Air Weapons: Thermobaric Grenades go Airborne
December 21, 2023: Ukraine has demonstrated lots of ingenuity and innovation while fighting the invading Russian forces. A recent example of this was the Ukrainian use of UAVs (quadcopters) carrying a thermobaric/FAE (Fuel Air Explosive) grenade. The grenade carrying UAVs continuously search for Russian troops and only return to their operator to get their batteries recharged or to have another grenade installed after a successful attack. Using a small UAV armed with an FAE grenade doesn’t kill a lot of Russian soldiers but the existence of these armed UAVs terrifies Russian troops. The quadcopters are small targets and difficult to hit with rifle or machine-gun fire The UAVs are operated by nearby Ukrainian operators who are also taking notes on the dispositions of Russian forces. The UAV operators are difficult to attack because the Russian don’t know where they are.
UAVs have become heavily used by both sides for surveillance, reconnaissance, and attacks. These UAVs have become common in the combat zone because thousands have been built and used by both sides. This has been revealing for military analysts and leaders worldwide. The Russian invasion of Ukraine two years ago has resulted in the first, since World War II, major war between nations armed with nearly equal and similar weapons. What is different is the heavy use of UAVs. This has brought about changes in tactics and, to a lesser extent, strategy. Ukraine developed and heavily uses USV (Unmanned Surface Vehicles) which are used mainly for attacks on enemy naval targets and bases. Because of these USVs as well as UAVs the Russian Black Sea fleet has taken heavy losses and no longer controls the Black Sea. UAVs carrying explosives have attacked ships as well as naval bases. Warships and their bases shoot down UAVs but since these attackers are not manned, the attacker can afford to lose a lot of them in order to damage the Russian ships and naval bases. Before this UAV revolution, the attacker would lose more personnel than the defender. Attacks using UAVs reverse that situation with the defender, no matter how well armed, losing far more people than the attacker. This is one reason for the attack UAVs to carry FAE grenades or larger FAE weapons.
Russia has been using FAE weapons for a long time, especially in Ukraine. Earlier in the Ukraine War Russia sent some of their TOS-1A tank-mounted thermobaric/FAE 220mm rocket launchers to Ukraine. A TOS-1A carries 24 220mm rockets while a separate reload vehicle carries two pods containing rockets.
https://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htairw/articles/20231221.aspx
