Not destructive enough.

These devices were rigged with small amounts of explosives. Lithium will burn like crazy but it doesn't react fast enough to cause overpressure. A lithium battery failing in your hand might fail fast enough to burn your hand, but it won't happen fast enough to blow your fingers off. It's not about the energy, it's about the chemistry. You need the right KIND of reaction. RDX and HMX get most of their energy from the extremely weak N-N bond, which REAAAALLLLY wants to become N≡N. Lithium batteries will get hot, they'll burn, they'll burst and vent hot gas... but they won't detonate.

Not destructive enough.

These devices were rigged with small amounts of explosives. Lithium will burn like crazy but it doesn't react fast enough to cause overpressure. A lithium battery failing in your hand might fail fast enough to burn your hand, but it won't happen fast enough to blow your fingers off. It's not about the energy, it's about the chemistry; you need the right KIND of reaction. RDX and HMX get most of their energy from the extremely weak N-N bond, which REAAAALLLLY wants to become N≡N. Lithium batteries don't have chemicals that are primed to detonate in that way.

Not destructive enough.

These devices were rigged with small amounts of explosives. Lithium will burn like crazy but it doesn't react fast enough to cause overpressure. A lithium battery failing in your hand might fail fast enough to burn your hand, but it won't happen fast enough to blow your fingers off. It's not about the energy, it's about the chemistry; you need the right KIND of reaction. RDX and HMX get most of their energy from the extremely weak N-N bond, which REAAAALLLLY wants to become N≡N.

Not destructive enough.

These devices were rigged with small amounts of explosives. Lithium will burn like crazy but it doesn't react fast enough to cause overpressure. A lithium battery failing in your hand might fail fast enough to burn your hand, but it won't happen fast enough to blow your fingers off. It's not about the energy, it's about the chemistry; you need the right KIND of reaction. RDX and HMX get most of their energy from the extremely weak N-N bond, which REAAAALLLLY wants to become N≡N.

Not destructive enough.

These devices were rigged with small amounts of explosives. Lithium will burn like crazy but it doesn't react fast enough to cause overpressure. A lithium battery failing in your hand might fail fast enough to burn your hand, but it won't happen fast enough to blow your fingers off.