Ukraine lets Putin’s rare flamethrower go up in smoke

Russia loses another of its most powerful weapons – Ukraine is targeting it. Nowadays, things are more improvised. North Korea is helping out.

Zaporizhia – “After a bright ‘fireworks’ the crew and the system disappeared,” the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) announced – as the Ukrainian Pravda has now published, behind this fireworks show is the neutralization of one of the most terrible weapons that Russia’s dictator Vladimir Putin is using in Ukraine: the Russian multi-tube rocket launch system TOS-1A Solntsepyok (“sun glow”). Ukraine has now successfully defended itself near Zaporizhia using a drone – but Russia continues to threaten to use launch pads for thermobaric ammunition; a more advanced version has just been presented and may even reach the front in the Ukraine war.

Around 30 Russian TOS systems have now been destroyed, reports the statistics portal OryxIn a breathtaking manner, the combat vehicles classified as “heavy flamethrowers” ​​have exploded several times during the conflict. The magazine The War Zone (TWZ) also reports videos of spectacularly blown up TOS vehicles from Syria and from battles over the Nagorno-Karabakh region between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The system is mobile, but relatively clumsy and slow, as the Mirror judged; in this respect, it also seems to be an easy target for drones, as there is hardly any passive protection.

Russia’s relentless advance: The weapon ignites a veritable hellfire

“The TOS-1A missiles also make the system vulnerable to catastrophic detonations if hit while loaded. This also means that they are interesting targets that can cause significant damage to anything nearby in the event of a secondary explosion,” writes TWZThe latest version of this tracked multiple rocket launcher therefore has a cage above the launch container as standard.

“With losses of purpose-built combat vehicles in Ukraine exceeding 16,000, the Russian military is struggling to build enough replacement vehicles or bring them out of long-term storage.”

“The weapon ignites a veritable hellfire,” as the magazine Army recognition writes: Due to the high-precision calculation of the launch angle for the unguided rockets, targets of the impact point in the area are calculated in such a way that a target can be covered tightly within six seconds of full salvo duration at a maximum range of six kilometers. This would suppress active actions of an enemy for a very long time and completely destroy all life within an area of ​​four hectares.

Putin’s merciless doctrine: offensive with ammunition that kills twice

This system is internationally condemned because it has an untargeted effect on a wider area than conventional explosives – including civilian infrastructure. “Of course, all weapons are terrible, but with a bullet or a fragmentation, like with explosives, you at least have the possibility of treating it medically,” said international law expert Ben Saul of the University of Sydney the Australian television station ABC reported on the use of aerosol or vacuum bombs; these “thermobaric” rockets are fired by the TOS system.

“This is a weapon that, when it explodes, releases its explosive, or its fuel, and creates an overpressure effect that leads to a much larger detonation and is really devastating because of the shock wave,” said Jean-Marie Collin, expert and spokesman for Ican Francethe French branch of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, Euronews NextThe negative pressure created by the explosion sucks in the air flowing back – and with it the cloud of fire from the burning liquid. People who have survived the first pressure wave and are struggling for air in the negative pressure practically breathe in the fire. The thermobaric weapon essentially kills a second time. There is hardly any protection against it.

Including its reloading vehicle, a single TOS tank can fire 72 missiles in a very short time. According to TWZ The weapon’s core task is to break through well-entrenched troops and support the advance of its own infantry forces. In this respect, this weapon could also be used in the Kharkiv region if Russia intends to break through the enemy ranks regardless of losses. In April of this year, Army recognition It was also reported that former Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu had even announced an increase in the production of this type of vehicle: the number of vehicles is to grow by 250 percent.

New threat to Ukraine: The TOS-1A is continuously being improved

In August last year, it was also announced that Russia would upgrade its existing TOS flamethrowers with new navigation systems – the increased accuracy would increase the efficiency of the vehicle. “Operators can concentrate more on strategic decisions, making the weapon system more versatile and adaptable to different situations on the battlefield,” writes Army recognition.

Russia adapted the system to the dynamics of the Ukraine war and perfected it in various ways to make it an even more merciless terror weapon, the magazine further reports. The range of the variant currently fired by the TOS-1A varies between six and ten kilometers. At the same time, the minimum range of the missiles was increased to 600 meters, which should also increase their deadly power in close combat.

Ukraine war of the future: The “Dragon” shoots further and more precisely

The Russian army currently has two heavy flamethrower systems with different characteristics and capabilities – the tracked TOS-1A Solntsepyok (“Sunburst”) and the wheeled TOS-2 Tosochka. Russia’s defense industry is developing these projects further and is working on a new project called the TOS-3 Dragon. Its characteristics are said to be a firing range of up to 15 kilometers and even greater accuracy – there are reports of a stronger link with Russian satellite navigation. The first prototype is said to have been built, but the question of the chassis still seems to be open.

The use of the TOS-3 in the Ukraine war is therefore possible but questionable – at least on the basis of the new T-14 tank, as the Editorial Network Germany reported at the beginning of March based on Russian sources: “Russia’s newest main battle tank Armata is, according to the manufacturer, too expensive for use in the war against Ukraine. ‘In terms of its functionality, it is far superior to existing tanks, but it is too expensive and therefore the army is unlikely to use it now,’ said the head of the state arms holding Rostec, Sergei Chemezov, to the state news agency Ria Novosti.”

The magazine Forbes also wants to know that the continuing losses of TOS rocket launchers are causing increasing difficulties for the Russian invaders: “The Russian army went to war in Ukraine with about 50 TOS-1 and lost half of them,” writes Forbes-author David Axe. In addition, Russia was running out of parts to make do and assemble improvisations. “With losses of purpose-built combat vehicles in Ukraine exceeding 16,000, the Russian military is struggling to build enough replacement vehicles or bring them out of long-term storage,” he writes.

Horrendous losses in Russia’s ranks: Improvisations and North Korean systems fill gaps

This shortage has led to an increased reliance on multiple rocket launchers from North Korea. The magazine Voice of America reported in May that Pyongyang was apparently accelerating the development of rocket launchers to provide them to Russia for the war against Ukraine and at the same time to test them under real war conditions.