81-512: A bomb factory is a factory for building bombs . Bomb Factory may also refer to: Bombs A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy . Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechanical stress , the impact and penetration of pressure-driven projectiles, pressure damage, and explosion-generated effects. Bombs have been utilized since
162-652: A Jurchen Jin army against a Chinese Song city. The term for this explosive bomb seems to have been coined the " thunder crash bomb " during a Jin dynasty (1115–1234) naval battle in 1231 against the Mongols . The History of Jin (金史) (compiled by 1345) states that in 1232, as the Mongol general Subutai (1176–1248) descended on the Jin stronghold of Kaifeng , the defenders had a " thunder crash bomb " which "consisted of gunpowder put into an iron container ... then when
243-404: A blasting cap containing a more sensitive primary explosive . A thermobaric bomb is a type of explosive that utilizes oxygen from the surrounding air to generate an intense, high-temperature explosion, and in practice the blast wave typically produced by such a weapon is of a significantly longer duration than that produced by a conventional condensed explosive. The fuel-air bomb is one of
324-462: A 4.8 kg (11 lb) lead ball. The great general and divine cannons were the last indigenous Chinese cannon designs prior to the incorporation of European models in the 16th century. When the Portuguese reached China in the early 16th century, they were unimpressed with Chinese firearms compared with their own. With the progression of the earliest European arquebus to the matchlock and
405-593: A bomb exploding in a transport network often damages, and is sometimes mainly intended to damage, the network itself. This applies to railways , bridges , runways , and ports , and, to a lesser extent (depending on circumstances), to roads. In the case of suicide bombing , the bomb is often carried by the attacker on their body, or in a vehicle driven to the target. The Blue Peacock nuclear mines, which were also termed "bombs", were planned to be positioned during wartime and be constructed such that, if disturbed, they would explode within ten seconds. The explosion of
486-477: A bomb may be triggered by a detonator or a fuse . Detonators are triggered by clocks , remote controls like cell phones or some kind of sensor, such as pressure (altitude), radar , vibration or contact. Detonators vary in ways they work, they can be electrical, fire fuze or blast initiated detonators and others, In forensic science , the point of detonation of a bomb is referred to as its blast seat, seat of explosion, blast hole or epicenter . Depending on
567-412: A bore-filling projectile; rather, they were designed for the low-nitrate flamethrower fire lance that shot small coviative missiles. This was called the "bandit-striking penetrating gun" (ji zei bian chong). Some of these low–nitrate gunpowder flamethrowers used poisonous mixtures such as arsenious oxide , and would blast a spray of porcelain shards as fragmentation . Another fire lance described in
648-499: A combination of negative shock wave effects and extreme temperature to incinerate objects within the blast radius. Fragmentation is produced by the acceleration of shattered pieces of bomb casing and adjacent physical objects. The use of fragmentation in bombs dates to the 14th century, and appears in the Ming Dynasty text Huolongjing . The fragmentation bombs were filled with iron pellets and pieces of broken porcelain. Once
729-407: A comparatively low explosive yield to scatter harmful material over a wide area. Most commonly associated with radiological or chemical materials, dirty bombs seek to kill or injure and then to deny access to a contaminated area until a thorough clean-up can be accomplished. In the case of urban settings, this clean-up may take extensive time, rendering the contaminated zone virtually uninhabitable in
810-402: A frame shaped like a dragon, or else conveniently a tube of wood or bamboo to contain it. In the late 14th century, the rocket launching tube was combined with the fire lance. This involved three tubes attached to the same staff. As the first rocket tube was fired, a charge was ignited in the leading tube which expelled a blinding lachrymatory powder at the enemy, and finally the second rocket
891-412: A high burst pressure to be useful as a bomb. A high explosive bomb is one that employs a process called " detonation " to rapidly go from an initially high energy molecule to a very low energy molecule. Detonation is distinct from deflagration in that the chemical reaction propagates faster than the speed of sound (often many times faster) in an intense shock wave. Therefore, the pressure wave produced by
