14 Facts About Bangalore torpedo

1.

Bangalore torpedo is an explosive charge placed within one or several connected tubes.

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2.

The primary use of the Bangalore torpedo is clearing paths through wire obstacles and heavy undergrowth.

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3.

Bangalore torpedo was devised by Captain R L McClintock of the Royal Engineers while attached to the Madras Sappers and Miners unit of the Indian Army at Bangalore, India, in 1912.

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4.

Bangalore torpedo invented it as a means of blowing up booby traps and barricades left over from the Second Boer War and the Russo-Japanese War.

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5.

An improved version called the Advanced Performance Bangalore Torpedo was developed by Chemring Energetics UK, part of the Chemring Group, in response to a British Ministry of Defence requirement issued in 2008; the APBT was chosen by the MOD following competitive performance trials and is in use with the militaries of Australia, the Netherlands, and New Zealand.

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6.

The Bangalore torpedo was standardized to consist of a number of externally identical 1.

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7.

Bangalore torpedo was reportedly used in the British offensive on Bardia during the Western Desert Campaign, on 3 January 1941.

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8.

Bangalore torpedo was later adopted by the US Army during World War II, as the "M1A1 Bangalore torpedo".

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9.

Each end of the Bangalore torpedo had a recess to accommodate a standard Corps of Engineers blasting cap.

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10.

The Bangalore torpedo was obsolete in British use at the time of D-Day, having been replaced by rocket-launched Congers and Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers vehicles equipped with a 40-pound explosive charge for bunker clearing.

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11.

Combat engineers have been known to construct similar field versions of the Bangalore torpedo by assembling segments of metal picket posts and filling the concave portion with plastic explosive.

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12.

The PE is then primed with detonating cord and a detonator, and pickets are taped or wired together to make a long Bangalore torpedo, producing fragments that cut the wire when detonated.

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13.

Newer Bangalore variants include the Alford Technologies Bangalore Blade and the Chemring Advanced Performance Bangalore Torpedo, with both of these having been developed in the United Kingdom.

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14.

The Advanced Performance Bangalore Torpedo uses an aluminium body and is filled with two kilograms of DPX1 high density pressed explosive; a unique and patented design feature is incorporated which, in combination with the DPX1 explosive, provides enhanced blast and fragmentation effects which in turn provide an enhanced cutting capability against both simple and complex wire entanglements.

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