Flamethrowers of the Second World War (photo). Flamethrowers in World War I German Flamethrower in World War II

Flamethrower is a melee weapon that hits the enemy with a stream of burning fire mixture. The flamethrower is designed to burn out the enemy from field fortifications, tanks, stone buildings, trenches, machine-gun nests, to create fires in settlements and forests, to defeat manpower.

Regardless of the type and design, the principle of operation of flamethrowers is the same. Flamethrowers (or flamethrowers, as they said earlier) are devices that throw jets of flammable liquid at a distance of 15 to 200 m.The liquid is thrown out of the tank through a special hose by the force of compressed air, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, hydrogen or powder gases and ignited when leaving fire hose with a special ignitor.

The first new type of weapon to appear in the industrial XX century was the jet flamethrower. Moreover, the manufacturers originally planned it not as an army, but as a police weapon to disperse the demonstrators. The first knapsack flamethrower was created by the German scientist Richard Fiedler in 1901, which was adopted by the Reichswehr in 1905. Flamethrowers were used in the Balkan War and were widely used already in the First World War to destroy enemy firing points. Flamethrowers of two types were used: knapsack in offensive operations and heavy - in defense. In the interwar period, a third type of flamethrower appeared - a high-explosive one.

According to the principle of operation, flamethrowers were subdivided into jet (a separate variety of which are high-explosive) and capsule (ampoule throwers). In turn, among jet flamethrowers, there are knapsack ("wearable", "light", served by one flamethrower) and heavy (served by several flamethrowers) flamethrowers.

V jet flamethrowers the whole jet of fire mixture flying towards the target was burning. It was ignited using an incendiary cartridge directly at the muzzle. The force of the flame instantly set fire to almost the entire jet. The fiery "snake" stretching for tens of meters possessed very high combat qualities, inflicting tangible physical and moral damage on the enemy. At the same time, the bulk of the mixture burned out on the trajectory, without reaching the target. The main disadvantage of the jet flamethrower is its short range. When firing at long distances, an increase in pressure in the system was required, which caused a spray of fire mixture. It was possible to deal with this only by increasing the viscosity of the mixture, calculating the range of the jet, so that it does not completely burn out without reaching the target.

Backpack Flamethrower It was an oval or cylindrical steel tank with a capacity of 10–25 liters, filled with a flammable liquid and compressed gas. The operating pressure in the system was 12-15 atm. When the tap is opened, the liquid is thrown out through a flexible rubber hose and a metal hose and ignited by an igniter. The knapsack flamethrower is carried with straps over the shoulders. The direction of the liquid stream was carried out using a control handle attached to the hose. You could also control the jet and hold your hands directly to the hose. To do this, in some systems, the outlet valve was located on the fire hose itself. The weight of an empty flamethrower (with a hose, a crane and a water cannon) is 11-14 kg, loaded - 20-25 kg.

Heavy Flamethrower consisted of an iron tank with a capacity of about 200 liters with an outlet pipe, a crane and brackets for manual carrying. The compressed gas was in a special bottle and, with the help of a rubber connecting tube, a tee and a pressure gauge, was fed into the tank during the entire duration of the flamethrower operation, that is, a constant pressure (10-13 atm.) Was maintained in the tank. A hose gun with a control handle and an igniter was movably mounted on a gun carriage. The igniter in a heavy flamethrower could be the same device as in a knapsack, or the ignition was produced by electric current. The weight of the empty heavy flamethrower (without hose and lifting device) is about 95 kg, loaded - about 192 kg. The range of the jet is 40–60 m. A shot from such a flamethrower hit an area of 300–500 m2. One shot could be incapacitated up to an infantry platoon. The tank caught under the jet of the flamethrower stopped and in most cases caught fire.

High-explosive flamethrower in design and principle of operation, it differed from knapsack - the fire mixture from the tank was thrown out by the pressure of the gases formed during the combustion of the powder charge. An incendiary cartridge was put on the nozzle, and a powder ejection cartridge with an electric fuse was inserted into the charger. An electric or special sapper wire was connected to the fuse, stretched at a distance of 1.5-2 km to a source of electric current. With the help of a pin, the high-explosive flamethrower was anchored in the ground. Powder gases threw liquid at 35-50 m. High-explosive flamethrowers were installed on the ground in groups of 3 to 10 pieces.

Flamethrowers used incendiary substances, the combustion temperature of which was 800–1000 ° C or more with a very stable flame. The fire mixtures did not contain oxidizing agents and were burned due to atmospheric oxygen. Incendiary substances were mixtures of various flammable liquids: oil, gasoline and kerosene, light coal oil with benzene, phosphorus solution in carbon disulfide, etc. Fire mixtures based on petroleum products could be both liquid and viscous. The first consisted of a mixture of gasoline with heavy motor fuel and lubricating oil. In this case, a wide swirling jet of intense flame was formed, flying 20-25 meters. The burning mixture was capable of flowing into the slots and holes of target objects, but a significant part of it burned out in flight. The main disadvantage of liquid mixtures was that they did not stick to objects.