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#1732797356714972-444: A high explosive is not significantly increased by confinement as detonation occurs so quickly that the resulting plasma does not expand much before all the explosive material has reacted. This has led to the development of plastic explosive . A casing is still employed in some high explosive bombs, but with the purpose of fragmentation . Most high explosive bombs consist of an insensitive secondary explosive that must be detonated with
1053-574: A major military feature, and a number of novel delivery methods were introduced. These included Barnes Wallis 's bouncing bomb , designed to bounce across water, avoiding torpedo nets and other underwater defenses, until it reached a dam , ship , or other destination, where it would sink and explode. By the end of the war, planes such as the allied forces' Avro Lancaster were delivering with 50 yd (46 m) accuracy from 20,000 ft (6,100 m), ten ton earthquake bombs (also invented by Barnes Wallis) named " Grand Slam ", which, unusually for
1134-401: A mixture of an oxidizing salt, such as potassium nitrate (saltpeter), with solid fuel, such as charcoal or aluminium powder. These compositions deflagrate upon ignition, producing hot gas. Under normal circumstances, this deflagration occurs too slowly to produce a significant pressure wave; low explosives, therefore, must generally be used in large quantities or confined in a container with
1215-524: A range of offensive weaponry. For instance, in recent asymmetric conflicts, homemade bombs called " improvised explosive devices " (IEDs) have been employed by irregular forces to great effectiveness. The word comes from the Latin bombus , which in turn comes from the Greek βόμβος romanized bombos , an onomatopoetic term meaning 'booming', 'buzzing'. Gunpowder bombs had been mentioned since
1296-407: A significant explosion can occur. Under the right circumstances, rapid consolidation can provoke a chain reaction that can proliferate and intensify by many orders of magnitude within microseconds. The energy released by a nuclear fission bomb may be tens of thousands of times greater than a chemical bomb of the same mass. A thermonuclear weapon is a type of nuclear bomb that releases energy through
1377-631: A single pylon. Some bombs are equipped with a parachute , such as the World War II "parafrag" (an 11 kg (24 lb) fragmentation bomb), the Vietnam War -era daisy cutters , and the bomblets of some modern cluster bombs . Parachutes slow the bomb's descent, giving the dropping aircraft time to get to a safe distance from the explosion. This is especially important with air-burst nuclear weapons (especially those dropped from slower aircraft or with very high yields), and in situations where
1458-562: A standard design out of standard components and intended to be deployed in a standard explosive device. IEDs are divided into three basic categories by basic size and delivery. Type 76, IEDs are hand-carried parcel or suitcase bombs, type 80, are "suicide vests" worn by a bomber, and type 3 devices are vehicles laden with explosives to act as large-scale stationary or self-propelled bombs, also known as VBIED (vehicle-borne IEDs). Improvised explosive materials are typically unstable and subject to spontaneous, unintentional detonation triggered by
1539-469: A wide range of environmental effects, ranging from impact and friction to electrostatic shock. Even subtle motion , change in temperature , or the nearby use of cellphones or radios can trigger an unstable or remote-controlled device. Any interaction with explosive materials or devices by unqualified personnel should be considered a grave and immediate risk of death or dire injury. The safest response to finding an object believed to be an explosive device
1620-435: Is a "poison-fog divine smoke eruptor," in which "blinding gunpowder" and "poisonous gunpowder" were packed into hollow shells used in burning the faces and eyes of enemies, along with choking them with a formidable spray of poisonous smoke. Cannons were mounted on frames or on wheeled carriages so that they could be rotated to change directions. The Huolongjing also contains a hand held organ gun with up to ten barrels. For
1701-409: Is a Chinese military treatise compiled and edited by Jiao Yu and Liu Bowen of the early Ming dynasty (1368–1683) during the 14th century. The Huolongjing is primarily based on the text known as Huolong Shenqi Tufa ( Illustrations of Divine Fire Dragon Engines ), which no longer exists. The Huolongjing' s intended function was to serve as a guide to "fire weapons" involving gunpowder during
