Dense Inert Metal Explosive
Encyclopedia
Dense Inert Metal Explosive (DIME) is an experimental type of explosive
that has a relatively small but effective blast radius
. It is manufactured by producing a homogeneous mixture of an explosive material (such as HMX
or RDX
) and small particles of a chemically inert material such as tungsten
. It is intended to limit the distance at which the explosion causes damage, to avoid collateral damage
in warfare.
The phrase inert
metal refers to a metal that is not chemically active and therefore not part of the chemical reaction that causes the explosion, as opposed to some metals, such as aluminium
that do form part of the chemical reaction e.g. in Tritonal
.
An emerging criticism of DIME weapons is that they might turn out to have strong biological effects in those who are hit by the micro-shrapnel from these types of explosives.
DIME mixtures have been studied for some time, but apparently only began to be adopted for weapons after the year 2000.
casing filled with a mixture of explosive and very dense microshrapnel, consisting of very small particles (1-2 mm) or powder of a heavy metal. To date, tungsten
alloy (heavy metal tungsten alloy, or HMTA) composed of tungsten and other metals such as cobalt
and nickel
or iron
has been the preferred material for the dense microshrapnel or powder.
Two common HMTA alloys are:
Upon detonation of the explosive, the casing disintegrates into extremely small particles, as opposed to larger pieces of shrapnel
which results from the fragmentation of a metal shell
casing. The HMTA powder acts like micro-shrapnel which is very lethal at close range (about 4 meters or 13 feet), but loses momentum very quickly due to air resistance, coming to a halt within approximately 40 times the diameter of the charge. This increases the probability of killing people within a few meters of the explosion while reducing the probability of causing death and injuries or damage farther away. Survivors close to the lethal zone may have their limbs amputated (as the micro shrapnel can slice through soft tissue and bone) by the HMTA micro-shrapnel embedded in their body tissue.
ic effects of heavy metal tungsten
alloys (HMTA) have been studied by the U.S. Armed Forces since at least the year 2000 (along with depleted uranium
(DU)). These alloys were found to cause neoplastic transformations of human osteoblast
cells.
A more recent U.S. Department of Health and Human Services study in 2005 found that HMTA shrapnel rapidly induces rhabdomyosarcoma
cancers in rats.
The tungsten alloy carcinogenicity may be most closely related to the nickel
content of the alloys used in weapons to date. However, pure tungsten and tungsten trioxide
are also suspected of causing cancer and other toxic properties, and have been shown to have such effects in animal studies.
In 2009, a group of Italian scientists affiliated with watchdog group New Weapons Research Committee (NWRC) pronounced DIME wounds "untreatable" because the powdered tungsten cannot be removed surgically.
, according to a team of journalists from the Italian State radio-television RAI
, DIME-type bombs were being used in the Gaza Strip
by the Israel Defense Forces
against Palestinian targets during July/August 2006.
The investigation was performed by examining the unusual wounds, and a lab analysis of the metals found in the victims' bodies was reportedly "compatible with the hypothesis" that a DIME weapon was involved. Israel denied possessing or using such weapons.
Dr. Mads Gilbert
and Dr. Erik Fosse, working on wounded from the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict
, report injuries that they believe can only be caused by some new type of weapon used by Israel which they suspect are DIME bombs.
Explosive material
An explosive material, also called an explosive, is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure...
that has a relatively small but effective blast radius
Blast radius
A blast radius is the distance from the source that will be affected when an explosion occurs. A blast radius is often associated with, but not limited to, bombs, mines, explosive projectiles , and other weapons with an explosive charge....
. It is manufactured by producing a homogeneous mixture of an explosive material (such as HMX
HMX
HMX, also called octogen, is a powerful and relatively insensitive nitroamine high explosive, chemically related to RDX. Like RDX, the name has been variously listed as High Melting eXplosive, Her Majesty's eXplosive, High-velocity Military eXplosive, or High-Molecular-weight rdX.The molecular...
or RDX
RDX
RDX, an initialism for Research Department Explosive, is an explosive nitroamine widely used in military and industrial applications. It was developed as an explosive which was more powerful than TNT, and it saw wide use in WWII. RDX is also known as cyclonite, hexogen , and T4...
