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Liquid Explosive...

V40

V40

Well-Known Member
I remember reading about SOG using an experimental Liquid explosive entitled Astrolight.

Here is what I have found out about Astrolite.: Two bottles named A & B. When mixed together they form an explosive. It, I believe was a by product from rocket fuel deliverly.

Suposedly, you can use it on the ground by pouring both conatainers. Once it was all poured you could then use a blasting cap and insert the cap and set off the. The blast suppodely created an instand fox hole. I also read that it would work even withe ground second My questions are these:

1) Is it still out there being manufactured?
2) Does anybody have the two bottles in their collection/display that I can see them up close?
3) Anybody here have any shots using Astrolite?
4) And finally, I would like to know if any of you guys out there could tell me more information about this explosive. I would greatly appreciate it.
 
Astrolite isn't manufactured anymore. Safer and more economical substitutes were developed.
 
Thanks, John,

You wouldn't by chance, happen to have any more info (Specs and/or documents) yourself would you about Asrtolite? Can you also give me some idea about what would of replaced it?

I was also curious to know about Astrolite when I was told by a SOG Team Memeber and in reading about how SOG would use it to intiate an ambush agisnt with , that you could let it soak into the ground and place a DetCap in the middle and just get a safe distant away and ignite it to go off with just a Claymore Clacker. I also know that its life span in the ground was around 4 Hrs, even in the rain. That is all I know about it. Any more info about it is greatly appreciated!
 
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Anybody else have info about it? I tried "Google" and there was one hit in the 7 pages I looked? Can anybody else give more info on the subject?
 
Yes it was experimented with in VN, but to a very limited tests - it wasn't something that e3vry SpecOps Operator carried around. It is no longer in use as described, but there are a number of other binary explosives on the market.

I destroyed a case of it back in the early 70's, ut not b efore I tried it out ac ouple times. It was not very impressive, also it had a bad habit of reacting with other organic materials and causing a reaction.

I think Palidan Press had a small book on it at one time.

But his explosive, like so many supposed SpecOps items was just an experiment, Rock Island Arsenal history office (when it use to be AMC) lists only 10 cases of it ever being shipped to RVN
 
There is loads of info about it on the web if you google it?! how did you only get 1 hit in 7 pages????????
 
Have a look at this modern version of a 2 pack explosive -
http://www.fixor.com/

Used widely by de-mining groups and EOD teams in areas where conventional HE is hard to source.
 
Charlie,

I really must of missed it. like I said I didn't see anything but one page. I'll check Google once more. Thanks, for setting me straight on this one.

exat808, Thanks for the site. Very interesting to say the least!
 
Astrolite though a great explosive had problems with reacting with other organic materials, which at time could casue a pretty nice chemcial release/explosion. The main problem with it was the hydrazine. This would be in bottle A and mixed with Bottle B that had ammonium nitrate. It wasn't among the first binaries. The hyrdrazine can also be pretty toxic. Not sure about fixor I know that nitromethane is one of the ingredients and assume fine grain AN the second, so if that is correct it is pretty much the same as Kinepak or TexPak, both are pretty standard here in the US. Unlike the other binaries Astrolite would become and stay a liquid, the rest all stay a solid

Astrolie was supose to bea ble to stay together when poured in a hole, but if the soil wasn't pretty much clay if would absorb into the soil and you'd loose alot of the bag. It was dropped from any further military testing around 1973, but was used in industry Explosive Corp of America untl about 1979 or 80.
 
Mike,

The Fixor web site is pretty serious to say that their second component isn't AN. They say it is an inert material, whereas AN is usually considered an oxidizer. That is their big selling point, that their component is "inert", and they seem to be very secretive about what it is.
 
I discovered in my corner of the basement a book on Liquid explosives. Very neat to look at. There were three (if you consider each bottle) types of Astrolite A & B. Then came Astrolite G. The book starts out with the early developement of Astrolite's begining and what they used as chemicals back then. I will have to post some more info on this subject in an hour or two.
 
Here what "Meyer's Explosives" has to say about:

ASTROLITE​
Stochiometric mixture from hydrazine and ammonium nitrate. It was a
spin off from the US-rocket program in the 60’s. Like in 19​
​
​
​
th century
Sprengel (W Sprengel Explosives) already suggested, two non explosive
components become cap sensitive after being mixed. Astrolite
G and Astrolite A/A-1-5 (with 20 % aluminium additive) are called also
“liquid land mine” or “binary explosive”. The explosive strength of such
mixtures is very high (see also W Hydan) and exceeds in certain
aspects even Nitroglycol. Detonation velocity of Astrolite G: 8600 m/s
and Astrolite A/A-1-5: 7800 m/s.


