In Russia, work is underway to create a new RPO-2 flamethrower. The complex for the units of the RCBZ troops can be placed on unmanned aerial vehicles.
"So, work is underway to create a new set of means of fire destruction for flamethrower units of the RCB protection troops with increased combat capabilities, including the placement of sighting and shooting complexes on UAVs," Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, the head of the RCBZ troops, said in an interview with Krasnaya Zvezda.
It should be noted that now the Russian army is armed with rocket-propelled infantry flamethrowers RPO "Bumblebee". The aiming range of thermobaric 93 mm ammunition with aerosol flammable substance ranges from 800 to 1700 meters.
In terms of high-explosive effect on the main types of targets, the flamethrower is not inferior to 155-mm artillery shells. It is used to defeat infantry, pillboxes and lightly armored vehicles. For their effectiveness in Afghanistan, the Bumblebee flamethrowers received an unofficial name - "Shaitan-pipe".
Nikolay Grishchenko