Army Engineers “Improved Incendiary” Grenades for Future War

by Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization

Destroying enemies with explosive fragmentation, burning enemy equipment, clearing rooms and caves for fast-advancing infantry attack, forcing enemy fighters to flee from defilade or hidden areas to make them vulnerable to gunfire and simply “obscuring” an enemies view with a wall of smoke to enable combat maneuver … are all tactical methods soldiers have used with grenades for centuries.

They may have first emerged in the 16th-Century, but current US Army weapons and technology developers are clear that grenades … are going nowhere soon.

“Grenades are still relevant to the fight today to uh, you know, cost, domain maneuver and will be for the foreseeable future,” John Yancey, Director, Soldier Requirements Division, told Warrior in an interview.

There have for many years been three key kinds of grenades, including explosive or fragmentation grenades to kill enemy fighters, incendiary grenades to burn enemy equipment and “smoke” grenades to enable combat maneuver. Grenades were of course used extensively and to great effect in WWI, WWII and Vietnam, yet Close Quarter Battle and the need for infantry to prevail in a “close-in-fight” moving to contact with an enemy … is as critical as ever. However, the nature of the threat and the tactical equation has certainly evolved with the advent of new enemy technologies, so the Army is immersed in what could be called intense efforts to make grenades more effective in a modern combat environment.

“We’re definitely looking at capabilities specifically for combat, such as thermal and infrared capabilities or specifically with night vision. There’s certain obscuration grenades that allow teams to maneuver against, you know, near peer threats equipped with infrared and thermal capabilities. That’s definitely, you know, something that the Army is looking at,” Maj. Marcus Farmer, Lethality Branch Chief, told Warrior in an interview.

…yet the Army is now innovating new ways to make grenades both more lethal and safer.

“We’re seeking improved incinerate grenades or enhanced incendiary grenades, if you would. That’s no secret here. They’re burning quicker. Go hotter. Or maybe faster and hotter than the current legacy grenade? And safer to use as well. So it is important to note that they’re all talking about lethality. And throwing grenades and improved capability,” Yancey said.