List of bombs

This is a list of the types of bombs. ''For a list of individual nuclear weapons and models see

List of nuclear weapons This is a list of nuclear weapons listed according to country of origin, and then by type within the states. United States US nuclear weapons of all types – bombs, warheads, shells, and others – are numbered in the same sequence starting wi ...

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Barrel bomb A barrel bomb is an improvised unguided bomb, sometimes described as a flying IED (improvised explosive device). They are typically made from a large barrel-shaped metal container that has been filled with high explosives, possibly shrapnel, oil ...

, Improvised aerial bomb , 1948 , , Israel , - ,

Blockbuster bomb A blockbuster bomb or cookie was one of several of the largest conventional bombs used in World War II by the Royal Air Force (RAF). The term ''blockbuster'' was originally a name coined by the press and referred to a bomb which had enough explo ...

, "High capacity" bomb for maximum blast effect, only used during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, April 1941 , , United Kingdom , - ,

Bouncing bomb A bouncing bomb is a bomb designed to bounce to a target across water in a calculated manner to avoid obstacles such as torpedo nets, and to allow both the bomb's speed on arrival at the target and the timing of its detonation to be pre-deter ...

, Skips across water; designed to attack German dams in World War II , April 1942 , Barnes Wallis , United Kingdom , - ,

Bunker buster A bunker buster is a type of munition that is designed to penetrate hardened targets or targets buried deep underground, such as military bunkers. Armor piercing shells Germany Röchling shells were bunker-busting artillery shells, developed ...

, The first type were

Röchling shell Röchling shells were bunker-busting artillery shells, developed by German engineer August Cönders during World War II, based on the theory of increasing the sectional density to improve penetration. Description The fin-stabilised shells mad ...

, 1942 ,

August Cönders August Cönders was a German engineer working for Röchling'sche Eisen und Stahlwerke GmbH during World War II after having worked in the UK and in Putaux, France, before the war. He designed the Röchling shell that was tested in 1942 and 1943 a ...

, Germany , - , C4 , , 1956 , , , - , Car bomb , A vehicle is packed with explosives and detonated. , , , , - , Cluster bomb , Over a hundred nations outlaw them now. The first one was

Butterfly Bomb A Butterfly Bomb (or ''Sprengbombe Dickwandig 2 kg'' or SD 2) was a German anti-personnel submunition used by the Luftwaffe during the Second World War. It was so named because the thin cylindrical metal outer shell which hinged open when ...

, , , Germany , - , General-purpose bomb , , , , , - ,

Glide bomb A glide bomb or stand-off bomb is a standoff weapon with flight control surfaces to give it a flatter, gliding flight path than that of a conventional bomb without such surfaces. This allows it to be released at a distance from the target r ...

, , , , , - , Guided bomb , , , , , - ,

Improvised explosive device 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 mecha ...

, , , , , - ,

Land mine A land mine is an explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it. Such a device is typically detonated automati ...

, Outlawed in 164 nations. , 1832 , , Ming Dynasty , - ,

Laser guided bomb A laser-guided bomb (LGB) is a guided bomb that uses semi-active laser guidance to strike a designated target with greater accuracy than an unguided bomb. First developed by the United States during the Vietnam War, laser-guided bombs quickly p ...

, , , , , - ,

Molotov cocktail A Molotov cocktail (among several other names – ''see other names'') is a hand thrown incendiary weapon constructed from a frangible container filled with flammable substances equipped with a fuse (typically a glass bottle filled with fla ...

, Improvised incendiary grenade often made in a beer bottle , , , , - ,

Nail bomb A nail bomb is an anti-personnel explosive device containing nails to increase its effectiveness at harming victims. The nails act as shrapnel, leading almost certainly to more injury in inhabited areas than the explosives alone would. A nai ...

, , 1970 , , America , - ,

Pipe bomb A pipe bomb is an improvised explosive device which uses a tightly sealed section of pipe filled with an explosive material. The containment provided by the pipe means that simple low explosives can be used to produce a relatively huge explos ...

, , , , , - ,

Pressure cooker bomb A pressure cooker bomb is an improvised explosive device (IED) created by inserting explosive material into a pressure cooker and attaching a blasting cap into the cover of the cooker. Pressure cooker bombs have been used in a number of attacks ...

