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The M18 smoke grenade was introduced in the early 1950s as a replacement for the WW2 M16 smoke grenade. It is a burning-type smoke grenade that produces a cloud of colored smoke (green, yellow, red or violet and black versions the M16 had) lasting 50-90 seconds with an average of 60, and is used primarily for signalling and as a marker for landing zones or air or artillery strikes, though it can also be used to produce obscurant smoke and is also used as a substitute for chemical weapons in infantry training.
The smoke formula is the same type used in the M713, M715 and M716 40mm grenade rounds, being mostly a reaction of potassium chlorate with a fuel to disperse smoke loaded with a chemical dye. At some point in the late 80s or early 90s the smoke formula was changed to use sugar instead of sulfur as a fuel for safety, along with changing the composition of the dyes. It was quickly found that the new violet formulation was extremely toxic, and so newer-production M18s are only manufactured in green, yellow and red.