US Army’s first new lethal grenade since the Vietnam War uses shock waves to kill | CNN

The US Army last month introduced its first new lethal hand grenade since the Vietnam War, a plastic weapon that uses shock waves rather than shrapnel to kill enemies. The new grenade, called the M111, becomes the Army’s choice for urban combat, when troops must clear indoor areas to take and hold territory, because there’s less risk of collateral damage. It’s the first new grenade introduced for US forces since 1968, when the MK3A2 entered combat during the Vietnam War. That munition was withdrawn in the 1970s because it contains asbestos, tiny fibers of which can become lodged in the lungs leading to fatal diseases including cancer. Its withdrawal left soldiers with the current primary grenade, the M67, which sends shrapnel in all directions when it explodes, potentially killing or injuring bystanders or friendly forces when it deflects off solid objects of metal or concrete or penetrates light walls, for example. The use of shock waves, or blast overpressure (BOP), kills or disables enemies with the force of the explosion, vaporizing the weapon’s plastic outer shell. Troops outside an enclosed area can throw the new grenade into that area, and enemies cannot take cover b