Shaped charge (Munroe effect)
Carga hueca (efecto Munroe)
- Date
- 1888 (efecto Munroe) / 1940 (uso militar) · confidence high
- Place
- Newport, Rhode Island, United States
- Credited to
- Charles Munroe and Max von Foerster; Henry Mohaupt and Franz Thomanek (military development)
- Field
- Conflict
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
An explosive charge with a metal-lined conical cavity that focuses the detonation energy into a jet able to pierce steel armour. Its first notable military use was the capture of the Belgian fort Eben-Emael (May 1940).
The effect was observed by Von Foerster in Germany in 1883 and Munroe in the US in 1888; the earliest mention of hollow charges dates to 1792 (Von Baader, mining), and the metal liner was applied in the 1930s (Mohaupt, Thomanek).
What it led to
- HEAT anti-tank ammunition and the bazooka
- munitions against bunkers and armour
- perforating charges in the oil industry