Viscous or thickened mixtures include napalms. They can stick to objects and thereby increase the affected area. Liquid petroleum products were used as their fuel base - gasoline, jet fuel, benzene, kerosene and a mixture of gasoline with heavy motor fuel. The most commonly used thickeners were polystyrene or polybutadiene. Napalm was highly flammable and adhered even to damp surfaces. It is impossible to extinguish it with water, so it floats on the surface, continuing to burn. The burning temperature of napalm is 800-1100C °. Metallized incendiary mixtures (pyrogels) had a higher combustion temperature - 1400-1600C °. They were made by adding powders of some metals (magnesium, sodium), heavy oil products (asphalt, fuel oil) and some types of combustible polymers - isobutyl methacrylate, polybutadiene to ordinary napalm.

The following requirements were imposed on the flammable liquids used for flamethrowers;

a) the liquid should have, possibly, a greater specific gravity (otherwise it is sprayed in front of the flamethrower mouthpiece), which affects the flight range of its scab;

b) it must not burn too much in the air, otherwise it burns up in the air by 70-80% and only a small amount of it reaches the target;

c) must ignite without fail.

Viscous mixtures most fully satisfy the specific requirements of flamethrowing. At the same time, they also have disadvantages, one of which is their instability. The properties of viscous mixtures change depending on the season and the ambient temperature. In a number of cases, due to the climatic features of the theater of military operations, the formulations of flamethrower mixtures could be different and fluctuated in the ratio of one or another component. So, there were "winter" and "summer" recipes with the same components, but with an increase or decrease, depending on the sharp fluctuations in temperature.

By the beginning of World War II, flamethrowers were in service with most developed countries, and were also produced during the war on a massive scale. So, Great Britain had 7.5 thousand flamethrowers, Germany - 146.2 thousand, Italy - 5 thousand, Poland - 0.4 thousand, the USSR - 72.5 thousand; USA - 39 thousand, Japan - 3 thousand. Finland had several hundred captured flamethrowers. In total, during the war years, about 274 thousand infantry flamethrowers of various types were used.

During the war, Great Britain and the USSR produced a type of flamethrower - ampulomet... In it, a capsule (ampoule, bottle) with a fire mixture, which did not have its own engine, was delivered to the target using a propellant charge. The British invention practically did not take part in hostilities, and the Soviet one found widespread use in the defense of Stalingrad. In the future, the Red Army used ampoulometry sporadically. This weapon did not bring any tangible effect, however, in successful individual battles it gave a positive result.

The practice of using flamethrowers has developed special tactics for their use in battle. Military experts noted that along with the destruction of equipment, fortifications and manpower of the enemy, flamethrowers were also characterized by a significant psychological effect on the enemy in combination with small arms, tanks and artillery.

For the successful use of flamethrowers, the guidance documents indicated the need for such measures as the preparation of flamethrower crews for joint actions in the combat formations of troops, careful reconnaissance of targets to be hit, blocking targets and ways to approach them with the help of artillery and mortar fire and smoke weapons, fire support for the actions of flamethrower crews, selection of appropriate flamethrower means, close interaction with the infantry, maneuvering forces and fire, supply and reloading of flamethrowers. At the same time, it was necessary to take into account the capabilities of flamethrower weapons in the consolidated plan of fire support, anti-tank warfare and obstacles.

If knapsack flamethrowers, first of all, were used to destroy firing points, as well as openly located enemy manpower, then high-explosive flamethrowers could also be used against tanks. High-explosive flamethrower units were intended to destroy enemy tanks and manpower. Their defensive missions were numerous: to cover tank-hazardous areas, to repel massive attacks by enemy tanks and infantry, to protect the flanks and joints of formations and units, and to strengthen the stability of troops on captured bridgeheads. In offensive battles, their duties were to consolidate the captured lines and repel counterattacks by enemy tanks and infantry. Small groups of flamethrowers, armed with FOGs, mounted on special carts or skis, were included in the assault detachments and groups to destroy fortified enemy firing points.

I was born in 1926 in a Volga village (now it does not exist). The family had seven children, and I was the third. In 1940, the family moved to the city of Yoshkar-Ola (Mari Republic), where his father worked as a carpenter at an ammunition plant.

I stayed to finish the village seven-year plan. He met the war as a sixteen-year-old boy. I was just in the city - I remember there was some kind of holiday there, and now the radio announces that the war has begun. I returned home to the village, and our men are already being taken away. Then the turn came to our year, they drafted me into the army in the fall of 1943.

The training ground was near Moscow, and there was a distribution according to the types of troops. I don't know by what criteria we were chosen, but I ended up in the flamethrower. There they showed everything, and they gave a shot from the flamethrower, it is true - with water! Apparently, they were afraid that someone would set fire to it. I must say that a flamethrower is a terrible weapon, effective. There is no need for any infantry: three flamethrowers can keep the entire line of defense. It is impossible to hide from such a fire (1500 0 C) - everything is on fire. If a drop of fire falls on a person, then it is useless to extinguish, only to tear off the clothes, and even then you will not have time - everything happens instantly. The disadvantage was that the range was short. For the attack, it was necessary to crawl 20 meters. After the war, they made such flamethrowers that shoot more than 200 meters.

