I predict that the 1911A1 pistol will be entering its 123rd year of use.
(Yes, I'm a 1911 nut.)
I wonder what kind of celebration is planned in 2011 (just seven years away) for the M1911? How much more can the rose be gilded than some of the racy M1911s that are out there now?
In these 30-year jumps, a few were revolutionary, while most were evolutionary. The weapons of WW1 are still respectable, and collectible, in the 21st century. It wouldn't be my first choice, but I know a Springfield or BAR could still get the job done today. We've had evolutionary changes in small arms.
The biggest revolutionary changes come when technology allows enhanced situational awareness at both the tactical and strategic levels. Troops and their commanders then have a better grasp of the situation, and how to exploit it quickly. The telegraph, radio, and now battlefield internet, provided the revolutions that allowed bigger forces to be controlled effectively over larger distances. This had more impact than improved weaponry.
The Army's Blue Force Tracker system, rushed into service for the invasion of Iraq, drew rave reviews from crusty old tankers and mech infantry. Essentially, it broadcast each vehicle's GPS location over a secure wireless net back to data collection systems, which then broadcast everything back to the vehicles, as well as back to the Pentagon. In the old days, the info only went up the chain of command. Now the same info was going down the chain, too.
Even at the platoon level, commanders could get a picture of their own deployment, as well as units around them. They could zoom in or out, just like the SecDef could. Some staff puke could spot something nobody else did, and get someone to take action on it.
What was discovered was that 60% of all radio traffic was "where are you guys?". Now everybody could see each other, and knew that everyone had the same picture. The same God's-eye view was available to the vehicle commander, all the way up to Rumsfield. And they found out there was less micromanagement from higher up the chain, because everyone shared a common "collective intelligence".
Medical advances and body armor have been revolutionized between 1991 and now, but that may just be a lucky spurt of development. Autonomous weapons need more evolution, a revolution can't be anticipated. So the real thing to watch out for in the next 30 years is "situational awareness", which holds the promise of big payoffs, even with current weapons.
In use by whom? Future historical trends do not look good for the RKBA. How is a citizen's militia with their privately owned arms to make much of a dent in the Imperial Storm Trooper infantry of 2034?