A camouflet, in military science, is an artificial

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

rn created by an explosion. If the explosion reaches the surface then it is called a crater. The term was originally defined as a countermine dug by defenders to prevent the undermining of a fortress's walls during a

siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characteriz ...

. The defenders would dig a tunnel under the attackers' tunnel. An explosive charge would be detonated to create a camouflet that would collapse the attackers' tunnel. More recently, the term has been used to describe the effects of very large bombs like the

Grand Slam bomb The Bomb, Medium Capacity, (Grand Slam) was a earthquake bomb used by RAF Bomber Command against German targets towards the end of the Second World War. The bomb was originally called Tallboy Large until the term Tallboy got into the press an ...

, which are designed to penetrate next to a large target structure and create a camouflet to undermine the foundations of the structure. It has been observed that it is more efficient to penetrate ground next to the target than to hit the target directly. A camouflet set describes a system used in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

for cratering tracks and other routes. A tube is driven into the ground using a manual post driver. The end of the tube is a disposable steel point. A small charge connected to a detonator is lowered down the tube. The tube is then removed, and the hole tamped. The charge is then blown, leaving a void and a hole to the surface. This void is then filled with a much larger charge, which is also tamped, and then blown when required to create a crater as an obstacle. A refinement was introduced in the 1980s, with the use of a

shaped charge A shaped charge is an explosive charge shaped to form an explosively formed penetrator (EFP) to focus the effect of the explosive's energy. Different types of shaped charges are used for various purposes such as cutting and forming metal, ini ...

to create the initial hole. Because of the presence of high levels of toxic fumes from the explosive, including

carbon monoxide Carbon monoxide (chemical formula CO) is a colorless, poisonous, odorless, tasteless, flammable gas that is slightly less dense than air. Carbon monoxide consists of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom connected by a triple bond. It is the simple ...

, and the weakness of the soft earth overlying the cavern, camouflets are extremely hazardous to

bomb disposal Bomb disposal is an explosives engineering profession using the process by which hazardous explosive devices are rendered safe. ''Bomb disposal'' is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated functions in the milita ...

personnel.

References

{{reflist Siege tactics Military engineering Military strategy Bomb disposal Strategic bombing

See also

References