At the end of my studies they gave me the rank of corporal and sent me to the front. There he soon got a junior sergeant, and then a sergeant. He commanded a flamethrower unit on the 1st, 2nd Baltic and 3rd Belorussian fronts. I had to fight as part of assault groups. The task was to destroy the equipment and manpower of the enemy, to clear the way for the infantry. All the artillery and engineering groups walked behind. The attack always began with an artillery barrage - they had to bombard through us, but sometimes they hit us too. Well, communication back then was not the same as now, when you can get through to any corner.

I had ten people under my command. And they went on assignments like this: they chose the worst weather. Slush, rain, snow, fog, night - this is our job. We were dirty like pigs. Any obstacle can be overcome as much as possible - all creep up and as close as possible. It's very difficult with a man. I was experienced in this regard. I always knew my subordinates. And now I remember everyone by name - Vanya, Kolya, Fedya. We went on assignments in three, it was no longer possible. They killed us as I don’t know who ... Here I take three and instruct: “If only a rocket and you raised your hand like that, don't take it away, just keep it. Raised your head, don't nod. " After all, if you did something wrong - that's it, you will be killed.

Well, what do you remember. Here is my first operation. It was just our offensive in Belarus. The Germans began to retreat, but we deliberately did not cross their path. He told his own: "To lie down and not move." And we settled down in the bush. First, they let the reconnaissance pass by us. We went further, closer - we do not touch them. Then the equipment went, they began to take out the ammunition. And this is more important to us. When the cars started moving, I aimed at the center, drove a segment - the cars caught fire. And as I managed to bounce off - everything exploded there, and the craters remained - not to pass, not to pass.

Then here's another assignment of mine. It was near the city of Proekul, in Latvia. I already had great experience, but by that time I had lost 10 people (one remained). Asked for replenishment, gave youth. And young people - after all, it is not worse. When a soldier is fired upon, he at least understands. During the offensive, they made an ambush near the road. I looked, there was a passenger car like our "Moskvich". My comrade (Tolya's name) and I jump out from both sides, pointed the trunks, and stopped the car. I opened the door and saw that there were officers. He grabbed the first by the breasts and pulled out. They did not resist, because they simply did not expect us, so we did everything in a smart way. After all, their reconnaissance passed, the infantry passed, they were informed by radio that everything was calm. We waited for this moment.

So, I myself led someone like a general. When I grabbed him, by a sinful deed, the order, tore off the cross from him, I thought I would live, at least I would show people. He brought him out of the way, but he does not go further and says something in his own way. I don’t understand their language, but I have to walk 200 meters and I don’t have time to figure it out. How he slapped him! Nerves can't stand it. It's simple there. I hit him, he fell, I kicked him: “Come on! Get up! " I take him to the commander's headquarters. There the translator sat and translated him: here de, the sergeant of the flamethrower unit beat the general. And the commander still comes up to me, hugs me - "well done!" - He says.

In general, I was respected. The first from the battalion received the Order of Glory, then he was the first to receive the second award, the third. They killed us often. No one surrendered to me. Everyone was afraid of this, but it was not. My task was according to the instructions, according to the secret: if only I was surrounded, I had to kill myself (I had a pistol) - yes, this was my duty, like every flamethrower. The infantrymen did not have this. And I also had to open the flamethrower, release the fuel, scatter the cartridges, in general, destroy the weapon. And no one even thought of captivity, in any case. Everyone knew their instructions, they signed up upon entering the flamethrower troops. And the inner attitude was: I'd rather die, but not give up.

In the forty-third the Germans still rested great. I don't even know what helped us then. There were few weapons then, they appeared more in the forty-fourth. Here, our "Katyushas" - but at first they were not there either. When I came, there weren't enough machines. Once it even happened like this: I saw that the killed soldier was lying, he was swollen, and the belt had run over the canvas body. How to be? And the weapon must be removed. Here, he pressed down with his boot, turned everything around, took off the disk and hung it on himself. So he armed himself. Where to go?

Outfit? Well, what is already there - the only thing, they gave me the shoes. So I frayed them all. The overcoat, as in the beginning, was given out, so he walked in it until the end of the war. In Eastern Europe, the weather was always almost the same: slush, endless mud. The cold was not stronger than minus ten. Still, you can freeze. You wrap yourself in what you only have. There was a case, they said. Zhukov arrived, conducts an inspection, and the soldiers are all barefoot: some have a footcloth on their feet, some have tied their soles. He ordered the commander to shoot, the soldiers were shod. Pests were everywhere. I knew one clerk of the headquarters, the foreman at the commander. He also boasted that he always had a lot of money. The division is replenished - 25 thousand people, and when the fighting has passed, there are not many people left. But money came for everyone. The order was as follows: the soldier must receive it or they were sent to their relatives. So the staff officers did not do this, but filled their pockets with full.

