The military use of flamethrowers is restricted through the Protocol on Incendiary Weapons.Īpart from the military applications, flamethrowers have peacetime applications where there is a need for controlled burning, such as in sugarcane harvesting and other land-management tasks. Most military flamethrowers use liquid fuel, typically either gasoline or diesel, but commercial flamethrowers are generally blowtorches using gaseous fuels such as propane gases are safer in peacetime applications, because their flames have less mass flow rate and dissipate faster, and often are easier to extinguish when necessary. First deployed by the Byzantine Empire in the 7th century AD, flamethrowers saw use in modern times during World War I, and more widely in World War II as a tactical weapon against fortifications.
Marine firing a flamethrower during the Vietnam War United States Marines demonstrating flamethrower usage (2012)Ī flamethrower is a ranged incendiary device designed to project a controllable jet of fire.
A Type 93 flamethrower used by the Imperial Japanese Army, drawing made for the US Military Intelligence Service A U.S.
