ABSTRACT
The evolving organisation of the military-industrial enterprises (MIEs) is incumbent in the first place on the broad sweep of technological change which has spat out a series of weapons systems, each technologically more demanding than its predecessor. This chapter outlines the development of traditional MIEs. It reviews their activities during the heyday of international rivalry based on battleship deployment and their subsequent fate given the by-passing of such technology by new weapons systems. The conception stage for ordnance revolved round the rifled artillery piece which subsequently stabilised on breech-loading mechanisms. Innovation in light ordnance centred on the machine gun. Creativity in armour technology derived from both sides of the Atlantic. The original impetus for it had arisen in the Crimean War when armoured floating gun batteries were put into use. The impetus for the broad-based MIE with capabilities in guns, armour and warships arose initially in the USA. It was the result of a deliberate act of government policy.
