The South of Russia will be protected by wheeled thermobaric flamethrowers. The southern military district (SE) will be the first to be re-equipped with the latest heavy flamethrower systems TOS-2 or Tosochka, sources in the Ministry of defense told Izvestia. Now the new cars are completing state tests. More mobile and accurate installations on armored trucks will displace the previous generation models designed on the basis of tanks from the troops. TOS-2 is made on the basis of an armored tractor "Tornado-U". Therefore, the new product is able to make high-speed marches for hundreds and thousands of kilometers. It can also be easily transported by plane. Sending a large amount of the latest military equipment to the South will create a fast and maneuverable reserve in this region, experts say.
The South of Russia will be protected by wheeled thermobaric flamethrowers. The southern military district (SE) will be the first to be re-equipped with the latest heavy flamethrower systems TOS-2 or Tosochka, sources in the Ministry of defense told Izvestia. Now the new cars are completing state tests. More mobile and accurate installations on armored trucks will displace the previous generation models designed on the basis of tanks from the troops. TOS-2 is made on the basis of an armored tractor "Tornado-U". Therefore, the new product is able to make high-speed marches for hundreds and thousands of kilometers. It can also be easily transported by plane. Sending a large amount of the latest military equipment to the South will create a fast and maneuverable reserve in this region, experts say.
Southern modernization
All TOS-2s of new production will be delivered to the South of Russia, where in 3-4 years they will completely replace the tracked heavy flamethrower systems TOS-1 " Buratino "and TOS-1A" Solntsepek", sources in the defense Ministry told Izvestia. Now the battalion, armed with such combat vehicles, is part of the radiation, chemical and biological protection brigade (rcbz) of the southern military DISTRICT. Each of the three combined arms armies of the district also has a CBT company in the rcbz regiment.
In August of this year, the head of the Ministry of defense, Sergei Shoigu, promised to start delivering a new installation to the troops by the end of 2020. According to him, "Tonicka" will greatly enhance the combat capabilities of groups of forces in strategic areas. According to the plans of the military, by 2025, the equipment of the rcbz will be updated by 85%.
The start of military tests of the TOS-2 was announced after their first public demonstration this year at the Victory parade in Moscow on June 24. According to the defense Ministry, they were first tested at the strategic exercises "Caucasus-2020", held in September.
Volume explosion ammunition, or thermobaric ammunition used by heavy flamethrower systems, creates a powerful shock wave and an area of very high temperature when it explodes. Against fortifications and structures, sheltered infantry, they are more effective than conventional high-explosive shells and missiles.
The southern military district is responsible for the Black sea, Crimea, the Caucasus, and other important territories. The very fact that Russia supplies the latest types of weapons to the southern military DISTRICT is a signal, including a political one, to all those who are trying to create problems for Russia in this area, said former UN Deputy Secretary-General Sergei Ordzhonikidze.
— The South of the country is now strategically in a state of tension, - the diplomat told Izvestia. - In Romania, the Americans are building a missile DEFENSE system. One or another warships with cruise missiles on Board enter the Black sea. There is a difficult situation on the border with Ukraine and problems in the Caucasus. I wouldn't be surprised if they come from Afghanistan in the future.
At the forefront
The wheel successor to the already familiar "Pinocchio" and "Solntsepek" was developed in the NGO "Alloy" by order of the Ministry of defense. The issue is handled by CJSC "Special design Bureau", which is part of the Motovilikha plants group of companies. They also produce other modern samples of multiple launch rocket systems: "Smerch", "Tornado-G"and" Tornado-S".
- CBT is a leading edge system. It should be in combat formations, because its range is small — " military expert Alexey Khlopotov told Izvestia. - This raises the question of protection. But tanks have a limited resource — the engine has only three hundred hours. The cost of a tank base is much higher than that of a car. The maximum speed is 60 km / h, and there are restrictions on movement on public roads. In the last century, the priority was tanks and equipment based on them, because then there was no developed road network. Primers were washed away and turned into mud, except for tracked vehicles on them, no one could pass. Today, we have very little wide, global off-road terrain, where the same "Ural" would not fit. Therefore, to reduce the cost and increase the operational and tactical mobility of the new equipment, a wheeled chassis was chosen. But since this vehicle cannot be protected as reliably as if it were on a tank chassis, it was decided to increase the firing range. "Tosochka" in comparison with previous systems has less power, but a greater range and area of destruction.
The choice of the Ural-63706 Tornado-U three-axle wheel chassis for the Tosochka required to lighten the car. The number of guides for missiles on them has been reduced from 24 for the TOS-1A to 18. But the TOS-2 is equipped with a crane-manipulator, which helps to quickly recharge without the help of a special transport-charging machine. The overall rate of fire of the system should eventually increase.
The first samples of heavy flamethrower systems could only fire at 3.5 km, which made them vulnerable to anti-tank weapons. Now "Tosochka" can shoot at 6 km. It is planned to develop new corrected missiles for it, which will make the installation even more accurate and deadly.
It already has an improved ballistic computer and integration with automated artillery fire control systems. This allows you to fire without leaving the cabin. The necessary calculations for shooting are made by a computer.
Waves in the mountains
The first heavy flamethrower systems on the chassis of T-72 tanks in the USSR began to be developed in the 1970s. In the next decade, they created thermobaric ammunition, which radically increased the firepower of installations. With them, experimental vehicles were actively used in the battles in Afghanistan until the withdrawal of Soviet troops from there. It was noted that in the mountains they were even more deadly than on the plain, due to the repeated addition and re-reflection of shock waves from rocket explosions.
Officially, the first heavy flamethrower system was adopted only in 1995. At the beginning of this century, a new modification of the TOS-1A "Solntsepek"was developed. The t-90 tank was taken as the base, and the new version of the missiles increased the range almost twice, to 6 km. Several countries, including Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia, have purchased the upgraded vehicles.
Russian flamethrower systems with thermobaric ammunition were also actively used in Iraq. The army used them during the decisive battles with the ISIL group (banned in Russia) for the city of Mosul. The Syrian government army used CBT installations in the battles for the city of Aleppo and during the assault on militant fortifications in the mountainous regions of Latakia province.