Description
These smoke grenades are used to attract attention to aviation personnel who have made a forced landing.
The cylindrical sheet-metal case is nearly full of a solid smoke mixture. A circular zinc cup containing a starting mixture is located in a depression left in the top of the smoke mixture, and is designed to be initiated by a bouchon type of grenade firing mechanism. Adhesive tape covers four quarter inch holes in the top of the case until the signal is ready for firing. The grenade is painted gray and marked in yellow with one band, the symbol of the filler, and the word “smoke".
Same as AN-M8 — may have red, yellow, green, orange, violet, or black smoke.
Functioning
The release lever cotter pin having been removed, the release lever is freed by the operator as the grenade is thrown, and is forced off by the striker, which is at all times under tension of its spring. The striker moves on its hinge and fires the primer, which ignites a delay element that in turn ignites the starting mixture. The starting mixture burns through the zine cup and starts a chemical reaction in the smoke mixture, generating considerable heat with the formation of zinc chloride. The zinc chloride escapes into the air as a gray-white smoke composed of finely divided solid particles. These particles are highly hygroscopic and become very obscuring liquid particles. The grenade bums for about three and a half minutes at full volume.
See Also
Source(s)
OP 1664, Volume 1 - US Explosive Ordnance (1947)
OP 1664, Volume 2 - US Explosive Ordnance (1947)
