M18 smoke grenade

Common card · No. 345182

The M18 Colored Smoke Grenade is the standard issue colored smoke grenade of the United States Armed Forces and is produced by the Pine Bluff Arsenal. Development began in 1942 after the Army Ground Forces requested a smoke hand grenade be made that had a visible range of 10,000 feet and could be used for marking friendly troop positions, identifying American tanks, or to signal location of downed planes. Utilizing previous experience in colored smoke signals, the Chemical Corps took on this task and had the first colored smoke grenades available in April 1943 designated as "M16". After production of the M16 colored smoke grenades were underway, the Army Ground Forces decided they did not produce sufficient smoke. The M16 grenades were then redesigned, with the improved version being designated "M18". These grenades became standard issue on 24 September 1943, serving as the primary colored smoke grenades for the United States Armed Forces since. The M18 was first used in combat towards...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Original U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Robert Cloys, cropping by User:Dvaderv2, Public domain