TOS-1 TOS-1A heavy flame thrower system 220mm multiple rocket launcher system Russia Russian army

The thermobaric warheads, also called vacuum or fuel-air explosives, spreads a flammable liquid around a target and then ignites the liquid.

The blast is lethal in itself, but the vacuum that follows the explosion is strong enough to cause deadly internal damage, including rupturing of vital organs, such as the lungs.

A study by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency from as early as 1993, writes that the effect of a thermobaric weapon on targets in confined spaces, such as buildings, bunkers and tunnels, is ‘immense’. 

‘Those near the ignition point are obliterated. Those at the fringe are likely to suffer many internal, and thus invisible injuries, including burst eardrums and crushed inner ear organs, severe concussions, ruptured lungs and internal organs, and possibly blindness.’ 

TOS 1-A