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THE FUNDAMENTALS OF EXPLOSIVES
Ammunition Color Codes - 14014_182

Airman - Aviation theories and other practices
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ORDNANCE IDENTIFICATION AND MARKING Identification of ammunition is extremely important when handling ordnance. Identification provides working/safety information, such as service (live)/nonservice (training) ammunition, class of explosives, and color codes representing the explosive hazards. Identification also provides administrative information, such as mark, modification, and lot numbers. Color codes contain the most important information of the identification system! Color codes identify the explosive hazards contained within the ordnance. Regardless of your rating, you will work around  ordnance-handling  crews.  Therefore,  you should be familiar with the color code identification of ordnance. Table 8-1 gives the color codes used to identify the hazards contained in ordnance. It also gives the meaning for each color code. These colors are normally painted on the ordnance during manufacturing. The colors may be stripes painted around the body or down the side of the item. You can use the color codes shown in table 8-1 to identify ordnance explosive hazards. For example, you are approaching an aircraft and there is a bomb loaded on a wing station. The bomb is painted an olive drab (overall) color and has a yellow band painted around the nose. The olive drab color has no identification color-coding significance; but, the yellow band means that the bomb contains high explosives. Another example is a missile. A missile is painted white with a yellow band around the warhead section and a brown band around the rocket motor section. The white color on  a  missile  has  no  identification  color-coding significance. The yellow band means that the warhead contains high explosives. The brown band means that the rocket motor contains low explosives. Knowing the color codes and the type of ordnance loaded on the aircraft give you vital information in an emergency such as a fire. For example, an aircraft loaded with ordnance is engulfed in a fire. All the ordnance on the aircraft is a light blue color with no other identification color codes visible. From this visual information, you can determine that none of the ordnance contains explosives. Thus, the fire can be fought much closer to the aircraft than if the ordnance contained high explosives. Q8-4. What is the difference between an explosive and an explosion? Q8-5. What are the two general classes of military explosives? Q8-6. High explosives are not used in ammunition and gun systems for what reason? Q8-7. Define low explosives. Q8-8. What type of information is provided by ordnance identification? Q8-9. In the ordnance identification system, the color codes provide what information? AIRCRAFT WEAPONS AND AMMUNITION LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Identify the types, uses, and basic characteristics of aircraft weapons and ammunition. Aircraft weapons and ammunition are designed to reduce and/or neutralize an enemy's war potential. Several different types are discussed in the following text. AIRCRAFT BOMB-TYPE AMMUNITION Bomb-type ammunition is carried either in the bomb bay of an aircraft or externally on the wing or fuselage stations. Because of safety requirements, some bomb-type ammunition is shipped and stowed without the fuzes or arming assemblies. Ordnancemen must assemble these types of ammunition before they are used. Other types, such as cluster bomb units (CBUs), are shipped and stowed as complete assemblies. Only the general characteristics and basic principles of operation for bomb-type ammunition and associated components are discussed in this chapter. 8-3







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