Flamethrower

A flamethrower is a mechanical incendiary device designed to project a long, controllable stream of fire. First deployed by the Greeks in the 1st century AD, flamethowers saw use in modern times during World War I, and more widely in World War II.A German soldier operating a flamethrower in 1944A German soldier using a flamethrower in RussiaA Japanese soldier firing a Type 93 flamethrowerA British World War II-type 'lifebuoy' flamethrower in 1944A Churchill tank fitted with a Crocodile flamethrower in action.An Australian soldier fires a flamethrower at a Japanese bunker3 men with British World War II-type 'lifebuoy' flamethrowersA soldier from the 33rd Infantry Division uses an M2 flamethrowerMarines engaging Japanese positions on Guam with a flamethrower.US forces use a tank-mounted flamethrower to incinerate a Japanese pillboxAn American flamethrower operator runs under fireFront and rear views of a man with a M2A1-7 United States Army flamethrower A flamethrower is a mechanical incendiary device designed to project a long, controllable stream of fire. First deployed by the Greeks in the 1st century AD, flamethowers saw use in modern times during World War I, and more widely in World War II. Most military flamethrowers use flammable liquids thickened into a consistency similar to napalm, but commercial flamethrowers generally use high-pressure propane and gasoline; such mobile liquids and gases are safer in peacetime applications, because their flames dissipate faster and often are easier to extinguish when necessary, because they are volatile and their liquid residues soak into porous media such as dry soil. In contrast, a military flamethrower's viscous or gelled fuel sticks to the surfaces of its targets and is harder to dissipate with water, so it easily re-ignites after the flame has been extinguished. It also spreads less than mobile fluids, so that it permits a more manageably targeted burn. From the military point of view, when flamethrower fuel burns in a confined space such as a tunnel or dugout, its effects go beyond the threat of burning; it quickly consumes the enclosed oxygen and pollutes the air within, so that smoke inhalation and asphyxiation may be as effective a weapon as the actual flames. Apart from the military applications, flamethrowers have peacetime applications where there is a need for controlled burning, such as in sugarcane harvesting and other land-management tasks. Various forms are designed for an operator to carry, while others are mounted on vehicles. Modern flamethrowers were first used during the trench warfare conditions of World War I and their use greatly increased in World War II. They can be vehicle-mounted, as on a tank, or man-portable. The man-portable flamethrower consists of two elements — the backpack and the gun. The backpack element usually consists of two or three cylinders. In a two-cylinder system, one cylinder holds compressed, inert propellant gas (usually nitrogen), and the other holds flammable liquid, typically petrol, with some form of fuel thickener added to it. A three-cylinder system often has two outer cylinders of flammable liquid and a central cylinder of propellant gas to maintain the balance of the soldier carrying it. The gas propels the liquid fuel out of the cylinder through a flexible pipe and then into the gun element of the flamethrower system. The gun consists of a small reservoir, a spring-loaded valve, and an ignition system; depressing a trigger opens the valve, allowing pressurized flammable liquid to flow and pass over the igniter and out of the gun nozzle. The igniter can be one of several ignition systems: A simple type is an electrically-heated wire coil; another used a small pilot flame, fueled with pressurized gas from the system. The flamethrower is a potent weapon with great psychological impact, inflicting a particularly horrific death. This has led to some calls for the weapon to be banned. It is primarily used against battlefield fortifications, bunkers, and other protected emplacements. A flamethrower projects a stream of flammable liquid, rather than flame, which allows bouncing the stream off walls and ceilings to project the fire into unseen spaces, such as inside bunkers or pillboxes. Typically, popular visual media depict the flamethrower as short-ranged and only effective for a few meters (due to the common use of propane gas as the fuel in flamethrowers in movies, for the safety of the actors). Contemporary flamethrowers can incinerate a target some 50–80 meters (160–260 ft) from the gunner; moreover, an unignited stream of flammable liquid can be fired and afterwards ignited, possibly by a lamp or other flame inside the bunker.