Almost all the common explosives listed here were mixtures of several common components:
This is only a partial list; there were many others. Many of these compositions are now obsolete and only encountered in legacy munitions and unexploded ordnance.
| Name | Composition | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amatol | Ammonium nitrate and TNT | Extensively used in bombs, shells, depth charges and naval mines | |
| Baronal | Barium nitrate, TNT and powdered aluminium | ||
| Baratol | Barium nitrate and TNT | Used in British hand grenades. Also used as the low velocity explosive lens in the implosion type nuclear weapon, Fat Man | |
| Composition A | |||
| Composition B | Used as the high velocity explosive lens in the implosion type nuclear weapon, Fat Man | ||
| Composition H6 | 45% RDX, 30% TNT, 20% powdered aluminium and 5% wax | Replaced Torpex for use in naval applications. | |
| DBX (Depth Bomb Explosive) | 21% RDX, 21% ammonium nitrate, 40% TNT, 18% powdered aluminium | An alternative for Torpex, that used less of the strategic material RDX | |
| Minol | 40% TNT, 40% ammonium nitrate and 20% powdered aluminium (Minol-2) | Developed by the British Royal Navy and used in torpedoes, depth charges and naval mines. Unsuitable for shells because of a risk of detonation if subjected to very high accelerations. | |
| Octol | 75% HMX (cyclotetramethylene-tetranitramine) and 25% TNT | Still in use | |
| Pentolites | 50% PETN and 50% TNT | ||
| Picratol | 52% ammonium picrate and 48% TNT | Used in armour-piercing shells and bombs as insensitive to shock | |
| PIPE | |||
| PTX-1 | 30% RDX, 50% tetryl and 20% TNT | ||
| PTX-2 | 41-44% RDX, 26-28% PETN and 28-33% TNT | ||
| PVA-4 | |||
| RIPE | 85% RDX and 15% oil | ||
| Tetrytols | 70% Tetryl and 30% TNT | ||
| Torpex | 42% RDX, 40% TNT and 18% powdered aluminium | Developed for use in torpedoes, it was especially effective at producing destructive, underwater explosions. | |
| Trialen 105 | 15% RDX, 70% TNT and 15% powdered aluminium | Used by the Luftwaffe | |
| Explosive “D” | Ammonium picrate | US Army/Navy | |
| Type 91 Explosive | Trinitroanisol (TNA) | Japanese Army/Navy |
Two nuclear explosives, containing mixtures of uranium and plutonium, respectively, were also used at the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki