True I am certain, but what fun............:D

So where we stand? Do you want more detailed arguments or what? You are the CO Mush.

MRAP II

:hmm2:

I feel we are not ready to stand anywhere yet.

Consider if you will, the Lido Road, or for that matter the
Alaskan Highway. ( these are massive military engineering
projects with lasting economic and political effects.)

How about bio engineering, ie. Not penicillin itself but mass production
techniques developed for penicillin became a mainstay for the rest of
twentieth century immuno research and development.

It goes on and on, as I alluded to before, Rickover's naval
atomic power will carry far beyond the twentieth century and
far beyond the oceans.

:shifty:..............should we pick ten and do a survey?
I am not sure the entries are all in yet?

Or.............. what about the one I am afraid of the most.
Weaponized Ebola Marburg ?.

No, its not enough to be a weapon it must have an impact on the
world outside the military but be engineered for the military. here
at last I think we have reached the correct criterion.

Definitely this moves the Axial flow turbine up the list.

arguments for or against:hmm2:

MM.

The Maginot Line

Wasn't that a failure? :)

Ultimately, yes, but does that disqualify it? When you look at the concept and the engineering, I'd say it's a contender...

The line itself was perfectly fine, even a success considering the actual purpose it was built for. It just really couldn't make up for the Allies' strategic failures beyond it.

Agree. If I remember correctly, it was undermanned and had perforce to end at the Belgian border; the French were complacent...

There is a saying these days,
"A cave is a grave" I don't feel the Maginot line
for all its impressive engineering, had any real
lasting effect outside five miles. or for that
matter after 1940.:hmm2:

It never kept out what it was meant to keep out.
Thereby spending millions and millions of Franc's for
no effect.

Not even a close second to the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

Yes, I know that saying, and it was indeed a testament to the passing of the of the fortress mentality. Do our contenders have to have been a lasting success to qualify?

:hmm2:The contenders should have a lasting and visible influence on the future,
or a level of brilliance not easily matched.

What about chase me charlies? the smart bomb
eventually caught on as a line item.
Or the brilliant engineering behind the Sten mk IIS
the silenced submachine gun in 9mm became the
commando standard for the next half century?
not complex engineering but brilliant engineering
none the less.

this whole question was never going to be simple.:doh:

In the Army the Sten was known as "The Woolworths Special" because of its simple manufacture.