The latest iteration of Russia’s TOS series of thermobaric rocket launchers was seen, apparently for the first time, in military service. The TOS-3 ‘Dragon’ was displayed during an official armed forces event in the southwest region of Saratov, Russia. Although the new system builds heavily on its predecessors, its anti-drone screens they also point directly to the experience of war in Ukraine. With that in mind, it probably won’t be long before we start to see the TOS-3 being deployed in combat, especially as losses from the legacy TOS-1A continue to ride.
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A video Published by the Russian state administration TASS news agency shows a TOS-3 at a recent ceremony during which soldiers from the 1st Mobile Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defense Brigade received awards for their service in the Ukraine war. The ceremony coincided with the brigade’s 45th anniversary.
Russian TOS series thermobaric rocket launchers have traditionally been assigned to radiological, chemical and biological defense troops rather than artillery units, as might be expected. These units are also responsible for generating smoke screenssomething that also gained prominence in the Ukrainian war.
The same TASS report noted that the brigade is currently equipped with TOS-1A and TOS-2 thermobaric rocket launchers, UTM-80M decontamination vehicles, RKhM-6 CBRN reconnaissance vehicles, and TDA-3 truck-mounted smoke generators, among others. Despite being displayed, TOS-3 was not specifically mentioned, perhaps suggesting that delivery is imminent or that pre-service testing is underway.
Another point of confusion surrounding the TOS series is the nature of its rocket weaponry.
As we have discussed before, Russian nomenclature describes the TOS series as ‘heavy flamethrowers’. In fact, they have almost nothing in common with traditional flamethrowers and are, more correctly, thermobaric or fuel-air explosive (FAE) weapons. Broadly speaking, these types of weapons use oxygen from the surrounding air to generate a high-temperature explosion and a much more powerful blast wave over a longer period of time than a conventional condensed explosive. As we saw, the destructive effect can be enormouswhile the physiological impact on the enemy is at least equally significant.
The TOS series was designed to provide general fire support alongside infantry and tanks. Its primary targets were always expected to include enemy manpower in open and closed firing positions, as well as light armored vehicles and soft-skinned support vehicles.
“The TOS-1 was designed primarily for use against emplacements, canyon areas (such as terrain folds and tunnels), combat positions, ships, buildings, as well as personnel and other soft targets. High firing angles and steep impact angles support use in urban areas and canyons,” according to the 2011 edition of the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) Unclassified Worldwide Equipment Guide.
The TOS-3 is based on a tank chassis, like the earlier TOS-1A, but its rocket looks much more like that found in the TOS-2, a second-generation thermobaric rocket launcher based on a wheeled truck chassis. high mobility. . The TOS-2, first introduced in 2020, has an integral loading crane and can fire a new generation of missiles with greater range. While the TOS-1A and TOS-2 carry 24 and 18 ready-to-fire rockets, respectively, the TOS-3’s rocket has three rows of five rockets for a total of 15 projectiles.
O first reports The existence of TOS-3 emerged around February this year, when state-owned Omsktransmash (Omsk Transport Machinery Factory) secured the trademark rights to the TOS-3 Dragon logo and name.
In an interview with TASS In April 2024, Bekhan Ozdoev, Industrial Director of Weapon Systems at Rostec State Corporation, officially confirmed the development of the TOS-3, noting that it would have a tracked chassis and a new launcher firing longer-range ammunition. He also said the new system would incorporate lessons learned from the fighting in Ukraine.
Among these lessons, it seems likely that the most important are the requirements for greater reach and better protection.
In its TOS-1A form, the vehicle’s crew is relatively well protected within the armored tank hull. The disadvantage is a relatively short range for rocket armament – a maximum of just six kilometers (3.7 miles).
The new rockets that arm the TOS-2 can reach further – up to 15 kilometers (9.3 miles), according to Russian accounts. However, the truck-based vehicle is notably less protected than the TOS-1A.
This suggests that the new TOS-3 was designed to combine the best attributes of both previous systems, with the tank hull protection of the TOS-1A, but with rockets that offer a range at least as long, if not greater, than the than those used in TOS-2 with lighter armor.
The range of the rockets used in TOS-3 was not revealed. However, based on the fact that fewer numbers are carried, it is likely that each contains more propellant, enough to send them beyond the 15 kilometers reached by TOS-2 rockets.
There is plenty of evidence of the high risk TOS-1A crews expose themselves to when approaching their targets to ensure they place them within the effective range of their rockets. In turn, they expose themselves to potential counter-battery fire, as well as the ever-present threat of drone attacks. In fact, there is some evidence that the proliferation of drones with first person view (FPV) on the battlefield was a significant factor behind the emergence of TOS-3.
According to Oryx open-source tracking group, Russia has had 25 TOS-1A systems destroyed, damaged or captured during the conflict so far, as well as eight TZM-T reloader vehicles. The real numbers are probably considerably higher. So far, there have been no recorded losses involving the TOS-2, but these have also been seen much less frequently on the battlefield.
The TOS-3’s design clearly considers the threat from drones, with factory-supplied drone screens arranged around the rocket – the most vulnerable part of the vehicle, where a drone attack would most likely lead to a catastrophic “bake” of the weaponry. rockets. The drone screens as seen in the TASS the video may be incomplete, judging by the large openings, suggesting that additional screening or camouflage material could be added later.
Made in the factory, production component’deal with cages‘ and other anti-drone measures, as opposed to hasty modifications in the field, are something that we started to see on Russian armored vehicles around the summer of 2023. Before then, we had seen more ad-hoc types of protection added to TOS-1A systems in the field, as you can read about here.
TOS-3 certainly appears to have been developed in a hurry, to respond to an urgent demand on the battlefield. There are however suggestions that the new system could simply involve a combination of the existing TOS-3 rockets carried in an armored hull, although this did not necessarily explain the smaller number of rockets carried.
Whatever the exact capabilities of the new system, the emergence of TOS-3 reinforces the importance that Russia attaches to its “heavy flamethrowers”. Although these systems have suffered heavy and dramatic losses in combat thus far, Russia’s defense industry has adapted its latest thermobaric rocket launcher to the demands of the Ukrainian battlefield, and it may not be long before we start seeing the TOS-3 in combat.
Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com