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#17327973567141782-459: Is a hypothetical nuclear weapon that does not require a primary fission stage to start a fusion reaction. Antimatter bombs can theoretically be constructed, but antimatter is very costly to produce and hard to store safely. The first air-dropped bombs were used by the Austrians in the 1849 siege of Venice . Two hundred unmanned balloons carried small bombs, although few bombs actually hit
1863-484: Is considered by some historians to be the ancestor of modern cluster munitions. Needham says that the written material and illustration of this rocket come from the oldest stratum of the Huolongjing , which can be dated to about 1300-1350 from the book's part 1, chapter 3, page 23. The fire lance or fire tube—a combination of a firearm and flamethrower —had been adapted and changed into several different forms by
1944-437: Is created by the sudden release of heat caused by an explosion. Military bomb tests have documented temperatures of up to 2,480 °C (4,500 °F). While capable of inflicting severe to catastrophic burns and causing secondary fires, thermal wave effects are considered very limited in range compared to shock and fragmentation. This rule has been challenged, however, by military development of thermobaric weapons , which employ
2025-580: Is the Heilongjiang hand cannon , dated to 1288 using contextual evidence. The History of Yuan records that in that year a rebellion of the Christian Mongol prince Nayan broke out and the Jurchen commander Li Ting who, along with a Korean brigade conscripted by Kublai Khan , suppressed Nayan's rebellion using hand cannons and portable bombards . The predecessor of the metal barrel
2106-415: Is to get as far away from it as possible. Atomic bombs are based on the theory of nuclear fission , that when a large atom splits, it releases a massive amount of energy. Thermonuclear weapons , (colloquially known as "hydrogen bombs") use the energy from an initial fission explosion to create an even more powerful fusion explosion. The term " dirty bomb " refers to a specialized device that relies on
2187-414: The Huolongjing was called the 'lotus bunch' shot arrows accompanied by a fiery blast. In addition to fire lances, the Huolongjing also illustrates a tall, vertical, mobile shield used to hide and protect infantry, known as the "mysteriously moving phalanx -breaking fierce-flame sword-shield". This large, rectangular shield would have been mounted on wheels with five rows of six circular holes each where
2268-710: The Jurchen conquerors of Kaifeng City in 1126. An even earlier text, the Wujing Zongyao (武经总要, "Collection of the Most Important Military Techniques"), written in 1044 by Song scholars Zeng Gongliang and Yang Weide, described the use of three spring or triple bow arcuballista that fired arrow bolts holding gunpowder. Although written in 1630 (second edition in 1664), the Wulixiaoshi of Fang Yizhi said that fire arrows were presented to Emperor Taizu of Song in 960. Even after
2349-743: The Red Turban Rebellion and revolt against the Yuan dynasty , while the oldest material found in his text dates to 1280. Jiao Yu was a firearm manufacturer for the first Ming emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang , during the mid-14th century. He was eventually put in charge of the Shenjiying armoury where all the firearms were stored. A second and third volume to the Huolongjing known as Huolongjing Erji ( Fire Dragon Manual Volume Two ) and Huolongjing Sanji ( Fire Dragon Manual Volume Three ) were published in 1632 with content describing weapons such as
2430-541: The United States Air Force 's MOAB (officially Massive Ordnance Air Blast, or more commonly known as the "Mother of All Bombs"). Below is a list of five different types of bombs based on the fundamental explosive mechanism they employ. Relatively small explosions can be produced by pressurizing a container until catastrophic failure such as with a dry ice bomb . Technically, devices that create explosions of this type can not be classified as "bombs" by
2511-549: The musket and breech-loading cannons. After the end of the Ming dynasty , the Qing dynasty outlawed reprinting of the Huolongjing for using expressions such as 'northern barbarians,' which offended the ruling Manchu elite. Although its destructive force was widely recognized by the 11th century, gunpowder continued to be known as a "fire-drug" (huo yao) because of its original intended pharmaceutical properties. However soon after
