Cocktail "Molotov" - the weapon of courageous

Bottles with combustible substances were used as weapons even during the war in Cuba, during which the Latin American island republic in 1895 gained independence from Spain. However, this anti-tank weapon was a simple device during the winter war of 1939-1940.

The overwhelming technical superiority of the Red Army forced the defenders of the Mannerheim Line to reflect on the use of any, sometimes most unexpected items as weapons. It is not known whether the Cuban experience was taken into account, or someone invented the munition again, but the fact remains: to such problems of the advancing Soviet troops as the cold, the marshes that do not freeze under the snow, snipers- "cuckoos", minefields and powerful fortification, Added another - the Molotov cocktail. He received his name in honor of the USSR Foreign Minister, who for the Finns was the personification of the aggressiveness of the policy of the Soviet Union of the late 1930s. In fact, it originally sounded like a "cocktail for Molotov."

The main advantages of the ammunition were its low cost and the availability of materials of manufacture - quality, important for a country with low economic resources and subjected to constant bombing strikes. There was a shortage, very significant. Cocktail "Molotov" was a source of danger for someone who tried to use it. In other words, it was necessary to try not to light yourself. The challenge was also to deliver it to the target, namely the engine bay of the tank. When a combustible substance hits the front armor, the Molotov cocktail was ineffective.

These inconveniences did not become an obstacle for Soviet fighters two years later, when the USSR had to develop its own production of bottles with a combustible mixture. Anti-tank weapons of the Red Army were not enough, so the Molotov cocktail began to arrive at its arsenal in early July 1941. Bottles made from vodka, wine, sieve and beer became containers for liquids "BGS" and "KS". Unlike conventional aviation gasoline, they were sticky and burned, releasing a large amount of smoke, creating a temperature of up to 1000 degrees. What the Molotov cocktail consists of became the prototype of napalm, invented a little later in the US.

Some upgrades were also made to the devices for igniting this projectile. The bottle was lowered with a wick, which should have been ignited before the throw, and to do it correctly, the instructions were glued to the surface of the glass. In addition, all infantry soldiers were trained, during which they were explained in detail tactical methods, security measures and weaknesses of German armored vehicles. So the Molotov cocktail was forced to become a formidable weapon of the Red Army in the first months of the war.

It could be assumed that in the age of nano-technologies, laser sights, anti-tank guided missiles and other sophisticated ultra-precise striking means, the bottles with a combustible mixture became an anachronism, but this did not happen. All the same their advantages, namely - the simplicity of production, accessibility and cheapness, have survived to this day. That's why the Molotov cocktail is still used by those who lack modern weapons to fight a strong opponent. Remained unchanged and the main rule of the application of this simple projectile: it can be effectively used only by those who have the spirit to go to meet a formidable tank with a glass bottle in his hand.