As of: February 11, 2024, 10:27 p.m
By: Karsten Hinzmann
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Vladimir Putin wants to see Ukraine in ashes and is planning a flamethrower that shoots further than before - because Ukraine's drones are bothering him.
Moscow – “What is that?
Has hell opened beneath our feet?
Are we on the edge of a fire-breathing volcano?
The trench fills with flames, sparks, acrid smoke, breathing is impossible.
I hear hissing, crackling, and oh, yes, screams of pain,” is how the French corporal Louis Barthas outlined a flamethrower attack by the German army on the Western Front in the summer of 1915.
First used in combat by Germany in 1914, the flamethrowers shouldered by infantrymen were intended to bring dynamism back into the deadlocked trench warfare - the Germans then continued to develop this technology.
Now, more than a century later, Vladimir Putin is taking rigorous action against the enemy as an aggressor in the Ukraine war - and is firing more violently with thermobaric ammunition: “This is a weapon that, when it explodes, releases its explosives, or fuel and creates an overpressure effect that leads to a much larger detonation and is truly devastating due to the shock wave,” Jean-Marie Collin, expert and spokesman for
Ican France
, the French branch of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, told
Euronews Next
.
“It can turn several city blocks into smoldering rubble with a single shot.”
Movement: Because of the trench warfare, Russia urgently needs the bunker busters
As DefenseExpress
magazine
reports, Russia is planning to further develop its TOS-1(A) and TOS-2 rocket launcher systems in order to eliminate their weak points.
A few months after the attack on Ukraine, British intelligence reported that these rocket or flamethrowers were used to support the airborne troops because they initially had to pay the highest toll in the poorly coordinated attack against Ukraine.
During this time, the Russian commanders still trusted that their elite units would be able to assert themselves against the Ukrainian defenders, as the magazine
Soldier & Technology
writes.
The war has now largely stalled, and to this extent the TOS systems, which are suitable for bunker busters, are becoming important for Russia.
A devastating weapon: a Russian TOS rocket launcher capable of firing thermobaric warheads - a missile that can, in principle, kill twice.
© Leonid Faerberg/Imago
Devastating: Putin uses the “sunshine” to protect his own troops from losses
In the first days of the war, the airborne troops suffered heavy losses due to their purely infantry approach in the failed attempt to take the Hostomel airport in the north of Kiev, while Russian paratroopers were also surrounded and defeated in their attempt to secure the Vasylkiv air base in the Kiev district were - that's why the flamethrowers were rolled in.
However, the weaknesses of the system soon became apparent.
From the new development now announced ,
DefenseExpress
concludes that Russia wants to use the chassis of the TOS-1A “Solntsepyok” flamethrower system and launchers of the TOS-2 “Tosochka” wheel-launched multiple rocket system for its TOS-3 “Dragon” flamethrower tank.
“Father of the Bomb” – thermobaric munitions kill twice
A thermobaric weapon - also called a vacuum bomb or aerosol bomb - is a weapon that works in two steps: First, an explosion distributes fuel in the air - such as ethylene oxide, propylene oxide or decane.
The resulting cloud of droplets is then ignited.
Such weapons were developed in the 1960s and their use is prohibited near civilian infrastructure or even against civilians according to the 1980 Geneva Convention on Incendiary Weapons.
The ignition of the aerosol cloud is followed by a pressure wave with a diameter of up to 50 meters.
The fuel can penetrate indoor spaces and destroy buildings from the inside out.
The pressure effect lasts much longer than with conventional explosives, and the heat generated is much greater.
Immediately after the pressure wave, a vacuum effect occurs because the explosion deprives the air of oxygen for combustion even beyond the pressure effect area.
The resulting negative pressure destroys buildings and also leads to serious lung injuries, damage to the eardrums and injuries to internal organs, which are similar to suffocation, for people in the buildings.
The negative pressure created by the explosion sucks in the air flowing back in again - and with it the fire cloud of the burning liquid.
People who have survived the first pressure wave and are struggling to breathe in the negative pressure are actually breathing in the fire.
The thermobaric weapon essentially kills for the second time.
There is hardly any protection against them.
In 2007, a seven-ton thermobaric bomb called the "father of all bombs" was tested in Russia, with an explosive power reported to be 44 tons of TNT equivalent, making it the most powerful conventional bomb in the world.
It would therefore exceed the explosive power of even the smallest atomic bombs.
The ammunition is fired with the TOS rocket launcher, which is also at the front in Ukraine.
Source: Federal Ministry of Defense
Based on the experience of previous battles, the range of up to ten kilometers is the main problem for the Russian TOS-1A “Solntsepyok” (in German “sun glow”).
Therefore, the Russian systems should move out of the operational range of Ukrainian combat drones - after all, the statistics platform
Oryx
documents that 20 TOS-1A launchers have now been destroyed - according to unconfirmed sources, a total of around 50 of these vehicles could have been in use in Ukraine.
The vehicle is basically clumsy and slow, but in its first version, the TOS-1 “Buratino”, sat on a T-72 chassis and therefore plowed through the terrain reliably.
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The newer generation sits on a T-90 chassis, or will probably also be based on an Armata platform -
DefenseExpress
reports on the first drafts of a new generation.
Its readiness for series production is still up in the air.
The wheel-based Russian TOS-2 has a firing range of 15 to 24 kilometers and can change positions more quickly.
So far, only one use of a Russian TOS-2 “Tosochka” in combat in Ukraine from January has been confirmed.
The TOS-2 is a relatively new weapon - it was presented at a military parade rehearsal in 2020, as
Armyrecognition
reports.
Flame tanks were first used in series production during the Second World War.
They were used specifically for tactical support of infantry units - the range of the flame was less than 100 meters, far below the military's expectations.
In addition to the physical destruction of primarily buildings, the flames had a major psychological impact on the enemy.
As soon as a planned flamethrower attack became known, the enemy troops within range often retreated, creating more favorable conditions for their own attacking infantry - as early as the First World War, users relied on this weapon to shock the enemy's morale.
The development of the new generation of rocket launchers symbolizes Russia's stubborn doctrine, which also repeatedly makes its way rhetorically.
In the summer, Russia's former president Dmitri Medvedev explicitly spoke of turning the Ukrainian leadership into ashes.
President Vladimir Putin's confidant spoke of a "war of self-preservation" in a post on his Telegram channel.
“Either we will destroy their hostile leadership, or the collective West will end up tearing Russia apart.
In this case, he will die with us,” warned the deputy head of the Russian Security Council.
In order to survive, the entire Ukrainian state must be “destroyed” so that “only ashes remain.”