Forensic characteristics of damage caused by spherical striking elements of GMLRS MLRS type ammunition

ABSTRACT The study of forensic aspects of blast injury caused by the damaging elements of GMLRS-type MLRS ammunition is currently of particular interest due to the high frequency of occurrence and the lack of diagnostic criteria. BACKGROUND: to study the morphological features of damage caused by spherical submunitions of the GMLRS type ammunition for MLRS in conjunction with electron microscopy and elemental analysis of the submunitions. AIM: The study was carried out using visual, metric methods, X-ray examination, scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray analysis using a Hitachi FlexSem1000 II scanning electron microscope and a Bruker Quantax 80 energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer. RESULTS: An analysis of the morphological features of damage caused by the damaging elements of GMLRS type ammunition for MLRS was carried out. Scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive analysis made it possible to identify the characteristic chemical composition of the damaging elements. X-ray examination of the bodies of the dead reveals characteristic round shadows of metallic density. CONCLUSION: The established morphological features of external and internal damage caused by spherical damaging elements of ammunition of the GMLRS MLRS type, in combination with electron microscopy and elemental analysis, make it possible to establish with high reliability the damage to the human body caused by the striking elements of the specified type of ammunition when solving such expert problems.