The present invention relates to anti-personnel and anti-armour munition such as bombs, grenades and explosive projectiles.
One particular category of such munition is that classified as cargo munition, in which a cargo projectile is utilized to carry and deliver a plurality of grenades, e.g. dual purpose grenades or bomblets serving for anti-personnel and anti-armour purposes. Known grenades of this type comprise a cylindrical body made from a hardened, heat-treated steel. This construction is dictated by the stresses to which the grenade is subject during firing of the cargo projectile and the release and ejection of the grenades therefrom. The invention relates, inter alia, to grenades for cargo projectiles.
In the following description and claims the term "fragmentation grenade" will be used to describe the type of munition with which the invention is concerned, it being understood that such munition is not restricted to grenades proper and comprises also other types of munitions such as bombs, single and dual purpose grenades or bomblets for cargo projectiles, explosive projectiles and the like.
The design of any fragmentation grenade must allow for fragmentation of the body so as to disperse numerous fragments which will maximize the anti-personnel effect in the target area. The fragmentation efficiency of grenades of conventional construction is limited, partially because the above-referred to design criteria which call for a construction which can withstand the firing and ejection stresses, and this is incompatible with design criteria calling for good fragmentation properties. This is true even if the grenade body is pre-stamped with a fragmentation pattern.
It is known that explosive forces released within cylindrical vessels subject the walls to stresses according to principles which dictate that the radial stress is twice that of the longitudinal stress. Therefore the longitudinal fragmentation of such cylindrical bodies, i.e. the tearing open of the body in an axial direction, will not normally occur simultaneously with the radial fragmentation. Thus the fragmentation efficiency and the resulting distribution of fragments is unsatisfactory.