A grenade (from the French 'grenade' meaning pomegranate because of its original resemblance to the fruit) is a small missile, containing an explosive or other charge, usually thrown (hand grenade) but sometimes fired from a rifle.
Hand grenades are generally fitted with a time fuse of about four seconds: a sufficient amount of time for the grenade to reach the target but not enough for the enemy to pick it up and throw it back. Rifle grenades were developed during the Great War to achieve a greater range than was possible with the hand grenade, Grenades were known in the 15th century, but were obsolete by the 19th, only being revived in the Russo-Japanese War 1905.
After the Second World War grenades evolved into a number of combat types: defensive or fragmentation grenades which ejected high velocity pieces of metal or metal balls in a fashion similar to the old grapeshot; offensive or blast types which produced a large blast without fragmentation and anti-tank grenades designed to penetratearmour plate.
Originally grenades used a time delay fuse to allow the thrower of the grenade time to take cover. This delay was optimised at four seconds, being long enough for the grenade to reach a safe distance, but being too short for an enemy soldier to throw the grenade back. After the Second World War impact detonating grenades were developed which either detonated upon making a firm impact, such as against a tank, or were very sensitive and would detonate upon falling to the ground or striking an enemy soldier. Research Grenade
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Warfare
Research Grenade
