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</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">This article is about casing fragmentation of explosive weaponry. For the internally held projectiles delivered by anti-personnel artillery, see <a href="Shrapnel_shell" title="Shrapnel shell">Shrapnel shell</a>.</div>

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<p><b>Fragmentation</b> is the process by which the casing, <a href="Shot_(pellet)" title="Shot (pellet)">shot</a>, or other components of an <a href="Anti-personnel_weapon" title="Anti-personnel weapon">anti-personnel weapon</a>, <a href="Bomb" title="Bomb">bomb</a>, <a href="Barrel_bomb" title="Barrel bomb">barrel bomb</a>, <a href="Land_mine" title="Land mine">land mine</a>, <a href="Improvised_explosive_device" title="Improvised explosive device">IED</a>, <a href="Artillery" title="Artillery">artillery</a>, <a href="Mortar_(weapon)" title="Mortar (weapon)">mortar</a>, <a href="Tank_gun" title="Tank gun">tank gun</a>, <a href="Autocannon" title="Autocannon">autocannon</a> <a href="Shell_(projectile)" title="Shell (projectile)">shell</a>, <a href="Rocket" title="Rocket">rocket</a>, <a href="Missile" title="Missile">missile</a>, <a href="Grenade" title="Grenade">grenade</a>, etc. are dispersed and/or shattered by the <a href="Detonate" class="mw-redirect" title="Detonate">detonation</a> of the <a href="Explosive" title="Explosive">explosive</a> filler.

</p><p>The correct <a href="Technical_terminology" class="mw-redirect" title="Technical terminology">term</a> for those pieces is "fragments” (nicknamed “splinters” or “shards”).<sup id="cite_ref-:0_1-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Preformed fragments can be of various shapes (spheres, cubes, rods, etc.) and sizes and are normally held rigidly within some form of matrix or body until the <a href="High_explosive" class="mw-redirect" title="High explosive">high explosive</a> (HE) filling is detonated. The resulting high-velocity fragments produced by either method are the main lethal mechanisms of these weapons, rather than the <a href="Heat" title="Heat">heat</a> or <a href="Overpressure" title="Overpressure">overpressure</a> caused by detonation, although <a href="Grenade#High_explosive_(offensive)" title="Grenade">offensive grenades</a> are often constructed without a frag matrix.

</p><p>The casing pieces are often incorrectly referred to as "<b><a href="Shrapnel_shell" title="Shrapnel shell">shrapnel</a></b>", particularly by non-military media sources.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_1-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-shrapneldef_2-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-shrapneldef-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>A <i>fragmentation sleeve</i> is a sleeve that fits onto an explosive weapon to provide fragmentation effect. Offensive grenades can be converted into a fragmentation grenade using an add-on sleeve.<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="History">History</h2></div>

<p>The use of fragmentation in bombs dates to the 14th century, and appears in the <a href="Ming_Dynasty" class="mw-redirect" title="Ming Dynasty">Ming Dynasty</a> text <i><a href="Huolongjing" title="Huolongjing">Huolongjing</a></i>. The fragmentation bombs were filled with iron pellets and pieces of broken porcelain. Once the bomb explodes, the resulting fragments are capable of piercing the skin and blinding enemy soldiers.<sup id="cite_ref-Needham_5-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Needham-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

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</style><blockquote class="templatequote"><p>For this bomb you take <a href="Tung_oil" title="Tung oil">tung oil</a>, yin hsiu, <a href="Salammoniac" title="Salammoniac">salammoniac</a>, chin chih, scallion juice, and heat them so as to coat a lot of iron pellets and bits of broken porcelain. Then fill in (with a gunpowder core) to a case of cast iron making a fragmentation bomb. When it bursts, it breaks into pieces that wound the skin and break the bones (of enemy soldiers) and blinds their eyes.</p></blockquote><div class="templatequotecite"><p style="display: inline; padding-left: 2.3em;">— <i><a href="Huolongjing" title="Huolongjing">Huolongjing</a></i>, Part 1 Chapter 2<sup id="cite_ref-Needham_5-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Needham-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></p></div>

