The applications and development status of in-line exploding foil ignition and related technologies were reviewed， including the compositions of in-line exploding foil ignition system， the combustion mechanism and new preparation processes of an approved pyrotechnic-boron potassium nitrate （BPN）， as well as the relevant standards of in-line exploding foil ignition at home and abroad. The in-line ignition system has the requirements of multi-function and multi-task. Therefore， the electronic safe and arm device as the control module of the ignition system device presents the development trend of programming addressing and multi-point coordination. The components of the in-line exploding foil ignition system become miniaturized and low energy consumption. The particle size of the components of BPN processed by the new preparation process was micronized and the core shell structure was generated. Hence， the combustion performance， moisture absorption and stability of BPN were optimized. The relevant standards of in-line exploding foil ignition at home and abroad were summarized and compared. The problems to be solved in the study of the in-line explosive foil ignition were analyzed， which includes the mechanism of direct ignition of BPN by slapper， the influence of BPN component particle size on impact ignition sensitivity， the influence factors and the laws of thru-bulkhead ignition of BPN， performance comparison of various thru-bulkhead ignition structures， and new preparation processes of BPN with its performance optimization.