated mine-clearing blade system that disregards landmines up to six feet ahead.

The M1A1 holds a four person crew. The Commander’s station has six periscopes for a 360 degree view. The Commander can fire the main gun independent of the Gunner, and the Gunner's sight has automatic target cueing which eliminates the need for verbal communication between the two soldiers. An Independent Thermal Viewer (ITV) provides day and night vision and automatic sector scanning. The night vision Thermal Imaging System (TIS) alerts the crew of enemy presence within 10 meters of accuracy and enables the tank to maneuver not just in darkness, but also in poor visibility conditions caused by sand, dust, and smoke.

The Abrams has some serious firepower. It’s got the .50-caliber Browning M2 Heavy Barrel, M240 machine guns, the Armor Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot (APFSDS), and High Energy Anti-Tank (HEAT). The APFSDS round is a long, non-explosive rod that uses kinetic energy to impact enemy steel at about 2,900 feet per second. It creates a mini-volcano that spills molten metal inside the target. In the absence of full penetration, the impact alone creates a fragmenting effect, which shatters the interior of the armor. The HEAT round is like a conventional explosive, blowing through armor with one of the most sophisticated and deadly targeting systems in modern warfare.

Crew: 4
Length: 32.25 ft
Width: 12.0 ft
Height: 8.0 ft
Weight: 67.6 tons
Top Speed: 41.5 mph
Armament: 120 mm

Factoid: The tremendous size and weight of the Abrams means even the C-5 Galaxy, the largest cargo aircraft in the US Air Force inventory, can only handle one tank at a time. Nearly all of the Abrams tanks deployed in the Gulf War, approximately 2,000 of them, had to be shipped overseas via cargo boats.

Factoid: Along with the F-15 Eagle, the F-16 was the world's first aircraft able to withstand higher G forces than its pilots.

Length: 49 ft.
Wingspan: 33 ft.
Altitude: Above 50,000 feet
Speed: Above 50,000 feet
Range: 2,425 miles
Armament: One 20mm multibarrel cannon, up to six air-to-air missiles, and electronic countermeasure pods

Factoid: The AK-47's inventor never earned a single ruble for the 100 million AKs in the world today. He didn't patent it.

Primary function: 7.62-mm assault rifle
Weight: 9.4 pounds (4.3 kilograms) with 30-round curved box magazine
Rate of fire: 100 rounds per minute/cyclic 600 rounds per minute
Effective range: 990 feet (300 meters)

Factoid: In the Mogadishu ambush, it was an RPG the Somalis used to down the Blackhawk.

Primary function: Shoulder fired anti-tank weapon
Weight: 15.2 pounds (6.9 kilograms)
Effective range: 1,640 feet (500 meters)
Rate of fire: Four to six rounds per minute
Ammunition: 85 mm grenade
Other features: Can penetrate 260 mm armor

For all the technology and weaponry of the armed forces, it is a debilitating tactic. Even the toughest soldiers and the brightest engineers have difficulty combating the impact of hidden tape and electrical wire, 9-volt batteries, and old artillery casings. Remotely detonated with the ring of a cell phone or the ding of a doorbell, the IED kills and wounds troops and diverts funds and manpower from humanitarian and reconstruction efforts in Iraq. Deploying Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) specialists to disarm the weaponry, survey the sites, and research materials used in the IEDs has come with a price tag in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

So far, Explosive Ordnance Disposal technicians have destroyed 3.1 million pieces of artillery and 7.5 million pounds of explosives. But there are a staggering amount of IEDs still laying in wait. For every IED or car bomb that detonates, there are at least 20 others found by US troops that must be defused. And still, the Pentagon estimates 6 in 10 IEDs will go unnoticed before it is too late.

The IED detonation is sometimes followed by small arms attacks, but rebel forces are realizing IEDs alone may be the most effective weapon against convoys. Many of Iraq's roads are paved, four to eight lane highways that US forces use for high-speed movement. But the coalition traffic pattern is consistent, so enemies can easily predict the convoys' flow. Litter-strewn medians divide the lanes and provide the perfect cover for IEDs.

IEDs have been found in soda cans and ready-to-eat meal boxes as well as inside manholes, tunnels, and broken curbs, on telephone poles, and inside dead dogs and cows. They are crude, but IEDs are the insurgents' most efficient way to neutralize the battlefield from a distance, much like American forces use air power. To date, 40 to 60 percent of insurgent attacks involve an IED.

The supply of 155mm artillery shells is seemingly endless, even though weapons ammunition dumps are under surveillance. Most recently, analysts are concerned some of the 350 metric tons of high explosives reported missing from an Iraqi base may be used to make an untold number of IEDs.

In an effort to maximize the devastating blasts from IEDs, insurgents have begun packing the bombs with ball bearings, bolts, or any readily available shrapnel. Jammed with enough loose metal, the IED can shred the armor plating on a HMMWV. Using a daisy-chain, IEDs can be strung together to create multiple, simultaneous bombs a dozen yards long, creating an inescapable kill zone for coalition soldiers.

US military units have discovered IEDs containing mustard gas which, luckily, were improperly stored, rendering the poison ineffective. And just six months ago, a US convoy discovered a 155-millimeter artillery round converted to an IED. It looked like a typical makeshift bomb, but this one contained the nerve agent sarin.

As the means to kill increase, so do insurgent rewards. With stockpiles of cash, senior Ba'athists have offered to rebel fighters as much as $1,500 per dead soldier, and anyone who kills a bomb-squad technician gets $5,000, an amount it would take an Iraqi laborer 33 years to earn.