We ate, I don't even know what. Here, once I ate porridge when I came from the first assignment. Before assignments, it sometimes happened: the elder calls and says: "Whom are you taking with you?" Then they take us into the room, and there is sausage, alcohol on the table - as much as you want. I take half a glass of alcohol, dilute it with water, drink it, eat it with sausage. And all that is there, you will not eat much. They say, take with you as much as you want, otherwise you can get stuck during a task somewhere, who will be there to feed. And how much can you take? Half a ring of sausage will fit into my pocket - I won't take any more. You come another time - there is no kitchen. What to eat? They were starving more and more. Well, it was a difficult time, there was a lot missing. If only to end the war - the main thing was ...

Newspapers? Radio? Oh, this is only in what films, maybe, they show. There was nothing like that. In general, I have not seen a single film where it was shown how everything really was. What are they hiding - I don't know ...

And when we went to Europe, nothing changed much. First, we were transferred to another front - we covered 95 kilometers in a day. Once we stopped for a halt. And everyone carried the equipment on themselves - a flamethrower behind their backs, they additionally took the machine gun. Then they walked across Poland. In relations with the Poles, we had such an order. We knew they were harmful (we were warned). They were unfriendly, looked at us as an enemy. If any of them did something, I had the right to kill him immediately, immediately. And this was practiced. And so, when it started, the Poles became smart, they began to respect us. In Latvia, Lithuania, too, they did it as against the Poles. We were also instructed not to talk, and that was all.

There we also had the right to go to the store and buy something. Well, you will come in: they did not treat us very carefully, not well. And then, one of ours disappeared there. They killed him, even the body was not found. Then the three of us began to walk with machine guns. One remains at the door, two enter the store. One is shopping, the other is on the alert. Immediately, the attitude changed: they ran at a run to serve us, and the attacks stopped.

There was no such attitude in Ukraine, only in Western Ukraine. And the Belarusians - they received us very well. We shared everything with local partisans ...

What can be said about the reasons for our failures and victories? Our people are steadfast. It was scary there: all the time under fire. Endurance needs a canine and fighting spirit. Our soldier is more stubborn, more persistent. He will lie there until he is crushed. Another weapon. We had a good one, but if there had been as much of it from the very beginning of the war as in 1944, they would not have gone anywhere. But if the commander is afraid, panic is obtained. If he does not show an example, the soldier will not go anywhere. Basically, of course, everything depends on the commander. However, not from everyone. Here, I saw the battalion commander once, but I don’t know what to call. I found out the company commander only when the war was over, and even then, I will not tell you - the soldiers almost killed him. He disappeared, and no one else saw him. They were hiding, you know. Everything lay on the squad leader and platoon commander ...

One case became an example of personal heroism for me. Once I saw Marshal Ivan Khristoforovich Bagramyan inspecting the positions. He walked at such a walking pace, waving his cane. And suddenly their guns fired a volley, shells exploded very close. So all the commanders around fell into the grooves. And he goes on quietly for himself. So in fact they all felt ashamed. Here's how. I later wrote him a letter expressing personal respect ...

Why did they retreat in the first year of the war? There was a betrayal. Even forty-three. I was just near Moscow, recovering after being wounded. A military factory was nearby - it was blown up. Yes, they made a mistake so that one shift worked, the second took over, and the third was also at the plant, since it was necessary to increase production. All three shifts blew up - it was the spies who worked!

How was life after the war? In 1945 I ended up in a hospital in Pskov. There was such a broken building, half of it was just ruins. After he was sent to Moscow to the collection point for the cured. Here they learned a little, gave the rank of lieutenant and took them to Krasnoyarsk, there new units were formed. He served here in the city of Nazarov until 1955. It was like an ordinary combat company, only there were almost only front-line soldiers serving. And we all wondered why they were holding us for so long. Then I found out, they told me in secret that they were preparing for an attack on Alaska and that they needed experienced, fired upon people. Already invented weapons for preliminary shelling, such that directly from our Chukotka across Alaska. And there were many small parts like ours scattered around. So, if they were pulled together, then the force would come out great!

I served in this special company for a year, only then they let me go home for a visit. Where to go? At home, the whole village collapsed, fellow men did not return. What to do? I went to the city where my brother lived. There I met a nurse in a kindergarten. The next day I made an offer, and a day later we signed with her (I, as a front-line soldier, without a 15-day deadline in the registry office on the day the documents were submitted). The next day I went back to settle down. They gave me an apartment in the unit. Then my wife came and brought my mother-in-law with her.

Only in 1955 was I allowed to demobilize. We moved to Novosibirsk: my wife's brother lived here and has been calling for him for a long time. I got a job at the Turbine Generator Plant. He worked under the leadership of A.A. Nezhevenko. There was such a case once: they made equipment for China and India. And so one generator had to be put on the four-meter pins. To fix them, holes had to be drilled from above. But as? You cannot lift the machine up there. So, when there were days left before the project was completed, the director came to me: no one knew what to do. This is where a small Austrian machine came in handy, which I once picked up and repaired at a junkyard. After that, the director is nowhere without me. And when he went to work at the Institute of Nuclear Physics, he invited me to his place. He needed me here. It was in 1961. I got a job as a borer-coordinator. Made parts for missiles. And six months later, Nezhevenko died. Of the workers, only I was invited to the funeral.

