Editing Infantry (section)

=== Weapons ===
{{More citations needed section|date=October 2017}}

[[File:Рисунки к статье «Древне-русское вооружение». Вклейка № 1. Военная энциклопедия Сытина (Санкт-Петербург, 1911-1915).jpg|thumb|Russian weapons from the 13th to 17th centuries]]

Infantrymen are defined by their primary arms – the [[personal weapons]] and [[body armour]] for their own individual use. The available technology, resources, history, and society can produce quite different weapons for each military and era, but common infantry weapons can be distinguished in a few basic categories.<ref name="Germany at War">{{cite book |last1=Zabecki |first1=David T. |title=Germany at War: 400 Years of Military History |publisher=ABC-CLIO |date=28 October 2014 |isbn=978-1598849806 |page=640 }}</ref><ref name="List of weapons">{{cite web |last1=Blumberg |first1=Naomi |title=List of weapons |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/list-of-weapons-2058724 |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |publisher=The Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |access-date=13 November 2017}}</ref>

* <u>Ranged combat weapons</u>: [[javelin]]s, slings, [[blowgun]]s, bows, [[crossbow]]s, hand cannons, [[arquebuses]], [[muskets]], [[grenades]], [[flamethrower]]s.<ref name="List of weapons" />
* <u>Melee combat weapons</u>: bludgeoning weapons like [[Club (weapon)|clubs]], [[flail (weapon)|flails]] and [[mace (bludgeon)|maces]]; [[bladed weapons]] like swords, [[dagger]]s, and [[axe]]s; [[polearm]]s like spears, halberds, [[naginata]], and pikes.<ref name="List of weapons" />
* <u>Both ranged and close weapons</u>: the bayonet fixed to a firearm allows infantrymen to use the same weapon for both ranged combat and close combat. This started with [[musket]]s and its use still continues with modern [[assault rifle]]s.<ref name="List of weapons" /> Use of the bayonet has declined with the introduction of [[automatic firearm]]s, but are still generally kept as a weapon of last resort.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kontis |first1=George |title=Are We Forever Stuck with the Bayonet? |url=http://www.sadefensejournal.com/wp/?p=531 |website=Small Arms Defense Journal |access-date=13 November 2017}}</ref>

Infantrymen often carry secondary or back-up weapons, sometimes called a [[Sidearm (weapon)|sidearm]] or ancillary weapons. Infantry with ranged or polearms often carried a sword or dagger for possible hand-to-hand combat.<ref name="Germany at War" /> The ''[[pilum]]'' was a javelin the Roman legionaries threw just before drawing their primary weapon, the ''[[gladius]]'' (short sword), and closing with the enemy line.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Zhmodikov |first1=Alexander |title=Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte |chapter=Roman Republican Heavy Infantrymen in Battle (IV-II Centuries B.C.) |volume= 49 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |date=2000 |issue=1 |isbn=978-1598849806 |page=640 }}</ref>

Modern infantrymen now treat the bayonet as a backup weapon, but may also have [[handgun]]s as [[Sidearm (weapon)|sidearms]]. They may also deploy anti-personnel mines, booby traps, incendiary, or explosive devices defensively before combat.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}