Russia’s Defense Ministry has published footage showing a TOS-2 Solntsepyok crew operating in the special operation zone, traveling to its deployment area, loading its heavy thermobaric rounds and firing at Ukrainian forces deployed near the settlement of Verbovoye in Zaporozhye region.
Night vision thermal camera footage of the strike shows multiple rounds hitting their targets, creating giant fireballs of fire and smoke ascending into the night sky.
TOS is a Russian acronym which means ‘Heavy Flamethrower System’. The weapon operates like a conventional MLRS, but fires 220 mm 173-217 kg rockets containing a fuel air explosive mixture generating extreme heat of up to 3,000 degrees centigrade (enough to melt even steel armor) and consuming all oxygen in its vicinity upon detonation.
NATO countries don’t have a ground-based analogue to the TOS, preferring to do their thermobaric bombardments using air-dropped weapons.