Warhead

A warhead is the explosive or other destructive payload carried by a missile, torpedo, or similar weapon. Its design determines how the weapon damages its target.

High explosive: An energetic material that rapidly releases heat and pressure through detonation. Many warheads use high explosives to produce blast, fragmentation, or shaped-charge effects.
Blast warhead: A warhead designed primarily to damage targets through explosive pressure and blast effects. It concentrates the payload's effect in the pressure wave produced by detonation.
Nuclear weapon: A weapon that releases energy through nuclear fission, fusion, or both. A nuclear warhead carries a nuclear explosive payload on a delivery system.
Collateral damage: Unintended damage to civilians or civilian objects during an attack on a military target. Blast, fragments, and payload spread can harm people beyond the intended target.
Detonation: A supersonic reaction wave that propagates through an explosive and releases energy. Detonation is the rapid energy release behind conventional explosive warhead effects.
Fragmentation warhead: A warhead designed to disperse casing fragments or preformed projectiles at high speed. Its damage comes chiefly from high-velocity fragments rather than blast alone.
Chemical weapon: A weapon that uses toxic chemicals to injure or kill people or animals. Chemical payloads can be delivered by munitions designed to disperse toxic agents.
Unexploded ordnance: Munitions that failed to detonate but remain capable of exploding later. A warhead that does not function as intended can remain a hazard after an attack.
Fuze: A device that initiates a munition's explosive function under specified conditions. Fuzing determines when a warhead's payload functions, such as on impact or after delay.
Shaped charge: An explosive charge shaped to focus energy into a fast, penetrating jet of material. It directs explosive energy toward armor penetration instead of distributing it broadly.

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