The H (or SE) variant is intended for explosion hardening. ==History== Semtex was invented in the late 1950s by Stanislav Brebera and Radim Fukátko, chemists at VCHZ Synthesia, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic).
The explosive is named after Semtín, a suburb of Pardubice where the mixture was first manufactured starting in 1964.
However, the main consumer was Libya; about 700 tons of Semtex were exported to Libya between 1975 and 1981 by Omnipol.
However, the main consumer was Libya; about 700 tons of Semtex were exported to Libya between 1975 and 1981 by Omnipol.
On December 21, 1988, 12 ounces (340g) of Semtex brought down a Boeing 747 over Lockerbie, Scotland killing all 259 passengers and crew aboard the aircraft and 11 bystanders on the ground. Also in response to international agreements, Semtex has a detection taggant added to produce a distinctive vapor signature to aid detection.
Batches of Semtex made before 1990, however, are untagged, though it is not known whether there are still major stocks of such old batches of Semtex.
The shelf life of Semtex was reduced from ten years before the 1990s to five years now.
According to the manufacturer, the taggant agent was voluntarily being added by 1991, years before the protocol became compulsory.
Explosia states that there is no compulsory tagging allowing reliable post-detonation detection of a certain plastic explosive (such as incorporating a unique metallic code into the mass of the explosive), so Semtex is not tagged in this way. On 25 May 1997, Bohumil Šole, a scientist who claimed to have been involved with inventing Semtex, committed suicide at a spa in Jeseník by blowing himself up with explosives.
Rules governing the explosive's exportation were progressively tightened over the years, and since 2002 all of Explosia's trading has been controlled by a government ministry.
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Page generated on 2021-08-05