Last week I detailed the M202 FLASH, which I described as employing an incendiary similar to Napalm. Deciding it would be easier to explain the difference to everyone at once, I present to you a brief history of Napalm.

Developed in WWII to extend the reach of flamethrowers at a lower cost than rubber-based gasoline gels and to enhance the explosive power of regular bombs, Napalm is any flammable liquid that gels when mixed with gasoline. The name stems from the original ingredients; the coprecipitated aluminium salts of napthenic and palmitic acids. Over the years, the ingredients have been changed and refined into a mixture commonly known as Napalm-B or Super Napalm. Specially formulated for viscosity and burn temperatures of 800-1,200 degrees Celsius, Napalm simultaneously creates enormous amounts of Carbon Monoxide and rapidly de-oxygenates the air surrounding its point of detonation, causing asphyxiation in addition to death by immolation. Napalm bombs are light aluminum pods containing about 75 gallons of the mix. Lacking the stabilizing fins of regular bombs, they tumble end over end as they fall, helping to spread the Napalm over as wide an area as possible. There has been some controversy regarding the supposed use of Napalm in Iraq. This is erroneous, as the last Mk 77 Mod 4 Napalm-B bomb was destroyed in March 2001. The Mk 77 Mod 5 currently in use in Iraq employs a completely different incendiary mixture based on Kerosene.

For those readers with an interest in the explosive, the official recipe calls for 21% Benzene, 33% gasoline and 46% polystyrene. Orange juice concentrate, cat litter, diet cola and/or candle wax do not work. Sorry, Fight Club fans.

A correction from last week: Protocol III of the CCW prevents use of incendiary weapons against civilians, as opposed to banning them entirely.