Incendiary weapons

Anon, Incendiary Weapons , Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass (1975)... 

The concept of the controlled chemical fireball is said to have significantly advanced the potential effectiveness of incendiary weapons. Theoretical studies have indicated that a great many applications may be possible, since, by changing the blend of the chemical constituents so as to achieve predetermined rates of combustion, the incendiary agent may be adapted to various operational requirements... 

Lumsden, Malvern. Incendiary Weapons. Cambridge, MA The MIT Press, 1975. 

Congreve s rocket, which was primarily an incendiary weapon, could compete successfully in accuracy with the cannon of that period and was used until the introduction of rifled barrels and breach loading, which improved the accuracy of artillery and increased its range to such an extent that the Congreve rockets became obsolete (about 1860)... 

Phosphorous grenade consisted of a sheet metal can filled with yellow phosphorous and provided with an explosive device. Although the primary aim of such grenades was smoke-production they were also incendiary weapons... 

Early humans doubtless found elemental sulfur in volcanic craters, encrusting the edges of hot sulfur springs, and embedded in limestone formations. They discovered that it would bum and used it for medicinal purposes, as a bleach, as a fumigant, as a colorant, and as incense. Its use for these purposes is mentioned in ancient writings. The Romans produced incendiary weapons from sulfur. In the thirteenth century, the Chinese invented gunpowder using sulfur, nitrate, and charcoal. 

In another instance at this same range, the Army identified a Livens projectile as an incendiary weapon because it had a drawing of one in... 

IW Incendiary Weapons Stockholm International Peace Research Institute The MIT... 

The CWS was useful in World War II. Its contributions included the missions of smoke, flame, and incendiary weapons, which, less heralded at first, eventually eclipsed the gas mission. How the CWS carried out these various missions in the theaters of operation is the main theme of this volume. 

Chlorine trifluoride is commercially available but is extremely reactive. For example, it reacts explosively with cotton, paper, and even water. It forms a hyper-golic (self-igniting) rocket fuel with hydrazine although handling concerns present major difficulties. As N-stoff ( substance N ) it was produced by Nazi Germany as a potential incendiary weapon and poison gas, but the war ended before it could be used. Because its reaction with uranium produces gaseous uranium hexafluoride, chlorine trifluoride is used in both the production and reprocessing of nuclear fuels. In the form of UF6( g-), uranium can be enriched in the fissionable U-235 isotope, and the formation of this gas serves to help separate unused uranium from nuclear fuel rods. 

Mountcastle, John Wyndham. Flame On U.S. Incendiary Weapons, 1918-1945. Shippensburg, Pa. White Mane, 1999. 

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