<p>The modern fragmentation <a href="Hand_grenade" class="mw-redirect" title="Hand grenade">grenade</a> was developed during the 20th century. The <a href="Mills_bomb" title="Mills bomb">Mills bomb</a>, first adopted in 1915 by the <a href="British_army" class="mw-redirect" title="British army">British army</a>, is an early fragmentation grenade used in <a href="World_War_I" title="World War I">World War I</a>. The <a href="Mk_2_grenade" title="Mk 2 grenade">Mk 2 grenade</a> was a fragmentation grenade adopted by the <a href="United_States_Armed_Forces" title="United States Armed Forces">American military</a> based on the Mills bomb, and was in use during <a href="World_War_II" title="World War II">World War II</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-weapons_6-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-weapons-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Difference_between_fragmentation_and_shrapnel_shells">Difference between fragmentation and shrapnel shells</h2></div>

<p>The term "shrapnel" is commonly, although incorrectly from a technical standpoint, used to refer to fragments produced by <i>any</i> explosive weapon. However, the <a href="Shrapnel_shell" title="Shrapnel shell">shrapnel shell</a>, named for Major General <a href="Henry_Shrapnel" title="Henry Shrapnel">Henry Shrapnel</a> of the British <a href="Royal_Artillery" title="Royal Artillery">Royal Artillery</a>, predates the modern <a href="High-explosive_shell" class="mw-redirect" title="High-explosive shell">high-explosive shell</a> and operates by an entirely different process.<sup id="cite_ref-shrapneldef_2-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-shrapneldef-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>A shrapnel shell consists of a shell casing filled with steel or lead balls suspended in a <a href="Resin" title="Resin">resin</a> matrix, with a small explosive charge at the base of the shell. When the projectile is fired, it travels a pre-set distance along a <a href="Ballistic_trajectory" class="mw-redirect" title="Ballistic trajectory">ballistic trajectory</a>, then the fuse ignites a relatively weak secondary charge (often <a href="Black_powder" class="mw-redirect" title="Black powder">black powder</a> or <a href="Cordite" title="Cordite">cordite</a>) in the base of the shell. This charge fractures the matrix holding the balls in place and expels the nose of the shell to open a path for the balls, which are then propelled out of the front of the shell without rupturing the casing (which falls to earth relatively unharmed and can be retrieved and reused).<sup id="cite_ref-ammo_7-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-ammo-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> These balls continue onward to the target, spreading out in a cone-shaped pattern at ground level, with most of their energy coming from the original velocity of the shell itself rather than the lesser force of the secondary charge that freed them from the shell. Since the cone of impact is relatively small, no more than 10 to 15 times the diameter of the shell, true shrapnel shells needed to be carefully sighted and judiciously used in order to maximize their impact on the enemy.

</p><p>In contrast, a high-explosive shell contains a relatively large and energetic secondary charge of high explosive (known as a burster charge) which, when ignited by the fuse, produces a powerful supersonic <a href="Shock_wave" title="Shock wave">shock wave</a> that shatters the entire shell casing into many fragments that fly in all directions.<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The use of high explosives with a fragmenting case improves efficiency as well as propelling a larger number of fragments at a higher velocity over a much wider area (40 to 60 times the diameter of the shell), giving high-explosive shells a vastly superior battlefield lethality that was largely impossible before the <a href="Industrial_Era" class="mw-redirect" title="Industrial Era">Industrial Era</a>. <a href="World_War_I" title="World War I">World War I</a> was the first major conflict in which HE shells were the dominant form of artillery; the failure to adapt infantry tactics to the massive increase in lethality they produced was a major element in producing the ghastly subterranean <a href="Stalemate" title="Stalemate">stalemate</a> conditions of <a href="Trench_warfare" title="Trench warfare">trench warfare</a>, in which neither side could risk movement above ground without the guarantee of instant casualties from the constant, indiscriminate hail of HE shell fragments.

