Ukraine Attacks With Russian TOS-1A Flamethrower – Thermobaric Warheads

By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization

(Washington DC) A Russian armored attack flamethrower vehicle with the signature “Z” emblazoned on the armor was used against Russian forces, once captured by Ukrainians.

The defending forces quickly deployed their ability to operate the weapon.

The development was, in many ways, not particularly surprising given the large number of Russian armored vehicles that have been abandoned by soldiers who simply do not want to fight Ukrainians.

Tanks, armored personnel carriers, and even Soviet-era TOS-1A multiple rocket launchers capable of firing “thermobaric warheads” have been left fully intact by fleeing Russian fighters who have in large numbers simply “taken off” from their vehicles.

Much of this is likely due to poor morale among Russian troops and a simple lack of purpose among less enthusiastic soldiers following Kremlin orders and attacking Ukrainians. The weapon, called TOS-1A, is a Soviet-era system in which a multiple rocket launcher is integrated with a T-72 tank and used as a heavy flamethrower.

TOS-1A Flamethrower on T-72 Chassis

The TOS-1A is many times referred to as Putin’s most powerful weapon after nuclear weapons and is considered by many a terror weapon for the sheer amount of ordinance it can place on a target.

A weapon such as this can operate with a number of key tactical functions, including direct attack upon force concentrations. Certainly, the TOS-1A flamethrower has a powerful anti-personnel effect in terms of its ability to strike and incinerate groups of enemy fighters or blanket an enemy area with suppressive fire to enable force maneuvering. An article in “Ukraine Today” explains that the TOS-1A can “attack enemy fortified positions and lightly armored vehicles and transports.” While not made public until 1999 in Omsk, The TOS-1A seems to have been quietly generating a massive input on Russian strategic and tactical thinking as it opens up new avenues of attack maneuver.