Tough Stuff

The U.S. Army Ordnance Department is getting set to mass-produce an explosive that may prove as shattering as the "new and highly secret" ammunition Great Britain recently put to work (TIME, Nov. 10). Whether in fact the Army's new explosive is identical with the British blaster, the Ordnance Department is not saying, but it does admit that its mysterious new stuff wallops 40% harder than TNT, hitherto the strongest bursting charge in general use.

When the potent new explosive goes into mass production, it will head an impressive list of U.S. military explosives. Chief items: TNT, amatol (a mixture of TNT and ammonium nitrate for artillery shells and aerial bombs), smokeless powder (long in use as a propellant), tetryl (used in shell boosters to provoke the detonation of laggardly TNT or amatol). Least sensitive of all the Ordnance powders is ammonium pictrate, which is used in armor-piercing projectiles because it can wham through steel without going off at first impact.