Thermobaric ammunition has become firmly established in the arsenal of the Russian army. Weapons, which are called the most powerful non-nuclear weapons, have many uses and always produce a destructive effect. He talks about all the features of its use. “Security Council”.
The TOS-2 (“Tosochka”) is armed with thermobaric shells. Its explosion a few meters from a person becomes fatal. It burns oxygen, so even at a considerable distance from the epicenter you can die from suffocation.
“A strong pressure drop, a shock wave and a temperature of 3 thousand degrees are formed. In this area, everything is practically burning. Small vessels and thin human cavitary organs burst. At this temperature it burns,” explained military historian Ilya Moshchansky.
TOS-2 is the second generation of heavy flamethrower system. Its main difference from its predecessor is the wheeled chassis of the Ural off-road vehicle. The launcher is recharged automatically without the help of a transport-loading machine. But the vehicle has its drawbacks – short firing range and weak armor.
“The vulnerability of this system, of course, is great. Especially if we are talking about modern warfare, which is characterized by the use of drones. They completely control the sky at the front edge of the line of combat contact, so it’s difficult to move forward unnoticed,” notes military expert Timofey Borisov.
The Russian military has come up with ways to protect such equipment. TOS-2 does not fire all the ammunition, but three or four shells, after which it quickly leaves. With this tactic, reconnaissance does not have time to detect the equipment and destroy it with return fire.
“TOS-2 can use various ammunition, both old unguided missiles from Solntsepek, and new shells, the area and range of which has increased significantly. This allows you to keep the vehicle at a greater distance from the line of combat contact,” said Security Council author Igor Shevchuk.
Thermobaric ammunition can also be loaded into the Smerch multiple launch rocket system. It is capable of firing 12 missiles in 40 seconds. The explosion of each creates a dead zone with a diameter of 25 m.
“In fact, an explosion occurs in every molecule, in every moment of space where the flammable mixture spreads. A volumetric explosion is created, it is also called a vacuum explosion. In literally a split second, all the oxygen completely burns out in the place where the mixture has spread,” Borisov explained.
The use of projectiles is greatly influenced by weather conditions. There should be no rain or strong wind, otherwise an aerosol cloud from the ammunition will not be formed. The effectiveness of ammunition also depends on the type of enemy cover. Trenches, pillboxes and bunkers are defenseless against thermobaric weapons. But recently, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been using special shelters against him.
“They are a large barrel the size of a railroad car. It is welded at the ends. There's a sealed door there. Such a barrel is buried underground, and in the event of an attack, the military personnel close the doors completely and sit out the attacks,” notes Moshchansky.
Anti-tank systems loaded with thermobaric ammunition can destroy lightly armored vehicles and buildings. The Bumblebee flamethrower's ammunition is comparable in firepower to an artillery shell, only it weighs only 11 kg and is controlled by one soldier.
“Bumblebee” was first used during the war in Afghanistan. With its help, Soviet soldiers burned out militants from shelters and destroyed crews in gorges and folds of the terrain. The flamethrower made it possible to change the tactics of the paratroopers. If earlier firing points had to be stormed for several days with heavy losses, now they were suppressed with one shot.
Thermobaric ammunition is also used in the form of grenade launcher shells, both single-shot and multi-shot. They are used in urban battles. There are also rocket-propelled assault grenades, in which thermobaric effects are combined with cumulative ones.
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