Russian flamethrowers rake Ukrainian positions (MOD VIDEO)
The Russian Defense Ministry on Wednesday released a new video showing heavy thermobaric TOS-1A Solntsepyok systems attacking Ukrainian positions in a border area of Kursk Region.
The nighttime video shows the launchers firing multiple projectiles at the Ukrainian forces. The hits were observed by a surveillance drone equipped with a thermal camera, footage shows.
While designated as a heavy flamethrower in Russia, TOS-1A is effectively a multiple rocket launcher system, designed to fire massive 220mm thermobaric projectiles. The munitions, also known as aerosol or vacuum explosives, disperse a cloud of high explosive gas or liquid that is then ignited, producing a powerful blast with extreme temperatures and pressure.
The system has proven to be an important tool in Russia’s arsenal, capable of obliterating heavily fortified positions. A lighter, wheeled version of the system, known as TOS-2 Tosochka, has also been introduced in the course of the Ukraine conflict.
The Russian military continues its effort to fully dislodge the Ukrainian force from the part of Kursk Region invaded by Kiev early last August. Over the past 24-hours, Ukrainian insurgent forces have lost some 390 servicemen, as well as four tanks and other hardware, the Russian military said in its daily briefing.
According to the latest estimates from Moscow, the Ukrainian invasion force has sustained extremely heavy casualties since the beginning of the attack on Kursk Region.
Up to 54,000 Ukrainian servicemen have been killed or wounded, with more than 300 tanks, over 230 infantry fighting vehicles and nearly 180 armored personnel carriers destroyed. The invasion force has lost other assorted high-value assets, including over a dozen US-supplied M270 MLRS and M142 HIMARS launchers.