) and small particles of a chemically inert material such as tungsten
Tungsten
Tungsten , also known as wolfram , is a chemical element with the chemical symbol W and atomic number 74.A hard, rare metal under standard conditions when uncombined, tungsten is found naturally on Earth only in chemical compounds. It was identified as a new element in 1781, and first isolated as...
. It is intended to limit the distance at which the explosion causes damage, to avoid collateral damage
Collateral damage
Collateral damage is damage to people or property that is unintended or incidental to the intended outcome. The phrase is prevalently used as an euphemism for civilian casualties of a military action.-Etymology:...
in warfare.
The phrase inert
Inert
-Chemistry:In chemistry, the term inert is used to describe a substance that is not chemically reactive.The noble gases were previously known as inert gases because of their perceived lack of participation in any chemical reactions...
metal refers to a metal that is not chemically active and therefore not part of the chemical reaction that causes the explosion, as opposed to some metals, such as aluminium
Aluminium
Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....
that do form part of the chemical reaction e.g. in Tritonal
Tritonal
Tritonal is a mixture of 80% TNT and 20% aluminium powder, used in several types of ordnance such as air-dropped bombs. The aluminium improves the total heat output and hence impulse of the TNT - the length of time during which the blast wave is positive...
.
An emerging criticism of DIME weapons is that they might turn out to have strong biological effects in those who are hit by the micro-shrapnel from these types of explosives.
DIME mixtures have been studied for some time, but apparently only began to be adopted for weapons after the year 2000.
Method of operation
DIME weapons consist of a carbon fiberCarbon fiber
Carbon fiber, alternatively graphite fiber, carbon graphite or CF, is a material consisting of fibers about 5–10 μm in diameter and composed mostly of carbon atoms. The carbon atoms are bonded together in crystals that are more or less aligned parallel to the long axis of the fiber...
casing filled with a mixture of explosive and very dense microshrapnel, consisting of very small particles (1-2 mm) or powder of a heavy metal. To date, tungsten
Tungsten
Tungsten , also known as wolfram , is a chemical element with the chemical symbol W and atomic number 74.A hard, rare metal under standard conditions when uncombined, tungsten is found naturally on Earth only in chemical compounds. It was identified as a new element in 1781, and first isolated as...
alloy (heavy metal tungsten alloy, or HMTA) composed of tungsten and other metals such as cobalt
Cobalt
Cobalt is a chemical element with symbol Co and atomic number 27. It is found naturally only in chemically combined form. The free element, produced by reductive smelting, is a hard, lustrous, silver-gray metal....
and nickel
Nickel
Nickel is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel belongs to the transition metals and is hard and ductile...
or iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
has been the preferred material for the dense microshrapnel or powder.
Two common HMTA alloys are:
- rWNiCo: tungsten (91–93%), nickel (3–5%) and cobalt (2–4%)
- rWNiFe: tungsten (91–93%), nickel (3–5%) and iron (2–4%)
Upon detonation of the explosive, the casing disintegrates into extremely small particles, as opposed to larger pieces of shrapnel
Fragmentation (weaponry)
Fragmentation is the process by which the casing of an artillery shell, bomb, grenade, etc. is shattered by the detonating high explosive filling. The correct technical terminology for these casing pieces is fragments , although shards or splinters can be used for non-preformed fragments...
which results from the fragmentation of a metal shell
Shell (projectile)
A shell is a payload-carrying projectile, which, as opposed to shot, contains an explosive or other filling, though modern usage sometimes includes large solid projectiles properly termed shot . Solid shot may contain a pyrotechnic compound if a tracer or spotting charge is used...
casing. The HMTA powder acts like micro-shrapnel which is very lethal at close range (about 4 meters or 13 feet), but loses momentum very quickly due to air resistance, coming to a halt within approximately 40 times the diameter of the charge. This increases the probability of killing people within a few meters of the explosion while reducing the probability of causing death and injuries or damage farther away. Survivors close to the lethal zone may have their limbs amputated (as the micro shrapnel can slice through soft tissue and bone) by the HMTA micro-shrapnel embedded in their body tissue.
