A grenade is a weapon consisting of explosives or chemicals in a container, often shaped like a pomegranate, which is where it gets its name. Grenades can be thrown by hand or fired from a gun. There are rules for designing grenades, including size and shape for comfort, light weight for throwing, and a delayed explosion. Grenades have three main sections: a fuse, body, and filler. Fuses can be striker release delay fuses or friction delay fuses. Striker release delay fuses are the most common and work by hitting a primer, which ignites a delay element, then a detonator, and finally the explosive. Friction delay fuses use a material that reacts to friction to ignite the delay element. Grenades can be divided into three types: offensive, defensive, and special purpose. Offensive grenades produce little fragmentation and are used to attack enemies with the impact wave of an explosion. Defensive grenades produce many fragments and are used to attack enemies from a distance. Special purpose grenades include smoke, incendiary, and CS grenades. Grenades can be fired from guns using special devices such as broad launchers, cup launchers, and spigot launchers.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. A grenade is a weapon made by putting explosives or chemicals into bullets.
2. The word "grenade" means "pomegranate" in French, and the name refers to the fact that the bullets pop out like pomegranate seeds.
3. Grenades can be thrown by hand or fired with a gun.
4. A hand grenade is a grenade thrown with the hand, while a rifle grenade is a grenade fired by a gun.
5. There are rules to be followed when designing a grenade, including size, shape, weight, and delayed explosion.
6. The size and shape of a grenade should be comfortable for a person to hold in their hand.
7. Common shapes for grenades include egg shapes and can shapes.
8. Grenades need to be light so they can be thrown with arm strength.
9. Grenades need to have delayed explosions to give the thrower time to get away.
10. The delay should be short, typically around 3-5 seconds, to prevent the enemy from throwing the grenade back.
11. A grenade is typically divided into three sections: a fuse, a body, and a filler.
12. A fuse is a device that ignites the filler, and common types of fuses include striker release delay fuses and friction delay fuses.
13. Striker release delay fuses are the most common type of fuse used for grenades.
14. A detonator is a fast-acting explosive that helps the main explosive to explode.
15. The Mills grenade was the world's first grenade made using a striker release delay fuse.
16. The F1 grenade is an improved version of the Mills grenade.
17. The MK2 grenade was developed by the United States by studying the F1 grenade.
18. Friction delay fuses use a material that reacts to friction as an igniter.
19. Friction delay fuses are mainly used for stick-shaped grenades.
20. Stick-shaped grenades can be thrown farther and with more precision than sphere-shaped grenades.
21. Stick-shaped grenades were commonly used during World War II but have largely disappeared since then.
22. Impact inertia-based fuses are mainly used in grenades fired by rifles.
23. The RPG-43 anti-tank grenade uses an impact inertia-based fuse.
24. Stabilization is necessary for a grenade to fly properly, and different methods are used for different types of grenades.
25. Anti-tank hand grenades are mostly mechanically fired rather than thrown by hand.
26. Fragmentation grenades are designed to create secondary damage by producing fragments.
27. The body of a fragmentation grenade is typically made of cast iron and is designed to create uniformly sized fragments when it explodes.
28. Offensive grenades produce little fragmentation and are used to attack enemies using the impact waves of an explosion.
29. Fillers in grenades mainly contain high explosives such as TNT and RDX.
30. Smoke grenades contain white phosphorus and are used to shield soldiers and equipment from the enemy.
31. Incendiary grenades are used to burn and destroy enemy equipment and are typically shaped like a beer can.
32. CS grenades use chemicals instead of explosives and are used for riot control.
33. Rifle grenades can fly up to eight times farther than hand-thrown grenades.
34. Special devices are used to fire hand grenades by rifles, including broad launchers, cup launchers, and spigot launchers.
35. Spigot launchers can fire anti-tank hand grenades and can also be used to fire smoke grenades or flare grenades.