X-ray powder diffraction patterns for 18 phases of 14 well-known explosives have been developed in our laboratory. Experimental patterns were obtained with an automated diffractometer for those phases for which samples were available. For phases with known crystal structures, patterns were calculated from the lattice and atomic positional parameters for comparison with the experimental patterns. Eleven of the experimental patterns have been included in Powder Diffraction File (PDF) Sets 40 and 42; four have been accepted but not yet issued. A final experimental pattern shall be submitted this year. In two other instances, since samples of sufficient quantity and/or quality were not available, calculated patterns alone are considered here. A review of the development of the crystallographic knowledge of these substances is given here together with a critique of the patterns and other known patterns of these phases.
