TV season
1999-01-23
Take an inside look through the historic, elaborate and often unexpected instruments of war. These true stories reveal a wealth of knowledge behind the battlefield and bloodshed, highlighting the various methods used to influence and control the enemy. From Germany’s super guns to the bio-chemical weapons used throughout the decades, this season uncovers the most significant tools and techniques of wartime ‘persuasion’.
Episode 1
1999-01-23 • 60 min
From Germany's Big Bertha in World War One to Iraq's top secret Project Babylon, they are the ultimate projection of force... secret cannons designed to strike their target from miles away, hand-held rifles that pack the power of the atom and super guns capable of launching satellites into space.
Episode 2
The soldiers who employ "Psy Ops" use every means available to destroy the will of the enemy to resist, the secret tools and techniques of wartime persuasion.
Episode 3
They are the means by which to confuse an enemy, forcing him into making a fatal mistake. From decoy tanks and phony radio broadcasts, to the spy whose lies led Hitler to ruin, tools of deception can be the most deadly weapons of all.
Episode 4
An examination of the secret deployment of modern aircraft designed to spy from the sky. From remotely piloted vehicles on today's battlefield to the venerable U-2 and the SR-71, spy planes have long been the most vital top covert aircraft in the sky.
Episode 5
From mustard gas artillery shells used along the trenches in WWI to the U.S. gas stockpiles in the Pacific during WWII, to the Iraqi gassing of the Kurds, chemical warfare has long been shrouded in a veil of secrecy.
Episode 6
From the "Battle of the Beams" in WWII, to the evolution of weapons guidance and the blinding effects of electronic jamming, a look at the quest to dominate the "electromagnetic spectrum”.
Episode 7
From rubber tanks and camouflage to booby traps and tactical maneuvers of deception, the role "trickery" plays on the modern battlefield.
Episode 8
An inside look at the man who, more than any of his contemporaries, embraced secret intelligence operations, deception and code-breaking as viable instruments of modern war.
Episode 9
From silent one-man midget subs to U-boats on secret missions, both sides used secret submersibles of all shapes and sizes to conduct clandestine warfare in the war.
Episode 10
Classified missions over the Yalu set the tone at the onset of the Cold War. UN pilots battled anti-aircraft fire and a mysterious enemy in the skies over Korea. Previously classified telegrams reveal Stalin's personal role in the conflict.