And here Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrolite​
 
Liquid explosives have never been looked at favorably by the US military. Leakage from the ordnance is always a problem after a while, the low density of a liquid will limit the power of the explosive, and, in the case of the astrolite explosives- the hydrazine makes the explosive VERY toxic. Not to mention the economic reasons- hydrazine is not cheap to make, due to it's toxicity.
 
Here two links, one for astrolite that you have sure read, the second for kinepak, a binary explosive that we have tested. Our problem is the transport on airways. Therefor we are looking on binary explosives who are two different product, inert when take apart and then authorized in aircrafts. But it never give a similar effect as C4 or TNT !

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrolite
http://www.havoc.com.au/KinePak_Brochure.pdf

Yoda
 
In the mid 1980s I was a guided weapons instructor at the Army School of Ammo and occasionally helped out the EOD branch on the demolition ground. The EOD branch acquired a liquid explosive that was in spray cans, named Foamex. It was simply squirted from the can onto whatever you needed to use it on, then you placed a detonator into the liquid. The liquid had to be thick enough not to run or, if on a vertical surface a bund had to be improvised to keep it in place. It was best to keep the time from spraying to detonation as short as possible. I think its use for what we then needed was limited. I do not remember from where it was sourced.
 
I've heard of this foaming explosive- it was based on nitromethane, and was intended for humanitarian mine clearance. Foamed nitromethane can be detonated, but it is easier/cheaper to ship than a "real" explosive to a mine-filled country.
 
When I worked for Ensign Bickford we made the foam in a can, as well as an extrudable explosive that looked like a chalk gun. There was some thought the foam expl (called LEXFOAM) would work in the mione clearance arena. There was anotherm call MNX foam, nitromethane based, in 2003 the Army wrote a report on it say 1 can for a AP mine and 2 cams for a AT mine 0 too expensive. The FBI and ATF got involved in it and as the stroey goes, put enough pressure on the manufacture not to market it, thought it would be too great of a terrorist tool. I have 4 or 5 reports on both of these foams. As for Fixor, the patent talks about AN mix with AL and a catalyst, same goes for a explosve called
Tannerite it supposedly is not an oxidizer either but again the patent says AN with AL. So who knows.

Following is a write up on Lexfoam:

http://www.bocn.co.uk/_vti_bin/shtml.dll/mines/contents/26_clear.htm/map
LEXFOAM
Objective
Provide for in-situ explosive neutralization of surface and buried AP and AT mines, using a nonexplosive material that is safe to transport and store and can be mixed on site to form a Class 1 explosive.
Description
Liquid Explosive Foam (LEXFOAM) offers a highly efficient and versatile alternative to conventional high explosive blocks for the demolition of landmines and some unexploded ordnance. Mines are neutralized by spraying the LEXFOAM on the mine and then detonating it from a distance with a standard blasting cap or a detonating cord. LEXFOAM is composed of nitromethane stock solution which is mixed with liquid propane under a blanket of pressurized nitrogen. When this mixture is exposed to the atmosphere, the liquid propane expands to a gas producing a foam with the physical consistency of shaving cream. Prior to foaming, all components are classified as either inert (nitrogen) or as a Class 3 flammable liquid (LEXFOAM stock solution and liquid propane). Only after foaming is a highly effective explosive produced. Another advantage of LEXFOAM is that it makes intimate contact with uneven and rounded surfaces of mines where the use of explosive blocks might not initiate sympathetic detonation. The LEXFOAM system was originally developed as a vehicle and a backpack delivery system. A new effort has been initiated to create a hand portable aerosol can delivery system that is a substantial improvement in weight and cost over the backpack version. The aerosol system consists of one can containing the LEXFOAM stock solution and a second smaller capsule containing liquid propane. In the field, the liquid propane is injected into the LEXFOAM stock solution container. The aerosol delivery system will be tested in December 1998.

Golden West Products International
15233 Ventura Boulevard, Penthouse 8
Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
ATTN: Joseph L. Trocino
Phone: (818) 981-6400 or Fax: (818) 501-6181

 
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