unexploded ordnance
Latent battlefield hazards
Unexploded ordnance refers to military munitions—bombs, shells, grenades, landmines, and similar weapons—that were deployed but failed to detonate as intended.
Often abbreviated UXO, it remains dangerous for decades after conflicts end, posing risks to civilians, construction workers, and farmers who encounter it in former war zones.
The field was cleared of unexploded ordnance before development could begin.
Ordnance disposal teams specialize in safely neutralizing these remnants of war.
- landmineBuried pressure-activated explosive
- booby trapHidden device to harm
- bombExplosive device or disaster
- misfireFailure to discharge
- deminingRemoving buried explosives
metal detector · dud · EOD · shell · grenade · injury · civilian casualty · fuse · post-war · safety protocols · ecological harm · no-go area · hidden danger · psychological trauma · torpedo · controlled detonation · blast radius · mortar
- Bomb Disposalbomb disposal, bomb squad, EOD, bomb robot, bomb disposal robot
- ordnancebomb, grenade, landmine, mine, mortar round
- military pollutionhazardous waste, toxic waste, burn pits, fuel leaks, Agent Orange
- Xiangkhoangbomb craters, war relics, Hmong
- air raidsair raid, air strike, bombing, raid, bomb
- disaster siteground zero, blast zone, debris, rubble, wreckage