M2 flamethrower

M2 Flamethrower
A soldier from the 33rd Infantry Division uses an M2 flamethrower.
Type	Flamethrower
Place of origin	United States
Service history
In service	1943–1978
Used by	See Users
Wars	World War II Korean War Vietnam War
Production history
Designer	US Army Chemical Warfare Service
Designed	1940–41
No. built	14,000 (M1A1)
Variants	M2A1-2, M2A1-7
Specifications
Weight	43 lb (19.5 kg) empty 68 lb (30.8 kg) filled
Crew	1
Rate of fire	~half a gallon a second
Effective firing range	65 1⁄2 feet (20.0 m)
Maximum firing range	132 feet (40 m)
Feed system	2 (2 gal) Gasoline tanks (fuel) 1 Nitrogen tank (propellant)
Sights	None

The M2 flamethrower was an American man-portable backpack flamethrower that was used in World War II. It was the successor to the M1 and M1A1 flamethrowers. Although its burn time was only around 7 seconds and the flame was only effective out to around 20–40 meters, it was still a useful weapon. However, with the arrival of flamethrower tanks, the need for flamethrower-carrying infantrymen to expose themselves to enemy fire was greatly reduced.

Though some M2s were sold off, the majority were scrapped when they were declared obsolete.

M2-2

The WWII models had hexagonal gas caps and hourglass frames. They were also called the M2-2, M2 for the tank groups and -2 for the wand type.

M2A1-2

M2A1-2 is the variation of the M2 devised during the Korean War. These had straight sided backpack frames, vented gas caps, a cylinder sized regulator and a safety valve. These are much more common today than WWII models.

M2A1-7 was a flamethrower used by the American troops during the Vietnam War. It is the updated version of the M2A1-2 unit used during The Korean War. It has four controls:

M9A1-7

US M9A1-7. This is the most common model used in Vietnam and is much lighter and easier to use. Tanks for this weapon are commonly found, but most wands were destroyed after the Vietnam war.

Some U.S. Army flamethrowers have a front handgrip with the same shape as the rear handgrip. In these models the igniter controls are on the front handgrip, arranged in the same way as the rear handgrip controls. The M2 was replaced by the M9A1-7 flamethrower which was used in Vietnam. The M9A1-7 was replaced by the M202A1 FLASH.

Two CGI views of a man with an M2A1-7 U.S. Army flamethrower. The two big tanks contain the fuel. The small tank contains the pressurizing gas (nitrogen).

M2A1 flamethrower.