The director of the institute was Academician Budker, with him, too, good relations developed. He was easy to talk to, often at work. There was a case, I remember this: he personally brought me an assignment, drawings in an envelope, even the head of the shop did not know about them. The same device was ordered from the Leningrad plant. So then it turned out that I did better than them. A month later, when I even forgot about this task, they bring me a sealed envelope. I opened it during a break, and there - 500 rubles. I got scared, went secretly to ask the director what it was, maybe some kind of provocation. And he told me that the prize was for an important assignment. And it also happened. Budker comes up and asks: “Kolya, when did you have a rest? "You will go tomorrow." Then only I am writing a request for a vacation, I know that they will let me go.

I myself am not a party member. I didn’t want to join the party, because I saw how they violate everything, steal. This is not for me. And all the time they called me to the party, dragged ...

Now I am the head of the Council of Veterans at the plant. He always organized celebrations on the occasion of Victory Day. Today, there is almost no one to invite. Always negotiated with our dining room. Four managers have changed, but I still work here ...

Recorded by Daria Sheremeteva

Introduced in the industrial 20th century, the jet flamethrower became. Moreover, the manufacturers originally planned it not as an army, but as a police weapon to disperse the demonstrators. A strange way to pacify your own citizens by burning them to the ground.

In the early morning of July 30, 1915, the British troops were stunned by an unprecedented sight: from the direction of the German trenches, huge tongues of flame suddenly burst out and, with a hiss and whistle, whipped towards the British. “Quite unexpectedly, the first lines of troops at the front were engulfed in flames,” the eyewitness recalled with horror. “It was not visible where the fire came from. The soldier seemed to be surrounded by a furiously swirling flame, which was accompanied by a loud roar and thick clouds of black smoke; here and there, drops of boiling oil fell into the trenches or trenches. Screams and howls shook the air. Throwing down their weapons, the British infantry fled in panic to the rear, leaving their positions without a single shot. This is how flamethrowers entered the battlefields.

Fire behind your shoulders

For the first time a knapsack fire device was offered to the Russian Minister of War by the Russian inventor Sieger-Korn in 1898. The device was found difficult and dangerous to use and was not accepted into service under the pretext of "unreality".

Three years later, the German inventor Fiedler created a flamethrower of a similar design, which was adopted without hesitation by the racer. As a result, Germany was able to significantly outstrip other countries in the development and creation of new weapons. The use of poisonous gases no longer achieved its goals - the enemy had gas masks. In an effort to maintain the initiative, the Germans used a new weapon - flamethrowers. On January 18, 1915, a volunteer sapper detachment was formed to test new weapons. The flamethrower was used at Verdun against the French and British. In both cases, he caused panic in the ranks of the enemy infantry, the Germans managed to take enemy positions with small losses. No one could stay in the trench when a stream of fire poured over the parapet.

On the Russian front, the Germans first used flamethrowers on November 9, 1916, in a battle near Baranovichi. However, they did not succeed here. Russian soldiers suffered losses, but did not lose their heads and stubbornly defended themselves. The German infantry, which had risen under the cover of flamethrowers to attack, encountered strong rifle and machine-gun fire. The attack was thwarted.

The German monopoly on flamethrowers did not last long - by the beginning of 1916, all the howling armies, including Russia, were armed with various systems of these weapons.

The design of flamethrowers in Russia began in the spring of 1915, even before they were used by the German troops, and a year later a knapsack flamethrower designed by Tavarnitsky was adopted. At the same time, Russian engineers Stranden, Povarin, Stolitsa invented a high-explosive piston flamethrower: from it the combustible mixture was thrown out not by compressed gas, but by a powder charge. At the beginning of 1917, a flamethrower called SPS had already entered mass production.

Flamethrower tank OT-133 based on the light tank T-26 (1939)

How are they arranged

In the First World War, two types of flamethrowers were used: knapsack in offensive operations, heavy - in defense. Between the world wars, a third type of flamethrower appeared - a high-explosive one.

The knapsack flamethrower is a steel tank with a capacity of 15–20 liters, filled with a flammable liquid and compressed gas. When the tap is opened, the liquid is thrown out through a flexible rubber hose and a metal hose and ignited by an igniter.

The heavy flamethrower consists of an iron tank with a capacity of about 200 liters with an outlet pipe, a crane and hand brackets. The hose with a control handle and an igniter is movably mounted on a gun carriage. The range of the jet is 40-60 m, the sector of destruction is 130-1800. A shot from a flamethrower affects an area of 300–500 m2. With one shot, it can be incapacitated up to an infantry platoon.

The high-explosive flamethrower differs from the knapsack flamethrower in design and principle of operation - the fire mixture from the tank is thrown out by the pressure of the gases formed during the combustion of the powder charge. An incendiary cartridge is put on the nozzle, and a powder ejection cartridge with an electric fuse is inserted into the charger. Powder gases emit liquid at 35-50 m.

The main disadvantage of the jet flamethrower is its short range. When shooting at long distances, an increase in the pressure of the system is required, but this is not easy - the fire mixture is simply pulverized (sprayed). This can only be dealt with by increasing the viscosity (thickening the mixture). But at the same time, a freely flying burning jet of fire mixture may not reach the target, completely burnt out in the air.

