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M18 smoke grenade
The M18 smoke grenade or AN/M18 was a colored smoke grenade introduced in late WW2 as a replacement for the M16 smoke grenade. During WW2, the M16 and M18 were visually identical, with yellow marking on a grey body. The M16 was later phased out, and the M18's body was updated to a white on green body.
The M18 smoke grenade is a burning-type smoke grenade that produces a cloud of colored smoke lasting 50-90 seconds with an average of 60 (the M16 burns for 2 and a half minutes instead). It is used primarily for signaling and as a marker for landing zones or air or artillery strikes, though it can also be used to produce obscurant smoke (less efficiently than the dedicated AN/M8 HC smoke grenade), and is also used as a substitute for chemical weapons in infantry training.
The M16 smoke grenade was available in green, yellow, red, violet (sometimes mistakenly referred to as purple), blue, orange and black. The M18 eliminated the blue, orange and black variants. The smoke formula is the same type used in the M713, M715 and M716 40mm grenade rounds, being mostly a reaction of potassium chlorate with a fuel to disperse smoke loaded with a chemical dye. At some point in the late 80s or early 90s the smoke formula was changed to use sugar instead of sulfur as a fuel for safety, along with changing the composition of the dyes. It was quickly found that the new violet formulation was extremely toxic, and the color was phased out until a new non-toxic violet was developed in the mid 2000s
NOTE: The M18 smoke grenade only produces colored smoke. If a smoke grenade releases white or grey smoke, it would in real life be an AN/M8 HC smoke grenade or M83 smoke grenade, though since in media the smoke is seldom the product of a live grenade being used (as military smoke is toxic) this is not necessarily proof of ID.
The M18 smoke grenade appears in the following films and video games used by the following actors:
Film
| Title | Actor | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 Million Ways to Die | Jeff Bridges | Matt Scudder | 1986 | |
| Full Metal Jacket | U.S. Marines | 1987 | ||
| Iron Eagle II | Jason Blicker | Technical Sergeant Hickman | 1988 | |
| Forrest Gump | Tom Hanks | Forrest Gump | 1994 | |
| Forrest Gump | U.S. Army soldiers | 1994 | ||
| Léon (The Professional) | NYPD ESU officers | 1994 | ||
| Operation Dumbo Drop | Corin Nemec | Specialist Lawrence Farley | 1995 | |
| Se7en | John C. McGinley | Officer California | 1995 | |
| Se7en | SWAT officers | 1995 | ||
| Courage Under Fire | Seth Gilliam | Sergeant Steven Altemeyer | 1996 | |
| Courage Under Fire | Matt Damon | Specialist Ilario | 1996 | |
| The Rock | Rogue Marine | Inaccurately portrayed as High-Explosive grenade | 1996 | |
| Rules of Engagement | Samuel L. Jackson | Lt. Terry Childers | 2000 | |
| Rules of Engagement | U.S. Marines | 2000 | ||
| We Were Soldiers | Jsu Garcia | Captain Tony Nadal | 2002 | |
| S.W.A.T. | Jeremy Renner | Brian Gamble | 2003 | |
| S.W.A.T. | Gang members | 2003 | ||
| Tears of the Sun | U.S. Navy SEALs | 2003 | ||
| Basic | Cristián de la Fuente | Castro | 2003 | |
| Tropic Thunder | Ben Stiller | Tugg Speedman | 2008 | |
| The Objective | Sam Hunter | SGT Tim Cole | 2009 | |
| Battle: Los Angeles | Will Rothhaar | Cpl. Lee Imlay | 2011 | |
| Battleground | Seen in The Hunter's stockpile | 2012 |
Video Games
| Game Title | Appears as | Mods | Notation | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return to Castle Wolfenstein | MP only | 2001 | ||
| Conflict: Desert Storm | 2002 | |||
| America's Army | With green smoke | Non-playable | 2002 | |
| Medal of Honor: Frontline | 2002 | |||
| IGI 2: Covert Strike | 2003 | |||
| Postal 2 | "Stun Grenade" | Behaves like a flash grenade | 2003 | |
| Call of Duty: United Offensive | 2004 | |||
| Call of Duty 2 | 2005 | |||
| Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood | 2005 | |||
| Call of Duty 3 | 2006 | |||
| Kane and Lynch: Dead Men | 2007 | |||
| Rainbow Six: Vegas | 2006 | |||
| Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 | 2008 | |||
| Battlefield 2 | With purple and orange smoke | non-playable | 2005 | |
| Project Reality | With purple, yellow, green, orange, blue, and red smoke | 2005 | ||
| Darkest Hour: Europe '44-'45 | With Red, White and Purple | 2006 | ||
| Alliance of Valiant Arms | With purple, yellow, red, or blue smoke | 2007 | ||
| Insurgency: Modern Infantry Combat | With purple, blue, red, black and gray smoke | 2007 | ||
| Combat Arms | "SA-18" | Used to mark artillery strike location | 2008 | |
| Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots | White smoke and yellow, green, blue and red "emotion" grenades | 2008 | ||
| Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising | 2009 | |||
| 1968 Tunnel Rats (VG) | 2009 | |||
| Delta Force: Xtreme 2 | 2010 | |||
| Medal of Honor (2010) | M18 | multiplayer only | 2010 | |
| Bodycount | Grenade | Impact and timer modes | HE grenades based on M18 | 2011 |
| Vietcong 2 | 2005 | |||
| Elite Warriors Vietnam | 2005 | |||
| Dead Island | 2011 | |||
| War Inc. Battlezone | 2011 | |||
| Project Reality: Falklands | 2012 | |||
| Project Reality: Vietnam | As the "AN/M18 smoke grenade" | With purple & orange smoke | 2012 | |
| Jagged Alliance: Back in Action | 2012 | |||
| Arctic Combat | 2012 | |||
| Project Reality: Normandy | As the "AN/M18 smoke grenade" | 2013 | ||
| Rainbow Six: Siege | 2015 | |||
| Squad | Blue, white and red smoke | 2015 | ||
| Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades | Red, Red white and blue variants | 2016 | ||
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered | 2016 | |||
| Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex First Assault | "Smokebomb" | Futuristic model, previously available to purchase before being moved to Specialist characters with the "Renewal" update | 2015 | |
| Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 | 2017 | |||
| Call of Duty: WWII | 2017 | |||
| Ironsight | Smoke Grenade | Fictional M19 model | 2018 | |
| Battlefield V | 2018 | |||
| World War 3 | Smoke Grenade | 2018 | ||
| Ring of Elysium | 2018 | |||
| Sniper: Ghost Warrior Contracts | 2019 |
Television
| Show Title / Episode | Actor | Character | Note | Air Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tour of Duty | US Army soldiers | 1987-1990 | ||
| Band of Brothers | Damian Lewis | Lt. Richard "Dick" Winters | Repainted to look like a period-correct M16 | 2001 |
| True Detective | Mahershala Ali | Det. Wayne Hays | 2019 |