Fragmentation (weaponry) in the context of Outer Tactical Vest

A bulletproof vest, also known as a ballistic vest or bullet-resistant vest, is a type of body armor designed to absorb impact and prevent the penetration of firearm projectiles and explosion fragments to the torso. The vest can be either soft—as worn by police officers, security personnel, prison guards, and occasionally private citizens to protect against stabbing attacks or light projectiles—or hard, incorporating metallic or para-aramid components. Soldiers and police tactical units typically wear hard armour, either alone or combined with soft armour, to protect against rifle ammunition or fragmentation. Additional protection includes trauma plates for blunt force and ceramic inserts for high-caliber rounds. Bulletproof vests have evolved over centuries, from early designs like those made for knights and military leaders to modern-day versions. Early ballistic protection used materials like cotton and silk, while contemporary vests employ advanced fibers and ceramic plates.

Military vehicles are commonly armoured (or armored; see spelling differences) to withstand the impact of shrapnel, bullets, shells, rockets, and missiles, protecting the personnel inside from enemy fire. Such vehicles include armoured fighting vehicles like tanks, aircraft, and ships.

Civilian vehicles may also be armoured. These vehicles include cars used by officials (e.g., presidential limousines), reporters and others in conflict zones or where violent crime is common. Civilian armoured cars are also routinely used by security firms to carry money or valuables to reduce the risk of highway robbery or the hijacking of the cargo.

A grenade is a small explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade generally consists of an explosive charge ("filler"), a detonator mechanism, an internal striker to trigger the detonator, an arming safety secured by a transport safety. The user removes the transport safety before throwing, and once the grenade leaves the hand the arming safety gets released, allowing the striker to trigger a primer that ignites a fuze (sometimes called the delay element), which burns down to the detonator and explodes the main charge.

Grenades work by dispersing fragments (fragmentation grenades), shockwaves (high-explosive and stun grenades), chemical aerosols (smoke, gas and chemical grenades), fire (incendiary grenades) or a jet of molten metal (anti-tank grenades). Their outer casings, generally made of a hard synthetic material or steel, are designed to rupture and fragment on detonation, sending out numerous fragments (shards and splinters) as fast-flying projectiles. In modern grenades, a pre-formed fragmentation matrix inside the grenade is commonly used, which may be spherical, cuboid, wire or notched wire. Most anti-personnel (AP) grenades are designed to detonate either after a time delay or on impact.

An air burst or airburst is the detonation of an explosive device such as an anti-personnel artillery shell or a nuclear weapon in the air instead of on contact with the ground or target. The principal military advantage of an air burst over a ground burst is that the energy from the explosion, including any shell fragments, is distributed more evenly over a wider area; however, the peak energy is lower at ground zero.

A combat helmet, also called a ballistic helmet, battle helmet, or helmet system (for some modular accessory-centric designs) is a type of helmet designed to serve as a piece of body armor intended to protect the wearer's head during combat.

Helmets designed for warfare are among the earliest types of headgear to be developed and worn by humans, with examples found in several societies worldwide, the earliest of which date as far back as the Bronze Age. Most early combat helmets were designed to protect against close-range strikes, thrown objects, and low-velocity projectiles. By the Middle Ages, helmets that protected the entire head were common elements of plate armor sets. The development of firearms, cannons, and explosive weaponry rendered armor intended to protect against enemy attack largely obsolete, but lightweight helmets remained for identification and basic protection purposes into the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when developments in modern warfare saw a renaissance of combat helmets designed to protect against shrapnel, debris, and some small-caliber firearm munitions. Since the late 20th and early 21st centuries, helmets have evolved to protect against explosion shock waves and provide a mounting point for devices and accessories such as night-vision goggles and communications equipment.

An explosive weapon is a weapon that uses an explosive to project blast and/or fragmentation from a point of detonation.

In the common practice of states, explosive weapons are generally the preserve of the military, for use in situations of armed conflict, and are rarely used for purposes of domestic policing.

An anti-personnel weapon is a weapon primarily used to maim or kill infantry and other personnel not behind armor, as opposed to attacking structures or vehicles, or hunting game. The development of defensive fortification and combat vehicles gave rise to weapons designed specifically to attack them, and thus a need to distinguish between those systems and ones intended to attack people. For instance, an anti-personnel landmine will explode into small and sharp splinters that tear flesh but have little effect on metal surfaces, while anti-tank mines have considerably different design, using much more explosive power to effect damage to armored fighting vehicles, or use explosively formed penetrators to punch through armor plating.

Many modern weapons systems can be employed in different roles. For example, a tank's main gun can fire armor-piercing ammunition in the anti-tank role, high-explosive ammunition in the anti-structure role and fragmentation shells in the anti-personnel role.

A bounding mine is an anti-personnel mine designed to be used in open areas. When it is tripped, a small propelling charge launches the body of the mine 3 to 4 feet (91 to 122 centimetres) into the air, where the main charge detonates and sprays fragmentation at roughly waist height.

The original World War II German S-mine has been widely influential. Other countries that have employed bounding mines in war include the United States, United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, Vietnam and countries of former Yugoslavia. China and Italy have also produced them. Some American mines designed for this purpose used a standard 60 mm HE mortar round with an improvised time delay fuse which is activated by the propelling charge.

Wounded in action (WIA) describes combatants who have been wounded while fighting in a combat zone during wartime, but have not been killed. Typically, it implies that they are temporarily or permanently incapable of bearing arms or continuing to fight. Generally, the Wounded in Action are far more numerous than those killed. Common combat injuries include second and third-degree burns, broken bones, shrapnel wounds, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, nerve damage, paralysis, loss of sight and hearing, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and limb loss.

For the U.S. military, becoming WIA in combat generally results in subsequent conferral of the Purple Heart, because the purpose of the medal itself (one of the highest awards, military or civilian, officially given by the American government) is to recognize those killed, incapacitated, or wounded in battle.

A rifle grenade is a grenade that uses a rifle-based launcher to permit a longer effective range than would be possible if the grenade were thrown by hand.

The practice of projecting grenades with rifle-mounted launchers was first widely used during World War I and World War II and continues to the present, with the term "rifle grenade" now encompassing many different types of payloads including high explosive, fragmentation, anti-tank warheads, concussion, smoke, incendiary, and flare missiles.

Shrapnel shells were anti-personnel artillery munitions that carried many individual bullets close to a target area and then ejected them to allow them to continue along the shell's trajectory and strike targets individually. They relied almost entirely on the shell's velocity for their lethality.

The munition has been obsolete since the end of World War I for anti-personnel use; high-explosive shells superseded it for that role. The functioning and principles behind shrapnel shells are fundamentally different from high-explosive shell fragmentation.