Grenade

Grenade, small projectile filled either with an explosive charge or with incendiary, smoke-producing, illuminating, or chemical agents. Grenades are used to attack enemy troops, vehicles, or fortified positions at close range and are thrown by hand, or are launched by rifles or special grenade launchers. Grenades that are designed to be launched are more streamlined than hand-thrown grenades, and occasionally have small propellant charges to increase their range.

Explosive grenades are used against barricaded personnel and unarmoured transport vehicles. Incendiary grenades set fire to flammable military structures. Smoke grenades are used for identification or for signalling; illuminating grenades produce light that is particularly effective as a defence against night infiltration and sabotage attempts. Grenades filled with chemical irritants are used to force the withdrawal of the enemy, and are also used to control rioting crowds.

The earliest grenade, a round earthenware container filled with gunpowder and ignited by a wick, was made in Italy in 1427. However, grenades did not come into general use until the 16th and 17th centuries. Elite grenade units made up of soldiers called grenadiers specialized in throwing grenades; grenadiers were generally the tallest, most powerful soldiers in the regiment. With the perfection of muskets, however, these units became obsolete. Grenades were used to some extent in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 and used extensively in World War I and World War II. Today grenades are common weapons of infantry troops.

During the Spanish Civil War bottles filled with petrol-soaked waste were used effectively as grenades against tanks and vehicles. A type of grenade known as a Molotov cocktail was used effectively by the USSR in World War II.