Toxic/carcinogenic effects
The carcinogenCarcinogen
A carcinogen is any substance, radionuclide, or radiation that is an agent directly involved in causing cancer. This may be due to the ability to damage the genome or to the disruption of cellular metabolic processes...
ic effects of heavy metal tungsten
Tungsten
Tungsten , also known as wolfram , is a chemical element with the chemical symbol W and atomic number 74.A hard, rare metal under standard conditions when uncombined, tungsten is found naturally on Earth only in chemical compounds. It was identified as a new element in 1781, and first isolated as...
alloys (HMTA) have been studied by the U.S. Armed Forces since at least the year 2000 (along with depleted uranium
Depleted uranium
Depleted uranium is uranium with a lower content of the fissile isotope U-235 than natural uranium . Uses of DU take advantage of its very high density of 19.1 g/cm3...
(DU)). These alloys were found to cause neoplastic transformations of human osteoblast
Osteoblast
Osteoblasts are mononucleate cells that are responsible for bone formation; in essence, osteoblasts are specialized fibroblasts that in addition to fibroblastic products, express bone sialoprotein and osteocalcin.Osteoblasts produce a matrix of osteoid, which is composed mainly of Type I collagen...
cells.
A more recent U.S. Department of Health and Human Services study in 2005 found that HMTA shrapnel rapidly induces rhabdomyosarcoma
Rhabdomyosarcoma
A rhabdomyosarcoma is a type of cancer, specifically a sarcoma , in which the cancer cells are thought to arise from skeletal muscle progenitors. It can also be found attached to muscle tissue, wrapped around intestines, or in any anatomic location...
cancers in rats.
The tungsten alloy carcinogenicity may be most closely related to the nickel
Nickel
Nickel is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel belongs to the transition metals and is hard and ductile...
content of the alloys used in weapons to date. However, pure tungsten and tungsten trioxide
Tungsten trioxide
Tungsten oxide, also known as tungsten trioxide or tungstic anhydride, WO3, is a chemical compound containing oxygen and the transition metal tungsten. It is obtained as an intermediate in the recovery of tungsten from its minerals. Tungsten ores are treated with alkalis to produce WO3...
are also suspected of causing cancer and other toxic properties, and have been shown to have such effects in animal studies.
In 2009, a group of Italian scientists affiliated with watchdog group New Weapons Research Committee (NWRC) pronounced DIME wounds "untreatable" because the powdered tungsten cannot be removed surgically.
Reported use
As reported in the French national newspaper Le MondeLe Monde
Le Monde is a French daily evening newspaper owned by La Vie-Le Monde Group and edited in Paris. It is one of two French newspapers of record, and has generally been well respected since its first edition under founder Hubert Beuve-Méry on 19 December 1944...
, according to a team of journalists from the Italian State radio-television RAI
RAI
RAI — Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A. known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane, is the Italian state owned public service broadcaster controlled by the Ministry of Economic Development. Rai is the biggest television company in Italy...
, DIME-type bombs were being used in the Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
by the Israel Defense Forces
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
against Palestinian targets during July/August 2006.
The investigation was performed by examining the unusual wounds, and a lab analysis of the metals found in the victims' bodies was reportedly "compatible with the hypothesis" that a DIME weapon was involved. Israel denied possessing or using such weapons.
Dr. Mads Gilbert
Mads Gilbert
Mads Fredrik Gilbert is a Norwegian doctor, solidarity worker and a member of the socialist party Red. He received his PhD at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa...
and Dr. Erik Fosse, working on wounded from the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict
2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict
The Gaza War, known as Operation Cast Lead in Israel and as the Gaza Massacre in the Arab world, was a three-week bombing and invasion of the Gaza Strip by Israel, and hundreds of rocket attacks on south of Israel which...
, report injuries that they believe can only be caused by some new type of weapon used by Israel which they suspect are DIME bombs.
External links
- Dense Inert Metal Explosive (DIME)
- How Goes the War From Here? Small diameter solutions SF Chronicle, September 12, 2006
- Cancer worries for new U.S. bombs by Defense Tech