The Bayonet Is Obsolete

My guests for this podcast are Neale Smiles and Stuart Lyle. Stuart is the Urban Operations Lead at the UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, or Dstl, part of the Ministry of Defence. Neale is a former soldier working in the defence industry. For generations, the bayonet has been one of the most enduring symbols of the infantry soldier. But does it still have a meaningful place on the modern battlefield? In this episode, we examine the declining practical value of the bayonet in contemporary infantry combat. 

Modern rifles, suppressors, body armour and other weapon attachments increasingly make the fixed bayonet cumbersome and of questionable effectiveness, particularly in close-quarter fighting. We explore whether armies should move beyond tradition and instead place greater emphasis on practical hand-to-hand combat skills and purpose-designed fighting knives. We also consider the bayonet’s enduring psychological and cultural importance, from aggression and fighting spirit to its place in infantry identity and training. The bayonet may remain a powerful symbol but has its time as a practical weapon finally passed?

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