Настольная книга террориста

6.21 BASIC PIPE CANNON

A simple cannon can be made from a thick pipe by almost anyone. The only difficult part is finding a pipe that is extremely smooth on its interior. This is absolutely necessary; otherwise, the projectile may jam. Copper or aluminum piping is usually smooth enough, but it must also be extremely thick to withstand the pressure developed by the expanding hot gasses in a cannon. If one uses a projectile such as a CO2 cartridge, since such a projectile can be made to explode, a pipe that is about 1.5 - 2 feet long is ideal. Such a pipe MUST have walls that are at least 1/3 to 1/2 an inch thick, and be very smooth on the interior. If possible, screw an endplug into the pipe. Otherwise, the pipe must be crimped and folded closed, without cracking or tearing the pipe. A small hole is drilled in the back of the pipe near the crimp or endplug. Then, all that need be done is fill the pipe with about two teaspoons of grade blackpowder or pyrodex, insert a fuse, pack it lightly by ramming a wad of tissue paper down the barrel, and drop in a CO2 cartridge. Brace the cannon securely against a strong structure, light the fuse, and run. If the person is lucky, he will not have overcharged the cannon, and he will not be hit by pieces of exploding barrel. Such a cannon would look like this:

__________________ fuse hole

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V

____________________________________________________________ | |________________________________________________________| | endplug|powder|t.p.| CO2 cartridge | ______|______|____|______________________________________ |_|_________________________________________________________|

An exploding projectile can be made for this type of cannon with a CO2 cartridge. It is relatively simple to do. Just make a crater maker, and construct it such that the fuse projects about an inch from the end of the cartridge. Then, wrap the fuse with duct tape, covering it entirely, except for a small amount at the end. Put this in the pipe cannon without using a tissue paper packing wad. When the cannon is fired, it will ignite the end of the fuse, and shoot the CO2 cartridge. The explosive-filled cartridge will explode in about three seconds, if all goes well. Such a projectile would look like this:

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/

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| C |

| M |

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| /|

| | | ---- tape

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| ------ fuse

6.22 ROCKET FIRING CANNON

A rocket firing cannon can be made exactly like a normal cannon; the only difference is the ammunition. A rocket fired from a cannon will fly further than a rocket alone, since the action of shooting it overcomes the initial inertia. A rocket that is launched when it is moving will go further than one that is launched when it is stationary. Such a rocket would resemble a normal rocket bomb, except it would have no fins. It would look like this:

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| C |

| M |

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|___|

| E |

| N |

| G |

| I |

| N |

| E |

|___|

The fuse on such a device would, obviously, be short, but it would not be ignited until the rocket's ejection charge exploded. Thus, the delay before the ejection charge, in effect, becomes the delay before the bomb explodes. Note that no fuse need be put in the rocket; the burning powder in the cannon will ignite it, and simultaneously push the rocket out of the cannon at a high velocity.

7.0 PYROTECHNICA ERRATA

There are many other types of pyrotechnics that a perpetrator of violence might employ. Smoke bombs can be purchased in magic stores, and large military smoke bombs can be bought through adds in gun and military magazines. Also, fireworks can also be used as weapons of terror. A large aerial display rocket would cause many injuries if it were to be fired so that it landed on the ground near a crowd of people. Even the "harmless" pull-string fireworks, which consists of a sort of firecracker that explodes when the strings running through it are pulled, could be placed inside a large charge of a sensitive high explosive. Tear gas is another material that might well be useful to the sociopath, and such a material could be instantly disseminated over a large crowd by means of a rocket-bomb, with nasty effects.

7.1 SMOKE BOMBS

One type of pyrotechnic device that might be employed by a terrorist in many way would be a smoke bomb. Such a device could conceal the getaway route, or cause a diversion, or simply provide cover. Such a device, were it to produce enough smoke that smelled bad enough, could force the evacuation of a building, for example. Smoke bombs are not difficult to make. Although the military smoke bombs employ powdered white phosphorus or titanium compounds, such materials are usually unavailable to even the most wellequipped terrorist. Instead, he/she would have to make the smoke bomb for themselves.

Most homemade smoke bombs usually employ some type of base powder, such as black powder or pyrodex, to support combustion. The base material will burn well, and provide heat to cause the other materials in the device to burn, but not completely or cleanly. Table sugar, mixed with sulfur and a base material, produces large amounts of smoke. Sawdust, especially if it has a small amount of oil in it, and a base powder works well also. Other excellent smoke ingredients are small pieces of rubber, finely ground plastics, and many chemical mixtures. The material in road flares can be mixed with sugar and sulfur and a base powder produces much smoke. Most of the fuel-oxodizer mixtures, if the ratio is not correct, produce much smoke when added to a base powder. The list of possibilities goes on and on. The trick to a successful smoke bomb also lies in the container used. A plastic cylinder works well, and contributes to the smoke produced. The hole in the smoke bomb where the fuse enters must be large enough to allow the material to burn without causing an explosion. This is another plus for plastic containers, since they will melt and burn when the smoke material ignites, producing an opening large enough to prevent an explosion.

7.2 COLORED FLAMES

Colored flames can often be used as a signaling device for terrorists. by putting a ball of colored flame material in a rocket; the rocket, when the ejection charge fires, will send out a burning colored ball. The materials that produce the different colors of flames appear below.

COLOR MATERIAL USED IN ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ______________________________________________________________ red strontium road flares,

salts red sparklers

(strontium nitrate) ______________________________________________________________ green barium salts green sparklers

(barium nitrate) ______________________________________________________________ yellow sodium salts gold sparklers

(sodium nitrate) ______________________________________________________________ blue powdered copper blue sparklers,

old pennies ______________________________________________________________ white powdered magnesium firestarters,

or aluminum aluminum foil ______________________________________________________________ purple potassium permanganate purple fountains,

treating sewage ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 7.3 TEAR GAS

A terrorist who could make tear gas or some similar compound could use it with ease against a large number of people. Tear gas is fairly complicated to make, however, and this prevents such individuals from being able to utilize its great potential for harm. One method for its preparation is shown below.

EQUIPMENT

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1. ring stands (2)

2. alcohol burner

3. erlenmeyer flask, 300 ml

4. clamps (2)

5. rubber stopper

6. glass tubing

7. clamp holder