A highly reliable fuse for explosives and armaments is achieved by
employing a micro mechanical device that operates to disrupt a relatively
low impedance bypass circuit coupled in parallel with a relatively high
impedance trigger mechanism. The removal of the electrical bypassing is
performed as a result of the movement of the micro mechanical device to
enable detonation under prescribed conditions. The electrical bypassing
is removed by having at least one low impedance electrical bridge that is
part of the bypass circuit break when the micro mechanical device is
subjected to prescribed trigger activation forces, which are typically
large forces, such as are generated during launch or impact. The micro
mechanical device may be a micro-electrical mechanical system (MEMS)
device and the bridge is at least one spring that is part of the MEMS
device and also part of the bypass circuit.