subject: The Military Use Of Flamethrowers [print this page] Military flamethrowers are a weapon of past times in the United States but may still be in use in other countries. We began to use them first during the trench warfare of WWI as they were a practical weapon in clearing out the trenches of that period.
The military flamethrower may be carried by a troop on foot or it may be mounted to a vehicle. It is a short range weapon which requires the user to get in relatively close to the enemy that he plans on using it against. The flame thrower normally consists of one or two cylinders of gas used to propel the flammable liquid into the target area. The flame thrower is not practical for most small arms uses but it is a good weapon when it is used to clear out caves, tunnels, or heavily fortified enemy bunkers. Its short range is a major disadvantage in that the user must get in close to the target that he plans on using it against to be effective. It was used extensively during WWI, WWII, Korea, and somewhat in Vietnam.
The man packed version is heavy and bulky. The troop who was assigned this equipment was often the target of enemy snipers because of the negative psychological effects that this weapon produced when it was used against the enemy.
The flamethrower used a liquid such as diesel fuel which was difficult to ignite so that the user would be relatively safe from the danger of it igniting or blowing up while he was using this piece of equipment. One advantage of using a flammable liquid was that the liquid would get into the crevices and corners of caves or rooms where it was dispersed. This made it an excellent weapon for taking out those troops who were not directly in the line of fire. Another drawback was that you didnt get a whole lot of use out of it before it needed to be reloaded.
Another quality of the flamethrower which made it a good weapon was that if it didnt kill you by the heat or flame it could kill the enemy by taking away the oxygen and causing suffocation.
The psychological effect that it had on the enemy was devastating because of the terrible, gruesome death that it inflicted on its victim. The military developed another variation of this weapon during the Vietnam conflict which was called the flash. This variant contained four rockets which contained a chemical compound which ignited on contact with the air. This weapon was unreliable in that it was unstable and its use was eventually discontinued.
There were different variations of mounted flamethrowers used at various times by the US military. These proved effective in certain situations and could be armored for close in protection but once again the short range of these weapons was a disadvantage during combat operations.
The United States no longer uses these weapons or even has them in inventory because they are really not necessary in modern warfare. In addition there are many newer weapons which are just as effective if not more. Military Ring Express
