ABSTRACT
Understanding how ordnance operates and functions requires a basic understanding of energetic materials, including explosives, propellants, pyrotechnics, pyrophorics, and other reactive substances. These materials are used extensively in military ordnance to provide a number of different effects, including the arming and firing of fuzing systems, deployment of payloads, energizing power sources for fuzing, steerable fins, and guidance systems. These materials also propel ordnance, illuminate the night, allow munitions to be tracked, and stabilize or alter trajectories during flight, as well as serving other functional purposes.