Hit of the Second World War - backpack flamethrower ROKS-3

Cocktail

All the terrifying power of flamethrower-incendiary weapons lies in incendiary substances. Their combustion temperature is 800–10000C and more (up to 35000C) with a very stable flame. Fire mixtures do not contain oxidizing agents and are burned due to atmospheric oxygen. Incendiary substances are mixtures of various flammable liquids: oil, gasoline and kerosene, light coal oil with benzene, phosphorus solution in carbon disulfide, etc. Fire mixtures based on petroleum products can be both liquid and viscous. The former consist of a mixture of gasoline with heavy motor fuel and lubricating oil. In this case, a wide swirling jet of intense flame is formed, flying 20-25 meters. The burning mixture is capable of flowing into cracks and holes of target objects, but a significant part of it burns out in flight. The main disadvantage of liquid mixtures is that they do not stick to objects.

Napalm, that is, thickened mixtures, is a different matter. They can stick to objects and thereby increase the affected area. Liquid petroleum products are used as their fuel base - gasoline, jet fuel, benzene, kerosene and a mixture of gasoline with heavy motor fuel. The most commonly used thickeners are polystyrene or polybutadiene.

Napalm is highly flammable and adheres even to damp surfaces. It is impossible to extinguish it with water, so it floats on the surface, continuing to burn. The burning temperature of napalm is 800-11000C. Metallized incendiary mixtures (pyrogels) have a higher combustion temperature - 1400-16000C. They are made by adding powders of some metals (magnesium, sodium), heavy petroleum products (asphalt, fuel oil) and some types of combustible polymers - isobutyl methacrylate, polybutadiene to ordinary napalm.

American flamethrower М1А1 during WWII

Lighter people

The army profession of a flamethrower was extremely dangerous - as a rule, it was necessary to get close to the enemy several tens of meters with a huge piece of iron behind. According to an unwritten rule, soldiers of all armies of World War II did not take flamethrowers and snipers prisoner, they were shot on the spot.

For each flamethrower, there was at least one and a half flamethrower. The fact is that high-explosive flamethrowers were disposable (after detonation, a factory reload was required), and the work of a flamethrower with such a weapon was akin to a sapper. High-explosive flamethrowers were dug in front of their own trenches and fortifications at a distance of several tens of meters, leaving only a disguised nozzle on the surface. When the enemy approached at a shot distance (from 10 to 100 m), the flamethrowers were activated (“undermined”).

The battle for the Shchuchinkovsky bridgehead is indicative. The battalion was able to make the first volley of fire only an hour after the start of the attack, having already lost 10% of its personnel and all the artillery. 23 flamethrowers were blown up, destroying 3 tanks and 60 infantrymen. Once under fire, the Germans retreated 200-300 m and began to shoot Soviet positions with tank guns with impunity. Our fighters moved to reserve camouflaged positions, and the situation repeated itself. As a result, the battalion, having used up almost the entire supply of flamethrowers and having lost more than half of its composition, destroyed six more tanks, one self-propelled gun and 260 fascists by evening, barely holding the bridgehead. This classic combat shows the advantages and disadvantages of flamethrowers - they are useless beyond 100m and are terrifyingly effective when unexpectedly applied at close range.

Soviet flamethrowers managed to use high-explosive flamethrowers in the offensive. For example, in one sector of the Western Front, before a night attack, 42 (!) High-explosive flamethrowers were buried at a distance of only 30–40 m from the German wooden-earthen defensive embankment with machine-gun and artillery embrasures. At dawn, the flamethrowers were blown up by one salvo, completely destroying a kilometer of the enemy's first line of defense. In this episode, the fantastic courage of the flamethrowers is admired - to bury a 32-kg cylinder 30 m from the machine-gun embrasure!

No less heroic were the actions of flamethrowers with ROKS backpack flamethrowers. A soldier with an additional 23 kg behind his back was required under deadly enemy fire to reach the trenches, get close to a distance of 20-30 m to the fortified machine-gun nest, and only then fire a volley. Here is a far from complete list of German losses from Soviet knapsack flamethrowers: 34,000 people, 120 tanks, self-propelled guns and armored personnel carriers, more than 3,000 bunkers, bunkers and other firing points, 145 vehicles.

Costume burners

The German Wehrmacht in 1939-1940 used a portable flamethrower arr. 1935, reminiscent of flamethrowers from the First World War. To protect the flamethrowers themselves from burns, special leather suits were developed: a jacket, trousers and gloves. Lightweight "Small Improved Flamethrower" mod. 1940, only one soldier could serve on the battlefield.

Flamethrowers were used extremely effectively by the Germans in the capture of the Belgian border forts. The paratroopers landed directly on the battle cover of the casemates and with flamethrower shots into the embrasures silenced the firing points. At the same time, a novelty was used: an L-shaped tip on the fire hose, which allowed the flamethrower, when fired, to stand on the side of the embrasure or act from above.

