A grenade is a small explosive device that is projected a safe distance away by its user. Soldiers called grenadiers specialize in the use of grenades. The term hand grenade refers any grenade designed to be hand thrown. Grenade Launchers are firearms designed to fire explosive projectile grenades. There are both grenade launchers that are integrated into other weapons (such as service rifles) and those that are built as individual weapon systems.
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Most grenades explode, projecting fragments, i.e., pieces of the casing, serrated wire, or an incendiary material. Some, such as smoke grenades, merely burn, releasing smoke for masking, marking, or signaling. CS riot grenades function the same way. Grenades contain an explosive or chemical filler and have a small opening for a fuse. In modern hand grenades, the fuse is lit by an internal device rather than an external flame. Grenades are not reusable.
A percussion grenade detonates upon impact with the target. Classic examples of percussion grenades are the British Gammon bomb and No 69 grenades which both used an "All-ways" impact fuse. Some percussion grenades have a conventional pyrotechnic fuse fitted as a backup detonation device.
In a timed fuse grenade, the fuse is ignited upon release of the safety lever. Timed fuse grenades are generally preferred to hand-thrown percussion grenades because their fuzing mechanisms are safer and more robust than those used in percussion grenades. Air burst grenades are fired from launchers and explode after a preset time coinciding with the distance to the target.
Incendiary grenades, using petroleum, appeared in the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, not long after the reign of Leo III (717-741).[1] Byzantine soldiers learned that Greek fire, a Byzantine invention of the previous century, could not only be thrown by flamethrowers at the enemy, but also in stone and ceramic jars.[1] Later, glass containers were employed. Byzantine hand grenades with Greek fire in the 10th to 12th centuries are on display in the National Museum at Athens. The use of petroleum for incendiary weapons, or rather variants thereof, spread to Muslim armies in the Near East, from where it reached China by the 10th century.[1]
Some medieval petards were small enough to be employed against enemy troops and be considered as primitive hand grenades
With the invention of gunpowder in China, gunpowder was applied to create the world's first explosive grenades, a prototype of the modern hand grenade.[3] Explosive grenades first appeared in Europe during the 17th century.
In China during the Song Dynasty (960–1279AD), weapons known as Zhen Tian Lei were created when Chinese soldiers packed gunpowder into ceramic or metal containers. In 1044, a military book Wujing Zongyao ("Compilation of Military Classics") described various gunpowder recipes in which one can find, according to Joseph Needham, the prototype of the modern hand grenade.[3]
The first cast iron bombshells and grenades did not appear in Europe until 1467.[4] Within a couple centuries of this, the Chinese had discovered the explosive potential of packing hollowed cannonball shells with gunpowder. Written later by Jiao Yu (焦玉) in the mid 14th century book of the Huolongjing (火龙经, "Fire Drake Manual"), this manuscript recorded an earlier Song-era cast iron cannon known as the "flying-cloud thunderclap cannon" (飞云霹雳炮; feiyun pili pao). The manuscript stated that (Needham's modified Wade-Giles spelling):
The shells (pào) are made of cast iron, as large as a bowl and shaped like a ball. Inside they contain half a pound of 'divine fire' (shén huǒ, gunpowder). They are sent flying towards the enemy camp from an eruptor (mu pào); and when they get there a sound like a thunder-clap is heard, and flashes of light appear. If ten of these shells are fired successfully into the enemy camp, the whole place will be set ablaze...—[5]
This text of the Huolongjing was also important for the understanding of the Chinese hand grenade in the 14th century, as it provided much more detailed descriptions and even printed illustrations of the grenade bombs used.[6]
In 1643, it is possible that "Grenados" were thrown amongst the Welsh at Holt Bridge during the English Civil War. The word "grenade" originated in the Glorious Revolution (1688), where cricket ball-sized iron spheres packed with gunpowder and fitted with slow-burning wicks were first used against the Jacobites in the battles of Killiecrankie and Glen Shiel.[7] These grenades were not very effective (probably because a direct hit would be necessary for the grenade to have effect) and, as a result, saw little use. However, trench warfare favored the grenade.
The word "grenade" is the French word for pomegranate.[8] Soldiers commented on the similar shape of early grenades and the name entered common usage.
1)Although Grenades have a hard shell, the shell is designed to be destroyed so it can project fragments made of casing, serrated wire, or incendiary materials, making it not reusable. 2)The S Thunder Hand Held Grenade creates a sonic boom, making it mostly used for crowd control.