A fusillade is the simultaneous and continuous firing of a group of
firearms on command. It stems from the French word ''fusil'', meaning firearm, and ''fusiller'' meaning to shoot.
In the context of
military tactics, the term is generally used to refer to a type of organized and concentrated
gunfire
A gunshot is a single discharge of a gun, typically a man-portable firearm, producing a visible flash, a powerful and loud shockwave and often chemical gunshot residue. The term can also refer to a ballistic wound caused by such a discharg ...
from a
military unit armed with
small arms, and initiated by a command from a commanding officer. The term can also be used as a verb, as in "to fusillade an enemy position".
Suppressing fire (done in conjunction with
fire and movement
Fire and movement, or fire and maneuver, is the basic modern military low-level unit tactic used to maneuver on the battlefield in the presence of the enemy, especially when under fire. It involves heavy use of all available cover, and highly-c ...
) is often in the form of a fusillade.
Related terms
*
Salvo or
broadside refers to the simultaneous fire of
naval artillery
Naval artillery is artillery mounted on a warship, originally used only for naval warfare and then subsequently used for shore bombardment and anti-aircraft roles. The term generally refers to tube-launched projectile-firing weapons and exclude ...
.
*
Barrage or
cannonade
Cannonade (May 12, 1971 – August 3, 1993) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known as the winner of the 1974 Kentucky Derby.
Background
Owned and bred by prominent businessman John M. Olin, Cannonade was foaled at Gainesway Farm i ...
refers to a land-based artillery strike.
*Volley indicates a ''singular'' simultaneous discharge of a group of
small arms, which is then followed by a short interval for reloading. The command to fire is re-issued before each individual volley to preserve organization. This was commonly used during the age of
musketry
A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually di ...
and is still currently used in the form of the
3-volley salute
The three-volley salute is a ceremonial act performed at military funerals and sometimes also police funerals. The custom originates from the European dynastic wars, in which the fighting ceased so that the dead and wounded could be removed. Af ...
.
In non-military contexts, a fusillade is used to mean a sudden flurry or outburst of activity directed at something, such as "a fusillade of questions".
See also
*
Volley fire
Volley fire, as a military tactic, is (in its simplest form) the concept of having soldiers shoot in the same direction en masse. In practice, it often consists of having a line of soldiers all discharge their weapons simultaneously at the enemy ...
*
Volley gun
A volley gun is a gun with multiple single-shot barrels that shoot projectiles in volley fire, either simultaneously or in succession. Although capable of unleashing intense firepower, volley guns differ from modern machine guns in that the ...
- A firearm which discharges a group of barrels simultaneously.
References
{{reflist
Salvo weapons
Military tactics