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2592-496: The wheellock , and the advent of the flintlock musket of the 17th century, they surpassed the level of earlier Chinese firearms. Illustrations of Ottoman and European riflemen with detailed illustrations of their weapons appeared in Zhao Shizhen's book Shenqipu of 1598, and Ottoman and European firearms were held in great esteem. However, by the 17th century Đại Việt had also been manufacturing muskets of their own, which
2673-432: The "divine rocket-arrow block". Rockets described in the Huolongjing were not all in the shape of standard fire arrows and some had artificial wings attached. An illustration shows that fins were used to increase aerodynamic stability for the flight path of the rocket, which according to Jiao Yu could rise hundreds of feet before landing at the designated enemy target. The Huolongjing also describes and illustrates
2754-543: The "match-holding lance gun" (chi huo–sheng qiang), it described its arrangement as a match brought down to the touch hole of three gun barrels, one after the other. During the reign of the Yongle Emperor (1402–1424), the Shenjiying , a specialized military body, was in part a cavalry force that utilized tubes filled with inflammable materials holstered to their sides, and also a firearm infantry division that handled light artillery and their transportation, including
2835-579: The "thunder-crash bombs" has been discovered in an underwater shipwreck off the shore of Japan by the Kyushu Okinawa Society for Underwater Archaeology. X-rays by Japanese scientists of the excavated shells confirmed that they contained gunpowder. Explosive shock waves can cause situations such as body displacement (i.e., people being thrown through the air), dismemberment , internal bleeding and ruptured eardrums . Shock waves produced by explosive events have two distinct components,
2916-424: The 'submarine dragon–king' is made of wrought iron, and carried on a (submerged) wooden board, [appropriately weighted with stones]. The (mine) is enclosed in an ox-bladder. Its subtlety lies in the fact that a thin incense(–stick) is arranged (to float) above the mine in a container. The (burning) of this joss stick determines the time at which the fuse is ignited, but without air its glowing would of course go out, so
2997-682: The 11th century starting in East Asia . The term bomb is not usually applied to explosive devices used for civilian purposes such as construction or mining , although the people using the devices may sometimes refer to them as a "bomb". The military use of the term "bomb", or more specifically aerial bomb action, typically refers to airdropped, unpowered explosive weapons most commonly used by air forces and naval aviation . Other military explosive weapons not classified as "bombs" include shells , depth charges (used in water), or land mines . In unconventional warfare , other names can refer to
3078-808: The 11th century. In 1000 AD, a soldier by the name of Tang Fu (唐福) demonstrated a design of gunpowder pots (a proto-bomb which spews fire) and gunpowder caltrops, for which he was richly rewarded. In the same year, Xu Dong wrote that trebuchets used bombs that were like "flying fire", suggesting that they were incendiaries. In the military text Wujing Zongyao of 1044, bombs such as the "ten-thousand fire flying sand magic bomb", "burning heaven fierce fire unstoppable bomb", and "thunderclap bomb" ( pilipao ) were mentioned. However these were soft-shell bombs and did not use metal casings. Bombs made of cast iron shells packed with explosive gunpowder date to 13th century China. Explosive bombs were used in East Asia in 1221, by
3159-494: The 1280s to 1350s. Its predecessor, the Huolong Shenqi Tufa (Fire-Drake Illustrated Technology of Magically (Efficacious) Weapons), has since been lost. The Huolongjing was one of three early Ming military treatises that were mentioned by Jiao Xu, but only the Huolongjing remains. Although the earliest edition of the Huolongjing was written by Jiao Yu, a Ming general, sometime between 1360-1375, its preface
3240-591: The Ming considered to be superior to both European and Ottoman firearms, including Japanese imports as well. Vietnamese firearms were copied and disseminated throughout China in quick order. The 16th-century breech-loading model entered China around 1517 when Fernão Pires de Andrade arrived in China. However, he and the Portuguese embassy were rejected as problems in Ming-Portuguese relations were exacerbated when