, the pressure of the pressure cooker places high explosive power , , , , - ,

Smoke bomb A smoke bomb is a firework designed to produce a large amount of smoke upon ignition. History Early Japanese history saw the use of a rudimentary form of the smoke bomb. Explosives were common in Japan during the Mongol invasions of the 13 ...

, , 1848 , , United Kingdom , - , Stink bomb , Stink bombs range in effectiveness from simple pranks to military grade or riot control chemical agents. , 1943 , , , - ,

Suicide vest Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and subs ...

suicide bomber A suicide attack is any violent attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have occurred throughout histor ...

, , , , Iraq , - , Suitcase bomb , Nuclear bomb designed to fit inside a suitcase. , 1950s , , , - , Thermometric bomb , , , , , - ,

Time bomb A time bomb (or a timebomb, time-bomb) is a bomb whose detonation is triggered by a timer. The use (or attempted use) of time bombs has been for various purposes including insurance fraud, terrorism, assassination, sabotage and warfare. They are ...

, , , , , - ,

Trinitrotoluene Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reage ...

, Commonly known as

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

, 1863 ,

Julius Wilbrand Julius Bernhard Friedrich Adolph Wilbrand (22 August 1839 – 22 June 1906)''Familienarchiv Familie Wilbrand'' O13, Nr. 139, Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt. was a German chemist. Born in Gießen to Franz Joseph Julius Wilbrand and Albertine Knap ...

, German , - ,

Unguided bomb An unguided bomb, also known as a free-fall bomb, gravity bomb, dumb bomb, or iron bomb, is a conventional or nuclear aircraft-delivered bomb that does not contain a guidance system and hence simply follows a ballistic trajectory. This describe ...

, , , , , - , MOAB , Massive Ordnance Air Burst. Colloquially known as the Mother of All Bombs. , , , American , - , FOAB , Father of All Bombs , 2007 , , Russian , - , Electromagnetic bomb , , 1962 , , , - , Napalm bomb , , , , , - ,

Dirty bomb A dirty bomb or radiological dispersal device is a radiological weapon that combines radioactive material with conventional explosives. The purpose of the weapon is to contaminate the area around the dispersal agent/conventional explosion with ...

, scatters radioactive material , , , , - , Nuclear bomb , , 1945 , , America , - ,

Tsar Bomba The Tsar Bomba () ( code name: ''Ivan'' or ''Vanya''), also known by the alphanumerical designation "AN602", was a thermonuclear aerial bomb, and the most powerful nuclear weapon ever created and tested. Overall, the Soviet physicist Andrei ...

, , October 1961 , , Russia , - ,

Cobalt bomb A cobalt bomb is a type of "salted bomb": a nuclear weapon designed to produce enhanced amounts of radioactive fallout, intended to contaminate a large area with radioactive material, potentially for the purpose of radiological warfare, mutual ...

, A nuclear bomb designed to spread as much radiation around as possible , , , , - , Hydrogen bomb , second-generation

nuclear weapon design Nuclear weapon designs are physical, chemical, and engineering arrangements that cause the physics package of a nuclear weapon to detonate. There are three existing basic design types: * pure fission weapons, the simplest and least technically ...

using non-fissile depleted uranium to create a

nuclear fusion Nuclear fusion is a reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei are combined to form one or more different atomic nuclei and subatomic particles ( neutrons or protons). The difference in mass between the reactants and products is manife ...

reaction , 1952 ,

Edward Teller Edward Teller ( hu, Teller Ede; January 15, 1908 – September 9, 2003) was a Hungarian-American theoretical physicist who is known colloquially as "the father of the hydrogen bomb" (see the Teller–Ulam design), although he did not care for ...

and Stanislaw Ulam , American , - ,

Neutron bomb A neutron bomb, officially defined as a type of enhanced radiation weapon (ERW), is a low-yield thermonuclear weapon designed to maximize lethal neutron radiation in the immediate vicinity of the blast while minimizing the physical power of the b ...

, A nuclear weapon designed to destroy with lethal radiation while not damaging structures. , , , , - , BLU-82 , Used for creating clearings in forested areas , , ,