Bottom igniter
A bottom fuse is a fuse for grenades or warheads, which is located in the rear part of the ordnance. The placement of the detonator in the bottom of the grenade or the warhead prevents, among other things, destruction when it hits the target.
Base fuse were at a variety of weapons systems such as the heavy ship - and siege artillery , as well as tanks and - anti-tank weapons used. Due to the design is done the use of a base fuse, when a grenade of garnet floor is to be ignited (z. B. at grenades with shaped charge effect ), or when no head detonator may be used, for example, through the suppression of armor. Unlike a head fuse , the bottom fuse only reacts when the shock wave running through the projectile after impact reaches it.
In more modern military technology, base fuses are still used, for example, for squeeze head grenades or shaped charge grenades.
If the bottom igniter is completely built into the grenade and is not visible at all from the outside, it is called an internal bottom igniter.
If an element in the head of the grenade triggers the detonator in the ground, it is called a head-initiated ground detonator. An example of this would be a piezo element in the head of an M830 HEAT shaped charge grenade which, on impact, sends a current pulse to the M 509 A1 base fuse, which triggers the explosive device. This system is not to be confused with shaped charge grenades, in which a head detonator ignites a small explosive device, the explosive effect of which is directed through the shaped charge cone to a booster charge in the bottom of the grenade, which triggers the ignition of the explosive device. Examples of this would be the German 7.5 cm grenade 38 HL with the percussion fuse 38 and the Russian 7.6 cm shaped charge grenade BP-350 M with the impact fuse BM.
The bottom igniter has some disadvantages compared to a head igniter. The detonator and the explosive charge can be stored separately or separately from each other with much greater difficulty or not at all. Separation is impossible for cartridge ammunition or grenades with an internal base fuse. A mechanical setting of parameters on the detonator (e.g. delay in the case of impact detonators - also called tempering ) is not possible shortly before the launch. In the case of weapon systems with intelligent grenades, in which the electronics in the grenade communicate wirelessly with the launcher, this is possible.
literature
- Heinz Dathan: Gun apprenticeship for the Bundeswehr. 2nd edition, Verlag Open Words, Bonn (no year).
Individual evidence
- ↑ G. Backstein, H.-D. Harnau: Chapter fuse in: Waffentechnisches Taschenbuch. 3rd edition, Rheinmetall , Düsseldorf 1977. p. 558 [1]