3321-439: The Ming wars. Chinese cannon development reached internal maturity with the muzzle loading wrought iron "great general cannon" (大將軍炮), otherwise known by its heavier variant name "great divine cannon" (大神銃), which could weigh up to 600 kg (1,300 lb) and was capable of firing several iron balls and upward of a hundred iron shots at once. The lighter "great general cannon" weighed up to 360 kg (790 lb) and could fire
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3402-520: The Mongols in 1259, the official Li Zengbo wrote in his Ko Zhai Za Gao, Xu Gao Hou that the city of Qingzhou was manufacturing one to two thousand strong iron-cased bomb shells a month, and delivered them to Xiangyang and Yingzhou in loads of about ten to twenty thousand shells at a time. The Huolongjing' s primary contribution to gunpowder was in expanding its role as a chemical weapon. Jiao Yu proposed several gunpowder compositions in addition to
3483-511: The Song dynasty. In China, gunpowder weapons underwent significant technological changes which resulted in a vast array of weapons that eventually led to the cannon. The cannon's first confirmed use occurred during the Mongol Yuan dynasty in a suppression of rebel forces by Yuan Jurchen forces armed with hand cannons. Cannon development continued into the Ming and saw greater proliferation during
3564-441: The Song prohibited the populaces of Hedong ( Shanxi ) and Hebei from selling sulphur and saltpetre to foreigners. In 1132 gunpowder was referred to specifically for its military values for the first time and was called "fire bomb medicine" rather than "fire medicine". While Chinese gunpowder formulas by the late 12th century and at least 1230 were powerful enough for explosive detonations and bursting cast iron shells, gunpowder
3645-410: The air cannot escape the effects of the explosion". Explosive devices include the "flying-sand divine bomb releasing ten thousand fires", which consisted of a tube of gunpowder placed in an earthenware pot filled with quicklime , resin, and alcoholic extracts of poisonous plants. Jiao Yu called the earliest fire arrows shot from bows (not rocket launchers) "fiery pomegranate shot from a bow" because
3726-491: The aircraft releases a bomb at low altitude. A number of modern bombs are also precision-guided munitions , and may be guided after they leave an aircraft by remote control, or by autonomous guidance. Aircraft may also deliver bombs in the form of warheads on guided missiles , such as long-range cruise missiles , which can also be launched from warships . A hand grenade is delivered by being thrown. Grenades can also be projected by other means, such as being launched from
3807-401: The best-known types of thermobaric weapons. Nuclear fission type atomic bombs utilize the energy present in very heavy atomic nuclei, such as U-235 or Pu-239. In order to release this energy rapidly, a certain amount of the fissile material must be very rapidly consolidated while being exposed to a neutron source. If consolidation occurs slowly, repulsive forces drive the material apart before
3888-530: The bomb explodes, the resulting fragments are capable of piercing the skin and blinding enemy soldiers. While conventionally viewed as small metal shards moving at super- supersonic and hypersonic speeds, fragmentation can occur in epic proportions and travel for extensive distances. When the SS Grandcamp exploded in the Texas City Disaster on April 16, 1947, one fragment of that blast
3969-454: The cannon, called the "eruptor", as a cast bronze device which had an average length of 53 inches (130 cm). He wrote that some cannons were simply filled with about 100 lead balls, but others, called the "flying-cloud thunderclap eruptor" (飞云霹雳炮; feiyun pili pao) had large rounds that produced a bursting charge upon impact. The ammunition consisted of hollow cast iron shells packed with gunpowder to create an explosive effect. Also mentioned
4050-404: The chemical formula for gunpowder was recorded in the Wujing Zongyao of 1044, evidence of state interference in gunpowder affairs began appearing. Realizing the military applications of gunpowder, the Song court banned private transactions involving sulphur and saltpeter in 1067 despite the widespread use of saltpeter as a flavor enhancer, and moved to monopolize gunpowder production. In 1076
4131-871: The city. The first bombing from a fixed-wing aircraft took place in 1911 when the Italians dropped bombs by hand on the Turkish lines in what is now Libya , during the Italo-Turkish War . The first large scale dropping of bombs took place during World War I starting in 1915 with the German Zeppelin airship raids on London , England, and the same war saw the invention of the first heavy bombers . One Zeppelin raid on 8 September 1915 dropped 4,000 lb (1,800 kg) of high explosives and incendiary bombs, including one bomb that weighed 600 lb (270 kg). During World War II bombing became
