M34 White Phosphorous grenade

M34 White Phosphorous grenade

The M34 white phosphorous grenade is an American bursting smoke / incendiary grenade designed by Rock Island Arsenal in the 1950s to replace the WW2-era M15 WP grenade, with a redesigned casing to prevent it being mistaken for a burning-type smoke grenade and to allow compatibility with M2-type rifle grenade launchers. The M34 produces a dense, IR-blocking white smokescreen that lasts for approximately 60 seconds.

The pre-scored casing has a far superior bursting radius of 35 metres compared to the 17 of the M15: unfortunately this is actually larger than the 30 metres the average soldier can throw it by hand, making it very dangerous if the thrower cannot retreat to cover before the 4-5 second fuze burns down.

Most existing M34s were manufactured prior to the adoption of NATO STANAG 2321 (which standardised ammunition color coding for rounds larger than 20mm) and have white bodies: those manufactured afterwards are green (indicating a smoke / marker round). As of the September 2000 version of FM 3-23.30 ("grenades and pyrotechnic signals") the M34 was listed as obsolete.

The M34 White Phosphorous grenade appears in the following films being used by the following actors:

Film

Title	Actor	Character	Note	Date
Elysium	Matt Damon	Max De Costa	Depicted as a futuristic high-explosive grenade	2013
We Were Soldiers		NVA soldier		2002
Platoon	Tom Berenger	SSgt. Robert Barnes		1986
Platoon	Robert "Rock" Galotti	Huffmeister		1986
Commander Hamilton		PLO fighter		1998

Video Games

Title	As	Character	Note	Date
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots		Old Snake		2008
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames		Mercenaries		2008
Call of Duty: Black Ops	Willy Pete			2010
War Inc. Battlezone				2010
Battlefield 4	M34 Incendiary			2013