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Grenade

A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade generally consists of an explosive charge ("filler"), a detonator mechanism, an internal striker to trigger the detonator, an arming safety secured by a transport safety. The user removes the transport safety before throwing, and once the grenade leaves the hand the arming safety gets released, allowing the striker to trigger a primer that ignites a fuze (sometimes called the delay element), which burns down to the detonator and explodes the main charge.

For other uses, see Grenade (disambiguation).

Grenades work by dispersing fragments (fragmentation grenades), shockwaves (high-explosive, anti-tank and stun grenades), chemical aerosols (smoke and gas grenades) or fire (incendiary grenades). Their outer casings, generally made of a hard synthetic material or steel, are designed to rupture and fragment on detonation, sending out numerous fragments (shards and splinters) as fast-flying projectiles. In modern grenades, a pre-formed fragmentation matrix inside the grenade is commonly used, which may be spherical, cuboid, wire or notched wire. Most anti-personnel (AP) grenades are designed to detonate either after a time delay or on impact.[1]


Grenades are often spherical, cylindrical, ovoid or truncated ovoid in shape, and of a size that fits the hand of an average-sized adult. Some grenades are mounted at the end of a handle and known as "stick grenades". The stick design provides leverage for throwing longer distances, but at the cost of additional weight and length, and has been considered obsolete by western countries since the Second World War and Cold War periods. A friction igniter inside the handle or on the top of the grenade head was used to initiate the fuse.

Etymology[edit]

The word grenade is likely derived from the French word spelled exactly the same, meaning pomegranate,[2] as the bomb is reminiscent of the many-seeded fruit in size and shape. Its first use in English dates from the 1590s.[3]

Use[edit]

When using an antipersonnel grenade, the objective is to have the grenade explode so that the target is within its effective radius. The M67 frag grenade has an advertised effective kill zone radius of 5 m (16 ft), while the casualty-inducing radius is approximately 15 m (49 ft).[43]


An alternative technique is to release the lever before throwing the grenade, which allows the fuze to burn partially and decrease the time to detonation after throwing; this is referred to as cooking. A shorter delay is useful to reduce the ability of the enemy to take cover, throw or kick the grenade away and can also be used to allow a fragmentation grenade to explode into the air over defensive positions.[44]

Agenzia Industrie della Difesa (Italy)

[45]

[46] (Germany)

Diehl

[47] (Belgium)

Mecar

[48] (formerly Arges, Austria)

Rheinmetall

[49] (Switzerland)

Ruag

[50] (Norway)

Nammo

[51] (Spain)

Instalaza

Solar Industries (India)

[52]

(Turkey)

MKEK

Modern manufacturers of hand grenades include:

Ketchum Grenade

Pipe bomb

Rocket-propelled grenade

Satchel charge

Technology of the Song Dynasty

TM 31-210 Improvised Munitions Handbook

Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 5, Part 7. Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd.

– November 1944 Popular Science article with complete history, cutaway, and illustrations

"Getting Good with the Grenade...It Pays!"

– from HowStuffWorks

"How Grenades Work"