</p><p>One easy comparison between fragmenting HE and shrapnel shells would be to imagine a shell of each type standing stationary and base-first on the ground; a high-explosive shell would be equally lethal if detonated in this state vs. detonating on impact after being fired, whereas a shrapnel shell would ineffectually fire its contents only a few feet into the air in a cone-shaped pattern (while the casing itself remained intact).<sup id="cite_ref-shrapneldef_2-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-shrapneldef-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> However, the reduced area of effect of shrapnel shells can be exploited, such as in the creeping barrage tactics of World War I, where shrapnel shells were able to be used much closer to friendly infantry than HE shells could.

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Gallery_of_images">Gallery of images</h2></div>

<div class="gallerytext">Early artillery shell, with the fragments it would generate. 1900</div>

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<div class="gallerytext">Artillery shell fragment from the <a href="Gulf_War" title="Gulf War">Gulf War</a></div>

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<div class="gallerytext">Grenade fragments in the soft tissue of the lower leg (along with an old fracture of the fibula)</div>

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2></div>

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</style><cite id="CITEREFFawcett2020" class="citation web cs1">Fawcett, Kirstin (20 February 2020). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.historynet.com/the-difference-between-shell-fragments-and-shrapnel/">"The Difference Between 'Shell Fragments' and 'Shrapnel'"</a>. <i>HistoryNet</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">23 March</span> 2024</span>.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-shrapneldef-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-shrapneldef_2-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-shrapneldef_2-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-shrapneldef_2-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation journal cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170210123724/http://www.history.army.mil/faq/shrapnel.htm">"What is the difference between artillery shrapnel and shell fragments?"</a>. <i>Combat Forces Journal</i>. March 1952. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.history.army.mil/faq/shrapnel.htm">the original</a> on 10 February 2017.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://osd.dtic.mil/photos/Nov2003/031111-D-9880W-175.html">[1]</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140201194947/http://osd.dtic.mil/photos/Nov2003/031111-D-9880W-175.html">Archived</a> 1 February 2014 at the <a href="Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/HistoryAndHonour/HeroicDeedsOnOperationsHonoured.htm">[2]</a> Examples of use of "shrapnel" for casing fragments</span>

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<li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.nammo.com/product/our-products/grenades-warheads-energetics/fragmentation-increment-sleeve-for-offensive-hand-grenades/">"Fragmentation Increment Sleeve for Offensive Hand Grenades"</a>. <i>Nammo</i>.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-Needham-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Needham_5-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Needham_5-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFJoseph_Needham1986" class="citation book cs1">Joseph Needham (1986). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=hNcZJ35dIyUC&pg=PR180"><i>Military Technology: The Gunpowder Epic</i></a>. Cambridge University Press. pp. <span class="nowrap">180–</span>181. <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>978-0-521-30358-3</bdi>.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-weapons-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-weapons_6-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation book cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=3Il9ubyJCisC&pg=PA88"><i>The New Weapons of the World Encyclopedia: An International Encyclopedia from 5000 B.C. to the 21st Century</i></a>. St. Martin's Press. 21 August 2007. p. 88. <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>978-0-312-36832-6</bdi>.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-ammo-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-ammo_7-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">U.S. War Department Technical Manual 9-1900 ‘'Ammunition, General'’. 18 June 1945. p. 106. Available: <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://90thidpg.us/Reference/Manuals/index.html">http://90thidpg.us/Reference/Manuals/index.html</a></span>

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<li id="cite_note-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">What forensic conclusions can be drawn from the analysis of shell fragments: <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1179/1574077313Z.00000000029?needAccess=true">https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1179/1574077313Z.00000000029?needAccess=true</a></span>

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