The fighting in the winter of 1941 showed that at low temperatures German flamethrowers were unusable due to the unreliable ignition of a flammable liquid. The Wehrmacht was armed with a flamethrower mod. 1941, which took into account the experience of the combat use of German and Soviet flamethrowers. In accordance with the Soviet model, igniter cartridges were used in the ignition system of the flammable liquid. In 1944, a disposable flamethrower FmW 46 was created for parachute parts, resembling a giant syringe weighing 3.6 kg, 600 mm long and 70 mm in diameter. He provided flamethrowing at 30 m.

At the end of the war, 232 knapsack flamethrowers were transferred to the Reich fire brigade. With their help, the corpses of civilians who died in bomb shelters during air raids on German cities were burned.

In the post-war period, the LPO-50 light infantry flamethrower was adopted in the USSR, providing three fire shots. Now it is produced in China under the name Type 74 and is in service with many countries of the world, former members of the Warsaw Pact and some countries of Southeast Asia.

Jet flamethrowers replaced jet flamethrowers, where the fire mixture, enclosed in a sealed capsule, is delivered by a jet projectile to hundreds and thousands of meters. But this is already different.

The FmW-35 portable backpack flamethrower was produced in 1935-1940. It consisted of a machine tool (tubular frame) with two shoulder straps, to which two metal tanks were vertically attached: the large one contained the Flammöl No. 19 combustible mixture, the small one, located to its left, was compressed nitrogen. The large tank was connected with a flexible reinforced hose with a fire hose, and the small tank was connected with a large one by means of a hose with a valve. The flamethrower had electric ignition, which made it possible to arbitrarily adjust the duration of the shots. To use the weapon, the flamethrower, directing the hose towards the target, turned on the igniter located at the end of the barrel, opened the nitrogen supply valve, and then the combustible mixture supply. The flamethrower could be used by one person, but the calculation included 1 - 2 infantrymen, who covered the flamethrower. A total of 1200 units were produced. TTX flamethrower: fire mixture tank capacity - 11.8 liters; number of shots - 35; maximum duration of work - 45 s; jet range - 45 m; curb weight - 36 kg.

Knapsack flamethrower Klein flammenwerfer (Kl.Fm.W)

Knapsack flamethrower Klein flammenwerfer (Kl.Fm.W) or Flammenwerfer 40 klein was produced in 1940-1941. It worked on the FmW.35 principle, but had a smaller volume and weight. A small flamethrower tank was located inside a large one. TTX flamethrower: fire mixture tank capacity - 7.5 l; jet range - 25 - 30 m; curb weight - 21.8 kg.

Knapsack flamethrower Flammenwerfer 41 (FmW.41)

Backpack flamethrower Flammenwerfer 43 (FmW.43)

The flamethrower was produced in 1942-1945. and was the most massive during the war. It consisted of a special machine with two shoulder straps, a large tank for the fire mixture, a small tank with compressed gas, a special cannon and an ignition device. A large and a small tank were located horizontally in the lower part of a trapezoidal semi-rigid canvas loom of a knapsack type on a light welded frame. This arrangement reduced the silhouette of the flamethrower, thereby reducing the likelihood of an enemy hitting a tank with a fire mixture. To eliminate misfires during the ignition of the fire mixture in winter, at the end of 1942, the ignition device in the flamethrower was replaced with a reactive squib. The upgraded flamethrower received the designation Flammenwerfer mit Strahlpatrone 41 (FmWS.41). Now his ammunition included a special pouch with 10 squibs. The weight was reduced to 18 kg and the volume of the mixture was reduced to 7 liters.

A total of 64.3 thousand flamethrowers of both modifications were produced. TTX flamethrower: curb weight - 22 kg; the capacity of the fire mixture tank - 7.5 l; nitrogen tank capacity - 3 liters; jet range - 25 - 30 m; maximum duration of work - 10 s.

As a result of further design improvements, the Flammenwerfer mit Strahlpatrone 41 flamethrower became the basis for subsequent work on the creation of new knapsack flamethrowers - Flammenwerfer 43 (with a fire mixture volume of 9 liters and a range of 40 meters, weighing 24 kg) and Flammenwerfer 44 (with a fire mixture volume of 4 liters and a firing range of 28 meters, weighing 12 kg). However, the production of such flamethrowers was limited to only small-scale batches.

Flamethrower Einstoss-Flammenwerfer 46 (Einstossflammenwerfer)

In 1944, a disposable flamethrower Einstoss-Flammenwerfer 46 (Einstossflammenwerfer) was developed for parachute units. The flamethrower was capable of firing one half-second shot. They were also armed with infantry units and Volkssturm. In the army units it was designated as "Volksflammerwerfer 46" or "Abwehrflammenwerfer 46". TTX: weight of equipped flamethrower - 3.6 kg; the volume of the fire mixture tank - 1.7 l; jet range - 27 m; length - 0.6 m; diameter - 70 mm. In 1944-1945. 30.7 thousand flamethrowers were produced.

Medium flamethrower "Mittlerer Flammenwerfer" was in service with the sapper units of the Wehrmacht. The flamethrower was moved by the forces of the calculation. TTX flamethrower: weight - 102 kg; the volume of the fire mixture tank - 30 l; maximum duration of work - 25 s; jet range - 25-30 m; calculation - 2 people.

