WWII, 1945, U.S. M2 Flamethrower:M2A1-7 U.S. Military Flamethrower, component details:
About Flamethrowers and the U.S. Military:
The M2 flamethrower (M2-2) was a man-portable backpack flamethrower that was used in World War II. Although its actual "burn time" was around 7 seconds and the flame was only effective out to around 33 meters, it was still a functional weapon that had many uses in the war. However, with the later arrival of tanks and, especially, flamethrower tanks, the need for infantrymen to expose themselves to fire became unnecessary as tanks offered greater protection while still delivering the effective damage.
As some were sold off, the majority of them were also scrapped when they were declared "obsolete."
M2A1-7 was a flamethrower used by the American troops during the Vietnam War. It is the updated version of the WWII M2-2 unit used during WWII. It has four controls:
Back of the rear grip: firing safety catch.
Front of the rear grip: firing trigger.
On top of the front part: igniter safety catch
Under the front part: igniter trigger.
Some U.S. Army flamethrowers have a front hand grip with the same shape as the rear hand grip. In these models the igniter controls are on the front hand grip, arranged in the same way as the rear hand grip controls. The M2 was replaced by the M9A1-7 flamethrower which was used in Vietnam. The M9A1-7 was replaced by the M202A1 FLASH.
