For more than a century, the breakneck speed of technological development has powered a series of Weapons Races which have transformed modern warfare.
Sometimes it is the development and deployment of a completely new idea like radar, the ballistic missile or the nuclear bomb; at others, it is a combination of breakthroughs which produces a dramatic new weapon like the jet fighter, the battle tank or the aircraft carrier. In every case, it means that potential or actual enemies have to react with their own versions or countermeasures, thus starting a competitive spiral which in some cases has brought the world to the edge of total disaster.
This series looks at eight of the most significant of these races, from the original concepts which overturned existing military thinking to the most advanced versions of each weapon which are in service today.
Mondays from 16 August at 20:30