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6.5.5 Blast Weapons. Blast weapons rely upon the pressure wave caused by anexplosion, rather than fragmentation, to cause damage to objects and injury to enemy militarypersonnel. Inflicting blast injury is not prohibited by the law of war. 906.5.6 Fragmentation Weapons. Some munitions operate by projecting a large number offragments or projectiles on detonation. Such weapons may include fragmenting artillery shells,the Claymore munition, “grape shot,” grenades, flechettes, 91 and shotgun buckshot. 92The fragments or projectiles in such weapons must be detectable by X-rays. 93 However,the use of multiple fragments or projectiles to injure enemy personnel is not prohibited by thelaw of war. 94 The fact that enemy military personnel in the path of fragment dispersion arelikely to suffer multiple wounds does not render the weapon unlawful. Multiple fragments maybe necessary to increase the probability of incapacitating enemy combatants.6.5.7 Depleted Uranium Munitions. Depleted uranium (DU) is used in some munitionsbecause its density and physical properties create a particularly effective penetrating combinationto defeat enemy armored vehicles, including tanks. 9590 W. Hays Parks, Special Assistant to The Judge Advocate General, U.S. Army, Memorandum re: 40mmThermobaric Munition; Legal Review, Apr. 2, 2003 (“Blast is and has been an inherent part of high explosivemunitions, and combatants have died solely from the blast effects of conventional HE munitions. Pioneers, sappersand combat engineers engaged in tunneling operations under enemy lines in the American Civil War, World War I,and Korea employed substantial amounts of high explosives. Enemy personnel above the detonation became blastcasualties. Artillery barrages generally will produce a number of enemy casualties, including fatalities, from blastalone, as will heavy aerial bombardment.”).91 See SPAIGHT, AIR POWER AND WAR RIGHTS 201 (1947) (“Reference has been made above to flêchettes and it isdesirable to explain what these were. They were small arrows of steel which were dropped in bundles of fifty at atime from aeroplanes upon ground targets or observation balloons. They were used on both the Allies’ and theGerman sides, but were originally an Italian invention, having been first used in Tripoli in 1911-12.”). See also W.Hays Parks, Conventional Weapons and Weapons Reviews, 8 YEARBOOK OF INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW55, 81 (2005) (“Flechettes are steel darts of varying sizes fired at high velocities in large quantities in munitions assmall as a shotgun shell to as large as a 90mm tank round, 105mm artillery round and 106mm recoilless rifle round,enabling a uniform dispersion of flechettes to increase the probability of wounding enemy combatants within theirpath. These munitions had proved particularly effective as a close-range final defensive fire against massedattacking forces.”).92 Refer to § 6.5.4.2 (Shotguns).93 Refer to § 6.11 (Weapons Injuring by Fragments Not Detectable by X-Rays).94 1976 AIR FORCE PAMPHLET 110-31 6-6b (“Where a military purpose is apparent and suffering is incidental to themilitary necessities involved, the use of explosives and fragmentation particles such as those contained inprojectiles, mines, bombs, rockets, missiles and hand grenades is not prohibited under the law of armed conflict.This result is confirmed by an extensive practice of nations in using such weapons during periods of armed conflictin the 20th Century and previously.”).95 Col. James Naughton, Army Materiel Command, Special Department of Defense Briefing: Update on DepletedUranium (Mar. 14, 2003) (“[T]he depleted uranium is a material that has a characteristic that allows it to sharpenitself as it penetrates the target. The uranium shreds off the sides of the penetrator instead of squashing ormushrooming. If you look at the lower picture, which is what happens with tungsten, the tungsten mushrooms. Theresult is the depleted uranium will penetrate more armor of a given character and type at a given range than tungstenwill, no matter how we design the penetrators.”).327