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#17327973567144212-608: The combination of fission and fusion of the light atomic nuclei of deuterium and tritium. With this type of bomb, a thermonuclear detonation is triggered by the detonation of a fission type nuclear bomb contained within a material containing high concentrations of deuterium and tritium. Weapon yield is typically increased with a tamper that increases the duration and intensity of the reaction through inertial confinement and neutron reflection. Nuclear fusion bombs can have arbitrarily high yields making them hundreds or thousands of times more powerful than nuclear fission. A pure fusion weapon
4293-409: The container is connected with the mine by a (long) piece of goat's intestine (through which passes the fuse). At the upper end the (joss stick in the container) is kept floating by (an arrangement of) goose and wild–duck feathers, so that it moves up and down with the ripples of the water. On a dark (night) the mine is sent downstream (towards the enemy's ships), and when the joss stick has burnt down to
4374-433: The definition presented at the top of this article. However, the explosions created by these devices can cause property damage, injury, or death. Flammable liquids, gasses and gas mixtures dispersed in these explosions may also ignite if exposed to a spark or flame. The simplest and oldest bombs store energy in the form of a low explosive . Black powder is an example of a low explosive. Low explosives typically consist of
4455-448: The explosive fireball as well as incendiary agents projected onto the body. Personal protective equipment, such as a bomb suit or demining ensemble, as well as helmets, visors and foot protection, can dramatically reduce the four effects, depending upon the charge, proximity and other variables. Experts commonly distinguish between civilian and military bombs. The latter are almost always mass-produced weapons, developed and constructed to
4536-553: The fire lances could be placed. The shield itself would have been accompanied by swordsmen on either side to protect the gunmen. In China, the first cannon-barrel design portrayed in artwork was a stone sculpture dated to 1128 found in Sichuan province. The oldest extant cannon containing an inscription is a bronze cannon of China inscribed with the date, "2nd year of the Dade era, Yuan dynasty" (1298). The oldest confirmed extant cannon
4617-463: The fuse was lit (and the projectile shot off) there was a great explosion the noise whereof was like thunder, audible for more than thirty miles, and the vegetation was scorched and blasted by the heat over an area of more than half a mou . When hit, even iron armour was quite pierced through." The Song Dynasty (960–1279) official Li Zengbo wrote in 1257 that arsenals should have several hundred thousand iron bomb shells available and that when he
4698-489: The fuse, there is a great explosion. In the later Tiangong Kaiwu (The Exploitation of the Works of Nature) treatise, written by Song Yingxing in 1637, the ox bladder described by Jiao Yu is replaced with a lacquer bag and a cord pulled from a hidden ambusher located on the nearby shore, which would release a flint steel–wheel firing mechanism to ignite the fuse of the naval mine. Gunpowder warfare occurred in earnest during
4779-402: The handling of gun carriages. The first recorded use of land mines occurred in 1277 when officer Lou Qianxia of the late Song dynasty , who is credited with their invention, used them to kill Mongol soldiers. Jiao Yu wrote that land mines were spherical, made of cast iron, and their fuses were ignited by the enemy movement disturbing a trigger mechanism. Although his book did not elaborate on
4860-572: The interim. The power of large bombs is typically measured in kilotons (kt) or megatons of TNT (Mt) . The most powerful bombs ever used in combat were the two atomic bombs dropped by the United States to attack Hiroshima and Nagasaki , and the most powerful ever tested was the Tsar Bomba . The most powerful non-nuclear bomb is Russian " Father of All Bombs " (officially Aviation Thermobaric Bomb of Increased Power (ATBIP)) followed by
4941-427: The internal organs. When the overpressure wave impacts the body it can induce violent levels of blast-induced acceleration. Resulting injuries may range from minor to unsurvivable. Immediately following this initial acceleration, deceleration injuries can occur when a person impacts directly against a rigid surface or obstacle after being set in motion by the force of the blast. Finally, injury and fatality can result from
