– It’s not a common thing, because it’s not that simple. The igniter is screwed in and should not come out during flight. It’s hard to say what’s going on – Lieutenant Commander Maksymilian Dura said on TVN24. He commented on Thursday’s announcement about the loss of one of the missiles by the military.
During a helicopter flight near the Polish-Belarusian border, the military lost the detonator of one of the missiles – informed the General Command of the Armed Forces Branches on Thursday.
Dura: It’s not a common thing because it’s not that simple.
Lieutenant Commander Maksymilian Dura, Defence24 portal expert, former head of the department in the Command and Communications Directorate of the Naval Staff spoke on TVN24 about the missing fuse.
– It’s not a common thing, because it’s not that simple. It’s not like this fuse is attached, it is screwed in. There are so many circles that spin. This is indeed a strange situation. Of course, it can happen, because there are all kinds of vibrations during the flight, but these fuses should be attached to the projectiles in such a way that they should not unscrew during the flight. They twisted out, apparently something happened, there was some damage, it’s hard to say what it is about – he said.
He noted that “the unguided missiles that Polish helicopters are equipped with are quite old.” – There may have been some damage or oversight of the technical staff. All possibilities are acceptable, so you have to check everything so that such accidents simply do not happen, because it is dangerous – emphasized the TVN24 guest.
Dura: This detonator’s job is to be dangerous
He explained how this type of projectile is constructed. – This is a rocket engine, then there is the explosive charge, the main one, which is not sensitive, and the sensitization of this charge is done by this fuse, which is screwed into the front of the missile. It is screwed in and this causes this very sensitive fuse to move and excite this main material. The effect is that there is an explosion, he explained.
In his opinion, “saying that it is not dangerous is quite strange, because the purpose of this detonator, the task of this excitation element, is to be dangerous.” – This means that when it hits an obstacle, this fuse should activate what is at the back of the projectile, i.e. what is the greatest threat – he pointed out.
Dura also told you what to do if you find a fuse. – It’s best not to touch, it’s best to call. It’s small, it’s the size of a fist, a few dozen decagrams of weight. It looks like a cone, and at the end, and behind that cone, there’s a kind of screw that’s screwed in. And you have to beware of it. You must not approach it, you must not touch it, because it may be damaged when it falls to the ground. It’s best to call 112, notify the services and they will deal with it – he said.
Main photo source: Twitter@DGeneralneRSZ