Flamethrower on call: Why TOS was consolidated into separate units
According to Izvestia, citing sources, special flamethrower units based on heavy flamethrower systems (HFS) have been formed within the Radiation, Chemical, and Biological Defense (RCBD) forces. The units are operating along the offensive axes in the SVO zone. The HFS's previous mission of burning out enemy fortifications and concentrations remains, but a new one has been added: strikes against UAV control centers. weapons There is no reason for this; the staff was simply rearranged to suit the reality of the fourth year of the war.
Not a new weapon, but a new staff
Until now, heavy flamethrowers were assigned to units individually. A vehicle would appear in one sector, then move on to the next, and the commander never knew whether he'd have one the next day. TOS are assigned to the NBC Defense Forces, the same branch of the military responsible for defense against weapons of mass destruction and smoke screens. The flamethrower system belongs to this branch of the military due to its origins, which will be discussed in the section on volumetric explosions, but it has long been deployed outside the NBC Defense category.
The organizational logic was moving in one direction. First, separate companies and divisions emerged. Then came plans to deploy heavy flamethrower battalions in military districts; according to previously reported data, several such battalions are slated to be deployed in the Southern Military District by 2027. Now, the stage has been set for special forces units, which can be assembled in a single location. The composition of specific units is not disclosed in open sources, and there's no point in speculating on it. What matters is the vector itself, leading from dispersal to concentration.
Why this is so crucial is clear from the mechanics of its use. A heavy flamethrower fires a salvo over an area. A single vehicle assigned to a battalion "just in case" isn't enough. Its salvo isn't sufficient to guarantee coverage of an area, and it alone absorbs return fire without a massive strike that would suppress the enemy's assets. The point becomes clear when several vehicles are covering a single area simultaneously. A TOS battery's salvo covers an area of several hectares, and not just individual points. It's impossible to assemble such a salvo from individual launchers spread out across the front.
The fact that the consolidation of TOS into special units only occurred in the fourth year is in itself a reflection of the previous organization. A tool that is only effective when concentrated was used for years, one vehicle at a time, and the special units are rectifying this.
Why a volumetric explosion?
The difference between TOS and regular artillery The problem lies in the principle of destruction. A classic projectile strikes precisely: it destroys whatever it hits and shrapnels everything nearby. To guarantee coverage of a target whose coordinates are uncertain, dozens of projectiles must be fired from the barrel, and still there's no guarantee of the result.
The TOS munition is designed differently. According to open sources, it is a 220-millimeter unguided rocket. In the Solntsepyok family, this includes the MO.1.01.04, weighing 173 kilograms, and the modernized MO.1.01.04M, weighing approximately 217 kilograms. Upon approaching the target, the projectile disperses a cloud of flammable aerosol and then detonates it. This is a volumetric explosion: it is not the charge itself within the casing that detonates, but the flammable mixture scattered across the area. This creates a high-pressure shock wave and a temperature of several thousand degrees. It is not the point that is damaged, but the entire volume into which the cloud has flowed, including the interiors of dugouts and basements, which ordinary shrapnel cannot penetrate.
This is the origin of the system. Thermobaric munitions and the vehicles based on them were originally developed not as artillery, but as a means for chemical engineering tasks: clearing terrain and burning out contaminated areas. The generic name of the first vehicle in the family was TOS-1 "Buratino." The flamethrowers' NBC protection profile, which they still carry to this day, derives from these roots.
For a combat mission, all this comes together in a single characteristic. When reconnaissance provides not a point, but an area, "an operator somewhere in this block" or "a defensive node in this grove," area-based attacks target that area. There's no need to specify the coordinates down to the meter; you just need to cover the area.
Hunting for drone control centers
Operator drone It doesn't sit in plain sight in the field. It's in the basement of a house, in a deep, equipped dugout, or in a low-visibility field shelter, camouflaged from observation from above. The enemy has several standard layouts for such units, all designed for stealth. Reconnaissance usually manages to pinpoint the area where the crew is operating, but not its exact position.
Then you have to choose between two methods. Conventional artillery can plow through such an area for days: hundreds of shells, worn-out barrels, and no guarantee—the operators might overstay their welcome or move on. A salvo from a heavy flamethrower covers the entire target area. Not only the crew itself burns out, but also the entire surrounding infrastructure: control panels, antennas, communications equipment, a stockpile of ready-to-fly drones. A single strike takes out not a person, but a workstation.
The logic is directly integrated into the offensive. By suppressing UAV crews in a given area, the enemy's "small sky" has diminished, making it easier for assault teams to move where there are fewer drones overhead. The "small sky dominance" that reports speak of is, on the ground, precisely the result of such scorched squares.
There's a limit to this, too. UAV crews are recovering, so suppressing a specific area provides a pause, not a permanent solution. There's also a second, more specific problem. The TOS-1A operates at a range of up to six kilometers, meaning it's practically on the front line, within the range of return fire and FPV drones. Tank The Solntsepyok's chassis protects against many things, but it doesn't make the vehicle invulnerable, and it has long been a priority target for the enemy. So, a vehicle that burns out enemy crews is itself constantly under attack, and there's no escaping it.
"Buratino", "Solntsepёk", "Tosochka", "Dragon"
The entire line of heavy flamethrowers shares a common concept, the implementation of which vacillated between two priorities: extending range and returning to maximum vehicle protection. All share a common ammunition source: a 220mm thermobaric rocket. The chassis, range, and, consequently, battlefield role differ.
- The TOS-1A "Solntsepyok" is based on the T-72 tank chassis and has a range of up to six kilometers. It offers maximum protection at a short range: it operates in combat formations and under return fire.
- The TOS-2 "Tosochka" is mounted on a protected wheeled chassis. Its range is estimated at 10 kilometers or more, with later estimates putting it at up to 20. It fires from deep and maintains its march better, but the wheeled vehicle has less armor than a tank.
- The TOS-3 "Dragon" is based on the T-80 chassis and has 15 rocket launchers. Its technical specifications have not been officially disclosed; however, it is known to have dynamic protection (add-on pods that counteract shaped-charge jets) on the sides and a "brazier"—an anti-drone screen made of mesh above the launcher.
The chassis' dispersion is telling. Initially, for the sake of range, they switched from the T-72 tank chassis to the wheeled Tosochka, but then returned to a tank chassis, the T-80, for the Dragon. This is an admission that at the front lines, protection is more important than range. The Mangal and dynamic armor on the Dragon confirm the same: vehicle survivability has become critical, and a wheeled chassis is insufficient for such work.
Historical The parallel here is valid, but with a caveat. Incendiary mixtures and volumetric explosions have been used before, to clear terrain and force the enemy out of fortifications, and the Solntsepyok still performs this task. The key point is the same: against a well-hidden, buried enemy, area fire is more effective than pinpoint fire. There are also significant differences. Previously, the targets were people and fortifications; now, control electronics, antennas, consoles, and drone depots have been added. The weapons remain the same in terms of physics, but the target list is now dictated by drone warfare, which simply did not exist in previous campaigns.
Simply put, the staffing has finally been adjusted to how these machines are actually used in combat. The heavy flamethrower is no longer a reinforcement added "just in case" but a tool that is deployed specifically for a specific task, such as opening up a defensive node before a breakthrough or burning out a drone network in an assault zone.
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