![]() Latex, used in these early forms of incendiary devices, became scarce, since natural rubber was almost impossible to obtain after the Japanese army captured the rubber plantations in Malaya, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand. The use of aluminium salts of organic acids ( Ionov's salt) for the preparation of incendiary viscous mixtures was already done by the Soviets in 1939, with high acceptance by the Red Army. The development of napalm was precipitated by the use of jellied gasoline mixtures by the Allied forces during World War II. Greek fire, also described as "sticky fire" ( πῦρ κολλητικόν, pýr kolletikón), is believed to have had a petroleum base. Use of fire in warfare has a long history. Īlternative compositions exist for different types of uses, e.g., triethylaluminium, a pyrophoric compound that aids ignition. During combustion, napalm rapidly deoxygenates the available air and generates large amounts of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. It is believed to have been formulated to burn at a specific rate and to adhere to surfaces to increase its stopping power. Napalm was used in flamethrowers, bombs, and tanks in World War II. Napalm also has fueled most of the flamethrowers (tank-, ship-, and infantry-based) used since World War II, giving them much greater range, and was a common weapon of urban combat by both the Axis and the Allies in World War II. It was used also for close air support roles in Korea and Vietnam. It has been widely deployed from the air and from the ground, the largest use being via airdropped bombs in World War II in the incendiary attacks on Japanese cities in 1945. These traits make it effective and controversial. In addition, it burns longer than gasoline, is more easily dispersed, and sticks to its targets. Of immediate first interest was its viability as an incendiary device to be used in fire bombing campaigns during World War II its potential to be coherently projected into a solid stream that would carry for distance (instead of the bloomy fireball of pure gasoline) resulted in widespread adoption in infantry flamethrowers as well. A team led by chemist Louis Fieser originally developed napalm for the US Chemical Warfare Service in 1942 in a secret laboratory at Harvard University. Napalm B is the more modern version of napalm (utilizing polystyrene derivatives) and, although distinctly different in its chemical composition, is often referred to simply as "napalm". The name is a portmanteau of two of the constituents of the original thickening and gelling agents: coprecipitated aluminium salts of naphthenic acid and palmitic acid. ![]() Napalm is an incendiary mixture of a gelling agent and a volatile petrochemical (usually gasoline (petrol) or diesel fuel). North American F-100 Super Sabre deploying napalm in a training exercise
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