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An explosive weapon is a
weapon
A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, ...
that uses
high explosive
An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An ...
to project
blast
Blast or The Blast may refer to:
*Explosion, a rapid increase in volume and release of energy in an extreme manner
*Detonation, an exothermic front accelerating through a medium that eventually drives a shock front
Film
* ''Blast'' (1997 film), ...
and/or
fragmentation from a point of
detonation
Detonation () is a type of combustion involving a supersonic exothermic front accelerating through a medium that eventually drives a shock front propagating directly in front of it. Detonations propagate supersonically through shock waves with s ...
.
In the common practice of
states, explosive weapons are generally the preserve of the
military
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
, for use in situations of
armed conflict, and are rarely used for purposes of domestic
policing.
When explosive weapons fail to function as designed they are often left as
unexploded ordnance (UXO).
Classification
Explosive weapons may be subdivided by their method of manufacture into explosive
ordnance
Ordnance may refer to:
Military and defense
*Materiel in military logistics, including weapons, ammunition, vehicles, and maintenance tools and equipment.
**The military branch responsible for supplying and developing these items, e.g., the Unit ...
and
improvised explosive devices
An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached to a detonating mechan ...
(IEDs). Certain types of explosive ordnance and many improvised explosive devices are sometimes referred to under the generic term
bomb.
Certain types of explosive weapons may be categorized as
light weapons (e.g.
grenades
A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade gene ...
,
grenade launchers
A grenade launcher is a weapon that fires a specially-designed large-caliber projectile, often with an explosive, smoke or gas warhead. Today, the term generally refers to a class of dedicated firearms firing unitary grenade cartridges. The m ...
,
rocket launchers
A rocket launcher is a weapon that launches an unguided, rocket-propelled projectile.
History
The earliest rocket launchers documented in imperial China consisted of arrows modified by the attachment of a rocket motor to the shaft a few in ...
,
anti-tank guided missile launchers,
man-portable air-defense systems
Man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS or MPADS) are portable surface-to-air missiles. They are guided weapons and are a threat to low-flying aircraft, especially helicopters.
Overview
MANPADS were developed in the 1950s to provide military ...
, and
mortars
Mortar may refer to:
* Mortar (weapon), an indirect-fire infantry weapon
* Mortar (masonry), a material used to fill the gaps between blocks and bind them together
* Mortar and pestle, a tool pair used to crush or grind
* Mortar, Bihar, a villag ...
of calibers of less than 100 mm). Many explosive weapons, such as
aerial bombs
An aerial bomb is a type of explosive or incendiary weapon intended to travel through the air on a predictable trajectory. Engineers usually develop such bombs to be dropped from an aircraft.
The use of aerial bombs is termed aerial bombing.
B ...
,
multiple rocket launchers
A multiple rocket launcher (MRL) or multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) is a type of rocket artillery system that contains multiple launchers which are fixed to a single platform, and shoots its rocket ordnance in a fashion similar to a voll ...
,
artillery
Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...
, and larger mortars, are categorized as heavy weapons.
Humanitarian impact
In armed conflict, the general rules of
international humanitarian law
International humanitarian law (IHL), also referred to as the laws of armed conflict, is the law that regulates the conduct of war ('' jus in bello''). It is a branch of international law that seeks to limit the effects of armed conflict by pro ...
governing the conduct of hostilities apply to the use of all types of explosive weapons as means or methods of warfare.
Taken in combination, Amended Protocol II and Protocol V to the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons
The United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW or CCWC), concluded at Geneva on October 10, 1980, and entered into force in December 1983, seeks to prohibit or restrict the use of certain conventional weapons which are consi ...
establish a responsibility on the users of explosive weapons to record and retain information on their use of such weapons (including the location of use and the type and quantity of weapons used), to provide such information to parties in control of territory that may be affected by
UXO, and to assist with the removal of this threat.
Certain types of explosive weapons have been subject to prohibition in international treaties. The
Saint Petersburg Declaration of 1868
The Saint Petersburg Declaration of 1868 or in full Declaration Renouncing the Use, in Time of War, of Explosive Projectiles Under 400 Grammes Weight is an international treaty agreed in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire, November 29 / December 1 ...
prohibits the use of certain explosive rifle projectiles. This prohibition has evolved into a ban on
exploding ammunition
Exploding ammunition or spiked ammunition is an ammunition and other ordnance that is sabotaged (explosive replaced) and left behind for enemy forces, generally insurgents, to find and use. It is designed to explode and destroy the weapon it is u ...
under
customary international humanitarian law Customary international humanitarian law is a body of unwritten rules of public international law, which govern conduct during armed conflict.
Customary international law
Customary international law, like international treaty law, is recognized as ...
binding on all States. The 1997
Mine Ban Treaty
The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction of 1997, known informally as the Ottawa Treaty, the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, or often simply the Mine ...
and the 2008
Convention on Cluster Munitions
The Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) is an international treaty that prohibits all use, transfer, production, and stockpiling of cluster bombs, a type of explosive weapon which scatters submunitions ("bomblets") over an area. Additionally, ...
also prohibit types of explosive weapons,
anti-personnel landmines and
cluster munitions, for
states parties to these
treaties
A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal pers ...
.
The
Secretary-General of the United Nations
The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations.
The role of the secretary-g ...
has expressed increasing concern at "the humanitarian impact of explosive weapons, in particular when used in densely populated areas." The President of the
International Committee of the Red Cross
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC; french: Comité international de la Croix-Rouge) is a humanitarian organization which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and it is also a three-time Nobel Prize Laureate. State parties (signato ...
(ICRC),
Jakob Kellenberger
Jakob Kellenberger (born 19 October 1944 in Heiden, Switzerland) is a former Swiss diplomat and former president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Since 2013 he has been the president of swisspeace.
Biography
Jakob Kelle ...
has noted that "ICRC’s key operations in 2009 – in the Gaza Strip and in Sri Lanka – provided stark illustrations of the potentially devastating humanitarian consequences of military operations conducted in densely populated areas, especially when heavy or highly explosive weapons are used."
According to the British NG
Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) when explosive weapons are used in
populated areas (towns, villages, residential neighbourhoods) the overwhelming majority (91% in 2012) of direct casualties are
civilian
Civilians under international humanitarian law are "persons who are not members of the armed forces" and they are not " combatants if they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war". It is slightly different from a non-combatant ...
s.
Action on Armed Violencehas also charted a dramatic rise in the use of
suicide bombing and
improvised explosive devices
An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached to a detonating mechan ...
globally. Their data showed the number of civilians killed or injured by car and suicide bombs and other improvised explosive devices rising by 70 percent in the three years to 2013.
Th
International Network on Explosive Weapons (INEW) a partnership of NGOs, is calling for immediate action to prevent human suffering from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas.
See also
*
Dud
*
Incendiary device
References
External links
The International Network on Explosive Weapons (INEW)Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) Explosive Violence Monitoring projectUnited Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) project on explosive weapons''Explosive Violence, The Problem of Explosive Weapons'' , report by Richard Moyes (Landmine Action, 2009) on the humanitarian problems caused by the use of explosive weapons in populated areasArticle 36 - civil society initiative on the humanitarian impact of weapons
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