infantry
Sign in to savethumb|upright=1.35|French Army and [[British Army infantry during a military exercise in 2020]]
AI overview
Infantry refers to soldiers who fight on foot, typically armed with rifles and other portable weapons, as distinguished from soldiers who operate vehicles, aircraft, or artillery. Infantry units remain essential to modern militaries because they can navigate complex terrain, hold territory, and engage enemies at close range in ways that other military forces cannot.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Article
14 sectionsContents
- Etymology and terminology
- History
- Equipment
- Weapons
- Protection
- Infantry-served weapons
- Formations
- Organization
- Training
- See also
- References
- Citations
- Sources
- External links
thumb|upright=1.35|French Army and [[British Army infantry during a military exercise in 2020]]
Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadly encompasses a wide variety of subspecialties, including light infantry, irregular infantry, heavy infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry, mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and naval infantry. Other subtypes of infantry, such as line infantry and mounted infantry, were once commonplace but fell out of favor in the 19th century with the invention of more accurate and powerful weapons.