Reactive materials possess distinctive impact-induced reaction characteristics， enabling them to undergo chemical reactions and release substantial energy under high-velocity impact. Owing to their excellent energy-release performance， reactive damage materials have become one of the key material systems for enhancing the overall lethality of warheads. To achieve optimized design and performance regulation of such materials， appropriate characterization methods and reliable numerical simulation techniques are essential. Through accurate characterization and dependable simulation， the mechanical response and chemical energy-release mechanisms of these materials under impact loading can be effectively revealed， thereby providing guidance for performance optimization. This paper focuses on four typical categories of reactive materials， namely thermite-type reactive materials， metal/polymer composite reactive materials， metal/metal composite reactive materials， and reactive alloys， and systematically reviews their classification features and research status. Emphasis is placed on studies of experimental characterization methods for dynamic mechanical properties， impact-induced energy-release response characterization， constitutive modeling， and numerical simulation methods. By considering the compositional characteristics and response mechanisms of different material systems， the applicability of experimental methods such as drop-hammer impact， ballistic impact， pressure chamber testing， split Hopkinson pressure bar testing， and plate impact testing in characterizing mechanical response， reaction initiation， energy-release output， and damage aftereffects is analyzed. In addition， the applications of typical constitutive models， equations of state， reaction models， and numerical methods in predicting impact response， energy-release behavior， and damage assessment of reactive materials are summarized. Finally， the current issues in material system design， experimental techniques， and dedicated model development are discussed， and future research directions are outlined.