The Flammenwerfer Anhanger flamethrower was powered by an engine driven pump that was mounted on the chassis along with the flamethrower. TTX flamethrower: curb weight - 408 kg; the volume of the fire mixture tank - 150 l; maximum duration of work - 24 s; jet range - 40-50 m.

The disposable, defensive flamethrower Abwehr Flammenwerfer 42 (A.Fm.W. 42) was developed on the basis of the Soviet high-explosive flamethrower FOG-1. For use, it was buried in the ground, a camouflaged nozzle tube remained on the surface. The device was triggered either from a remote control or from contact with a stretch. A total of 50 thousand units were produced. TTX flamethrower: volume of fire mixture - 29 l; affected area - a strip 30 m long, 15 m wide; maximum duration of work - 3 s.

Backpack flamethrowers still in business? October 2nd, 2017

Chinese military training with jet backpack flamethrower ().

How many meters does it hit? It seemed to me that the armies of the world are now armed only with jet (manual or mechanized) flamethrowers. Aren't you still armed with knapsack flamethrowers?

A bit of history:

The German monopoly on flamethrowers did not last long - by the beginning of 1916, all the howling armies, including Russia, were armed with various systems of these weapons.

How are they arranged

A knapsack flamethrower is a steel tank with a capacity of 15-20 liters, filled with a flammable liquid and compressed gas. When the tap is opened, the liquid is thrown out through a flexible rubber hose and a metal hose and ignited by an igniter.

The heavy flamethrower consists of an iron tank with a capacity of about 200 liters with an outlet pipe, a crane and hand brackets. The hose with the control handle and the igniter is movably mounted on the gun carriage. The range of the jet is 40-60 m, the sector of destruction is 130-1800. A shot from a flamethrower affects an area of 300-500 m2. With one shot, it can be incapacitated up to an infantry platoon.

Flamethrower ROKS-3

Cocktail

All the terrifying power of flamethrower-incendiary weapons lies in incendiary substances. Their combustion temperature is 800-1000C and more (up to 3500C) with a very stable flame. Fire mixtures do not contain oxidizing agents and are burned due to atmospheric oxygen. Incendiary substances are mixtures of various flammable liquids: oil, gasoline and kerosene, light coal oil with benzene, phosphorus solution in carbon disulfide, etc. Fire mixtures based on petroleum products can be both liquid and viscous. The former consist of a mixture of gasoline with heavy motor fuel and lubricating oil. In this case, a wide swirling jet of intense flame is formed, flying 20-25 meters. The burning mixture is capable of flowing into cracks and holes of target objects, but a significant part of it burns out in flight. The main disadvantage of liquid mixtures is that they do not stick to objects.

Napalm is highly flammable and adheres even to damp surfaces. It is impossible to extinguish it with water, so it floats on the surface, continuing to burn. The burning temperature of napalm is 800-11000C. A higher combustion temperature - 1400-16000C - is possessed by metallized incendiary mixtures (pyrogels). They are made by adding powders of some metals (magnesium, sodium), heavy petroleum products (asphalt, fuel oil) and some types of combustible polymers - isobutyl methacrylate, polybutadiene to ordinary napalm.

Lighter people

Soviet flamethrowers managed to use high-explosive flamethrowers in the offensive. For example, in one sector of the Western Front, before a night attack, 42 (!) High-explosive flamethrowers were buried at a distance of only 30-40 m from the German wooden-earthen defensive embankment with machine-gun and artillery embrasures. At dawn, the flamethrowers were blown up by one salvo, completely destroying a kilometer of the enemy's first line of defense. In this episode, the fantastic courage of the flamethrowers is admired - to bury a 32-kg cylinder 30 m from the machine-gun embrasure!

No less heroic were the actions of flamethrowers with ROKS backpack flamethrowers. A soldier with an additional 23 kg behind his back was required to reach the trenches under deadly enemy fire, get close to a distance of 20-30 m to the fortified machine-gun nest, and only then fire a volley. Here is a far from complete list of German losses from Soviet knapsack flamethrowers: 34,000 people, 120 tanks, self-propelled guns and armored personnel carriers, more than 3,000 bunkers, bunkers and other firing points, 145 vehicles.

Costume burners

The German Wehrmacht in 1939-1940 used a portable flamethrower mod. 1935, reminiscent of flamethrowers from the First World War. To protect the flamethrowers themselves from burns, special leather suits were developed: a jacket, trousers and gloves. Lightweight "Small Improved Flamethrower" mod. 1940, only one soldier could serve on the battlefield.

Jet flamethrowers replaced jet flamethrowers, where the fire mixture, enclosed in a sealed capsule, is delivered by a jet projectile to hundreds and thousands of meters. But that is another story.

sources

All about tuning cars

Flamethrowers of the Second World War (photo). Flamethrowers in World War I German Flamethrower in World War II

Knapsack flamethrower Klein flammenwerfer (Kl.Fm.W)

Knapsack flamethrower Flammenwerfer 41 (FmW.41)

Backpack flamethrower Flammenwerfer 43 (FmW.43)

Flamethrower Einstoss-Flammenwerfer 46 (Einstossflammenwerfer)