OP-2 (thickener)

OP-2 (ОП-2), or Ionov's salt, indicated on the package as Н. А., is a chemical substance used as a thickener.[1][2] Due to the same orders as the initials of its name, OP-2 was, for a long time, interpreted as being the opalm, a "hybrid" swiss thickener.[3]

Effect

Contact with the lit material causes deep burns, due to the retarding effect of the thickener on the fuel and due to the greater thermal conduction given by the salt. It is an incendiary agent with anti-personnel and limited anti-material effect. It is used as a defoliant to deprive enemy personnel of cover and camouflage.[4]

Use

The use of the OP-2 is identical to that of napalm, being used extensively by any projector of incendiary material. The employment concentration is identical to that of napalm.[5]

It is a precursor used to obtain incendiary weapons. It was employed by the Soviet Union during the early part of World War II to prepare flamethrower fuel (ROKS-3 and LPO-50),[6] molotov cocktail[7] and general incendiary weaponry.[8] It continues to be employed by the Russian army. For example, it is used to prepare the AP-10, which fills the ZB-500 incendiary shell.[4]

Composition

The principle of a viscous incendiary weapon was first realized in the early Middle Ages in the form of Greek fire. In modern times, the first tests were carried out during the first world war in the form of solidified oil, developed by CWS.[9] Gasoline and rubber mixtures were tested post-war and during the early stages of WWII. Rubber shortages, caused by the territorial expansion of imperial Japan, forced it to be replaced by synthetic materials.

During the early stages of the WWII, A. P. Ionov and Piotr Alexandrovich Rehbinder, in 1939, specialized aluminum naphthenate to be inserted into fuels in order to thicken them.[10]

After Pearl Harbor, the CWS began hiring personal to investigate a natural rubber substitute in the US. The end result of the investigation was an aluminum soap that specialized in thickening fine fuels.[11]

References
  1. "Дымовые и огнеметно–зажигательные средства". rufort.info. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  2. Зажигательные средства дыма и огнеметы. А. Белоусов. pp 174-176.
  3. Bochsler, Regula. "Napalm from the Alps: How the Swiss developed a lethal incendiary agent". SWI swissinfo.ch. Retrieved 2023-01-28.
  4. "ЗБ-500". www.airwar.ru. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  5. Федосеев, Семен; Ардашев, Алексей (2022-04-16). Огнеметные танки и ручные огнеметы в бою (in Russian). Litres. ISBN 978-5-457-58982-7.
  6. "Огнем, водой и деревянными пулями: испытания советской винтовки-огнемета". kalashnikov.media (in Russian). Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  7. Tov_sergeantwrote, Tov_sergeant Tov_sergeant. "ПРО КОКТЕЙЛЬ МОЛОТОВА". tov-sergeant.livejournal.com. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  8. Михаил Барятинский. Т-54 и Т-55. «Танк-солдат»: TO-54
  9. AMOS A. FRIES and CLARENCE J. WEST. CHEMICAL WARFARE.New York: McGraw-Hill, 1921.
  10. Soviet Work on Solidified Fuels: B. I. Losev; Solid Gasoline. Priroda, Vol 47, No 9.
  11. "Napalm, An American Biography". Napalm, An American Biography. Retrieved 2022-10-28.

Works cited
  • A, N, Ardashev. (2009). Зажигательное и огнеметное оружие. ISBN 978-5-699-33627-2


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