Energetic Materials

9th century · about 1,200 years ago

Taoist alchemists in China discovered gunpowder while seeking an elixir of immortality

Experimenting with mineral mixtures, alchemists produced a formulation of saltpetre, sulphur and charcoal that burned explosively, the origin of gunpowder and of explosives as a human technology.

1044 · 982 years ago

The military compendium Wujing Zongyao recorded the earliest known written gunpowder formula

The Song dynasty text recorded the earliest known written formula for gunpowder alongside descriptions of early incendiary and explosive weapons, fixing the technology's existence in the historical record.

c. 1232 · about 800 years ago

Jin dynasty defenders at Kaifeng used early gunpowder bombs and fire lances against Mongol besiegers

Defenders deployed early gunpowder bombs and fire lances against Mongol besiegers, among the first well-documented battlefield uses of explosive weapons in Chinese warfare.

c. 1270 · about 750 years ago

Hasan al-Rammah systematised gunpowder recipes in a Syrian military treatise

The Syrian engineer compiled a treatise on gunpowder recipes, purification of saltpetre and military applications, spreading and refining knowledge that had reached the Islamic world from China.

1846 · 180 years ago

Ascanio Sobrero discovered nitroglycerin

The Italian chemist synthesised an extremely powerful but dangerously unstable liquid explosive, laying the chemical groundwork that Alfred Nobel later built on to create dynamite.

1863 · 163 years ago

Julius Wilbrand first synthesised trinitrotoluene

The German chemist's compound was initially valued only as a yellow dye; its usefulness as a comparatively insensitive, easily cast military explosive was recognised only in the following decades.

1867 · 159 years ago

Alfred Nobel invented dynamite by stabilising nitroglycerin

Nobel combined unstable liquid nitroglycerin with an absorbent mineral to create a solid, far safer explosive that could be manufactured, transported and used at industrial scale, transforming mining and construction.

• Nobel's fortune from explosives later endowed the Nobel Prizes

1899 · 127 years ago

A German chemist first prepared RDX, later one of the most widely used military explosives

Cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine was initially patented for medicinal use; its far greater power than TNT was recognised only later, and it became a standard military explosive across the 20th century and beyond.

1945 · 81 years ago

Manhattan Project scientists developed precision explosive lenses for implosion-type nuclear weapons

Scientists developed precisely shaped conventional explosive charges able to compress a plutonium core symmetrically inward, a breakthrough in explosive engineering that made the implosion-type bomb tested at Trinity possible.

1987 · 39 years ago

Researchers at the US Naval Air Warfare Center synthesised CL-20, the most energetic explosive then known

The nitramine compound offered greater energy density than any other explosive in military use, though its cost and sensitivity have since limited it mainly to specialist propellant and warhead applications.

April 2026 · 4 months ago

South Korean munitions makers scaled up artillery propellant and shell production for export

Hanwha and other domestic firms expanded explosive filling and propellant manufacturing lines to meet sustained export orders from Poland and other European buyers restocking depleted artillery ammunition stocks.

• Domestic propellant suppliers added new production lines

March 2026 · 5 months ago

North Korea conducted further tests of large-diameter solid rocket motor technology

Continued testing pointed to incremental refinement of solid-fuel propellant formulations for longer-range missile systems, extending a shift away from liquid-fuelled designs that began with earlier Hwasong-series tests.

February 2026 · 6 months ago

India's Defence Research and Development Organisation advanced insensitive munitions formulations for the Pinaka rocket system

New propellant and warhead fill formulations aimed to reduce the risk of accidental detonation during storage and transport, part of a wider Indian effort to bring domestic munitions closer to international insensitive-munitions standards.

January 2026 · 7 months ago

The European Union continued funding joint expansion of ammunition and propellant production capacity

Support under the bloc's joint ammunition production programme continued to fund new propellant and explosive filling lines across member states, part of a multi-year effort to lift artillery shell output well above pre-2022 levels.

December 2025 · 8 months ago

Turkey's state-owned Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation expanded explosives and ammunition production capacity

New and upgraded filling lines increased output of artillery and small-arms ammunition, supporting both domestic rearmament and a growing export order book among Turkey's regional partners.

November 2025 · 9 months ago

Russian forces continued using thermobaric munitions in Ukraine

Heavy flame and thermobaric rocket systems remained in regular use against fortified positions, drawing continued documentation by monitoring groups of the weapons' blast and fuel-air effects in urban and trench warfare.

• Ukrainian air defence units prioritised intercepting thermobaric-armed rocket launchers

October 2025 · 10 months ago

The US military continued fielding insensitive munition formulations across legacy stockpiles

Replacement of older TNT and Composition B fills with less shock-sensitive explosive formulations continued across artillery and mortar stocks, part of a decades-long safety programme accelerated by renewed stockpile turnover.

2025 · last year

Chinese research institutes continued state-backed investment in novel high-energy-density materials

Reported funding supported ongoing research into next-generation energetic compounds, part of a broader national effort to build materials research capacity relevant to both propellants and industrial explosives.

• Peer researchers abroad noted the work remained largely at laboratory scale

Mid-2025 · last year

Orica advanced electronic detonator systems for precision mining blasts

The Australian explosives group expanded deployment of digitally controlled detonators allowing more precisely timed blasts, improving fragmentation control and reducing vibration at mine sites across several continents.

2024 · 2 years ago

Iran continued developing solid-propellant short-range missile systems for regional partners

Continued transfer and local production of solid-fuel rocket and missile technology to allied and proxy forces in the region extended a long-running pattern of propellant and warhead technology sharing.