Almost all the common explosives listed here were mixtures of several common components:
This is only a partial list; there were many others. Many of these compositions are now obsolete and only encountered in legacy munitions and unexploded ordnance.
| Name |
Composition |
Notes
|
| Amatol |
Ammonium nitrate and TNT |
Extensively used in bombs, shells, depth charges and naval mines
|
| Baronal |
Barium nitrate, TNT and powdered aluminium |
|
| Baratol |
Barium nitrate and TNT |
Used in British hand grenades. Also used as the low velocity explosive lens in the implosion type nuclear weapon, Fat Man
|
| Composition A |
88.3% RDX and 11.7% plasticizer |
|
| Composition B |
RDX, TNT and wax |
Used as the high velocity explosive lens in the implosion type nuclear weapon, Fat Man
|
| Composition H6 |
45% RDX, 30% TNT, 20% powdered aluminium and 5% wax |
Replaced Torpex for use in naval applications.
|
| DBX (Depth Bomb Explosive) |
21% RDX, 21% ammonium nitrate, 40% TNT, 18% powdered aluminium |
An alternative for Torpex, that used less of the strategic material RDX
|
| Minol |
40% TNT, 40% ammonium nitrate and 20% powdered aluminium (Minol-2) |
Developed by the British Royal Navy and used in torpedoes, depth charges and naval mines. Unsuitable for shells because of a risk of detonation if subjected to very high accelerations.
|
| Octol |
75% HMX (cyclotetramethylene-tetranitramine) and 25% TNT |
Still in use
|
| Pentolites |
50% PETN and 50% TNT |
|
| Picratol |
52% ammonium picrate and 48% TNT |
Used in armour-piercing shells and bombs as insensitive to shock
|
| PIPE |
81% PETN and 19% oil |
|
| PTX-1 |
30% RDX, 50% tetryl and 20% TNT |
|
| PTX-2 |
41-44% RDX, 26-28% PETN and 28-33% TNT |
|
| PVA-4 |
90% RDX, 8% PVA and 2% dibutyl phthalate |
|
| RIPE |
85% RDX and 15% oil |
|
| Tetrytols |
70% Tetryl and 30% TNT |
|
| Torpex |
42% RDX, 40% TNT and 18% powdered aluminium |
Developed for use in torpedoes, it was especially effective at producing destructive, underwater explosions.
|
| Trialen 105 |
15% RDX, 70% TNT and 15% powdered aluminium |
Used by the Luftwaffe
|
| Explosive “D”
|
Ammonium picrate |
US Army/Navy
|
| Type 91 Explosive
|
Trinitroanisol (TNA) |
Japanese Army/Navy
|
Two nuclear explosives, containing mixtures of uranium and plutonium, respectively, were also used at the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
See also