Conventional means of destruction are weapons, the principle of operation of which is based on the use of explosive flammable chemicals. They are used to defeat the enemy’s manpower and equipment, for military exercises, as well as for the destruction of particularly important objects, for example, various enterprises, factories, power plants.
AiF. ru considered several of the most popular types, features of action, application and protection against them.
Fragmentation ammunition
Fragmentation ammunition includes mines, bombs, grenades, shells, missiles, anti-personnel mines. This type of weapon is usually designed to hit people. The principle of operation of the weapon consists in the explosion of an ammunition filled with various small striking elements. These can be metal balls, needles, arrows, and so on. Each ammunition can contain from 300 or more striking elements. Such ammunition detonates after the action of the explosive charge. Flying ammunition explodes on an area of up to 250 square meters.
Photo: Shutterstock.com
High-explosive ammunition
Such weapons are designed to destroy manpower, equipment, and the destruction of residential, industrial, and administrative facilities. The main feature of a high-explosive charge is a delayed fuse. Such a projectile can work in a few days, hours, months or even years. The action of high-explosive ammunition is based on the destructive force of gases and the force of a blow to an obstacle. When a high-explosive bomb explodes, a shock wave forms. To escape from it, you need to take refuge in a shelter.
German aerial bombs of the Second World War, on the left-combat, on the right-concrete training (calibers 250 and 50 kg). Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
Cumulative ammunition
To effectively hit an armored target, cumulative ammunition is used. The principle of operation is based on burning through the barrier with a powerful jet of detonation products of explosives with a temperature of 6000 degrees. There are two types of shaped ammunition — these are charges of the type«shaped jet » and«shaped core & raquo;. When the first type of ammunition is used, a hypersonic metal jet is formed, which can burn throughholes in the armor plates, the thickness of which can reach up to several tens of centimeters. The second type deals a striking blow thanks to the core, which will accelerate to three kilometers per second. In order to protect yourself from the effects of cumulative ammunition, a protective screen is used, the wall thickness of which reaches twenty centimeters. Then all the energy of the charge is spent on burning the screen wall, and the main structure remains intact.
ATGM 9M133 Kornet-E Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
Volume explosion ammunition
Inside such a munition is liquid fuel, which is sprayed into the environment when it explodes. When spraying, a chemical reaction with oxygen occurs, a gas cloud is formed. Hence the name of the munition, since it forms a voluminous toxic cloud. By the strength of its action, the ammunition is voluminousexplosions occupy a place between nuclear weapons and high-explosive ammunition. To escape from the action of a volumetric explosion, a simple shelter is not enough, since the chemical mixture after detonation penetrates into leaky structures. To do this, people are sheltered in special protective shelters that operate in complete isolation.
PBK-500U SPBE-K bomb cluster (Russia) and ODAB-500PMV volumetric explosion aviation bomb (Russia) Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
Incendiary bombs
This type of ammunition is used to cause fires and destroy enemy equipment under the influence of high temperatures. Such bombs are usually dropped from airplanes. When a bomb explodes, its body is destroyed and the contents are scattered, creating a fiery center of destruction. The area of damage by such a projectile reaches 400 square meters. Also, when an explosive substance is gorenje, toxic fumes can be released, which adversely affects human life and health. To eliminate such a lesion, special equipment and protective clothing are required. There are two types of incendiary bombs