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#17327973567145022-413: The late Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279). From the section of the oldest passages in the Huolongjing , the text reads: One uses a bamboo stick 4 ft 2 in long, with an iron (or steel) arrow–head 4.5 in long...behind the feathering there is an iron weight 0.4 in long. At the front end there is a carton tube bound on to the stick, where the 'rising gunpowder' is lit. When you want to fire it off, you use
5103-401: The lump of gunpowder–filled paper wrapped around the arrow below the metal arrowhead resembled the shape of a pomegranate . He advised that a piece of hemp cloth should be used to strengthen the wad of paper and sealed with molten pine resin . Although he described the fire arrow in great detail, it was mentioned by the much earlier Xia Shaozeng, when 20,000 fire arrows were handed over to
5184-463: The mines are connected by fuses through the gunpowder fire-ducts, and all originate from a steel wheel (gang lun). This must be well concealed from the enemy. On triggering the firing device the mines will explode, sending pieces of iron flying in all directions and shooting up flames towards the sky. For the use of naval mines, he wrote of slowly burning joss sticks that were disguised and timed to explode against enemy ships nearby: The sea–mine called
5265-401: The mines' fuses underground. The explosive mine is made of cast iron about the size of a rice-bowl, hollow inside with (black) powder rammed into it. A small bamboo tube is inserted and through this passes the fuse, while outside (the mine) a long fuse is led through fire-ducts. Pick a place where the enemy will have to pass through, dig pits and bury several dozen such mines in the ground. All
5346-462: The muzzle of a rifle (as in the rifle grenade ), using a grenade launcher (such as the M203 ), or by attaching a rocket to the explosive grenade (as in a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG)). A bomb may also be positioned in advance and concealed. A bomb destroying a rail track just before a train arrives will usually cause the train to derail . In addition to the damage to vehicles and people,
5427-509: The oldest known multistage rocket ; this was the "fire-dragon issuing from the water" (huo long chu shui), which was known to be used by the Chinese navy. It was a two-stage rocket that had carrier or booster rockets that would automatically ignite a number of smaller rocket arrows that were shot out of the front end of the missile, which was shaped like a dragon's head with an open mouth, before eventually burning out. This multistage rocket
5508-484: The positive and negative wave. The positive wave shoves outward from the point of detonation, followed by the trailing vacuum space "sucking back" towards the point of origin as the shock bubble collapses. The greatest defense against shock injuries is distance from the source of shock. As a point of reference, the overpressure at the Oklahoma City bombing was estimated in the range of 28 MPa . A thermal wave
5589-647: The rocket was invented in China the fire arrow was never entirely phased out: it saw use in the Second Opium War when Chinese used fire arrows against the French in 1860. By the time of Jiao Yu, the term "fire arrow" had taken on a new meaning and also referred to the earliest rockets found in China. The simple transition of this was to use a hollow tube instead of a bow or ballista firing gunpowder-impregnated fire arrows. The historian Joseph Needham wrote that this discovery came sometime before Jiao Yu during
5670-455: The standard potassium nitrate (saltpetre), sulphur, and charcoal. Described are the military applications of "divine gunpowder", "poison gunpowder", and "blinding and burning gunpowder." Poisonous gunpowder for hand-thrown or trebuchet launched bombs was created using a mixture of tung oil , urine, sal ammoniac , feces, and scallion juice heated and coated upon tiny iron pellets and broken porcelain. According to Jiao Yu, "even birds flying in
5751-420: The sudden and drastic rise in ambient pressure that can damage the internal organs, possibly leading to permanent damage or death. Fragmentation can also include sand, debris and vegetation from the area surrounding the blast source. This is very common in anti-personnel mine blasts. The projection of materials poses a potentially lethal threat caused by cuts in soft tissues, as well as infections, and injuries to
