Killing Machines

This six-part series explores the evolution of engineering in warfare; as glamorous cavalry units were forced from the battlefields and replaced with tanks. As artillery entered the realms of science fiction and even the infantryman became a lethal weapons system. This mechanisation of war demanded the rapid growth of armaments factories, all competing to build weapons bigger, better, faster, and deadlier. In the twentieth century, war took over the skies, biplanes evolved into drones and randomly dropped bombs into pinpoint weapons that can level entire cities. Naval combat has also been revolutionised, where the most potent weapons are now launched from the angled decks of aircraft carriers or from deep beneath the waves. From tanks to bombers, howitzers to aircraft carriers, Machinery of War features expert interviews and cutting-edge animation to help explore why these machines were created and follows their journey from the factory floor to the battlefield.