5832-535: The time Jiao Yu edited the Huolongjing . The earliest depiction of a fire lance is dated c. 950, a Chinese painting on a silk banner found at the Buddhist site of Dunhuang . These early fire lances were made of bamboo tubes, but metal barrels had appeared during the 13th century, and shot gunpowder flames along with "coviative" projectiles such as small porcelain shards or metal scraps. The first metal barrels were not designed to withstand high-nitrate gunpowder and
5913-515: The time, were delivered from high altitude in order to gain high speed, and would, upon impact, penetrate and explode deep underground (" camouflet "), causing massive caverns or craters, and affecting targets too large or difficult to be affected by other types of bomb. Modern military bomber aircraft are designed around a large-capacity internal bomb bay , while fighter-bombers usually carry bombs externally on pylons or bomb racks or on multiple ejection racks, which enable mounting several bombs on
5994-464: The trigger mechanism, it does mention the use of steel wheels as the trigger mechanism. The earliest illustration and description of the "steel wheel" mechanism was the Binglu of 1606. According to it, the steel wheel trigger mechanism utilized a pin release, dropping weights, cords and axles that worked to rotate a spinning "steel wheel" that rotated against a piece of flint to provide sparks that ignited
6075-622: The type, quantity and placement of explosives, the blast seat may be either spread out or concentrated (i.e., an explosion crater ). Other types of explosions , such as dust or vapor explosions, do not cause craters or even have definitive blast seats. Huolongjing The Huolongjing ( traditional Chinese : 火龍經 ; simplified Chinese : 火龙经 ; pinyin : Huǒ Lóng Jīng ; Wade-Giles : Huo Lung Ching ; rendered in English as Fire Drake Manual or Fire Dragon Manual ), also known as Huoqitu (“Firearm Illustrations”),
6156-500: Was a two-ton anchor which was hurled nearly two miles inland to embed itself in the parking lot of the Pan American refinery. To people who are close to a blast incident, such as bomb disposal technicians, soldiers wearing body armor, deminers, or individuals wearing little to no protection, there are four types of blast effects on the human body: overpressure (shock), fragmentation , impact , and heat . Overpressure refers to
6237-480: Was fired. An illustration of this appears in the Huolongjing , and a description of its effectiveness in obfuscating the location of the rockets from the enemy is provided. The Huolongjing also describes and illustrates two kinds of mounted rocket launchers that fired multiple rockets. There was a cylindrical, basket-work rocket launcher called the "Mr. Facing-both-ways rocket arrow firing basket", as well as an oblong-section, rectangular, box rocket launcher known as
6318-578: Was in Jingzhou , about one to two thousand were produced each month for dispatch of ten to twenty thousand at a time to Xiangyang and Yingzhou. The Ming Dynasty text Huolongjing describes the use of poisonous gunpowder bombs, including the "wind-and-dust" bomb. During the Mongol invasions of Japan , the Mongols used the explosive "thunder-crash bombs" against the Japanese. Archaeological evidence of
6399-423: Was made more potent by applying the enrichment of sulphur from pyrite extracts. Chinese gunpowder solutions reached maximum explosive potential in the 14th century and at least six formulas are considered to have been optimal for creating explosive gunpowder, with levels of nitrate ranging from 12% to 91%. Evidence of large scale explosive gunpowder weapons manufacturing began to appear. While engaged in war with
6480-449: Was made of bamboo, which was recorded in use by a Chinese garrison commander at Anlu , Hubei province, in the year 1132. One of the earliest references to the destructive force of a cannon in China was made by Zhang Xian in 1341, with his verse known as The Iron Cannon Affair . Zhang wrote that its cannonball could "pierce the heart or belly when it strikes a man or horse, and can even transfix several persons at once". Jiao Yu describes
6561-615: Was not provided until the Nanyang publication of 1412. The 1412 edition, known as Huolongjing Quanji ( Complete Collection of the Fire Dragon Manual ), remains largely unchanged from its predecessor with the exception of its preface, which provides an account of Jiao Yu's time in the Hongwu Emperor 's army. In the preface Jiao Yu claims to describe gunpowder weapons that had seen use since 1355 during his involvement in
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