There are excellent weapons in our army, but there are simply awesome in their effectiveness. The last category includes the installation of volley fire "Pinocchio". Manufacturers themselves say that after one volley within a radius of three kilometers there is nothing alive, not even bacteria.
At one time, the appearance of these machines caused a real tantrum among domestic "human rights activists" who claimed that the Russian Armed Forces with their help "destroy the civilian population." The absence of witnesses did not bother them at all - since nothing remains in a radius of three kilometers, then there is no demand. Let us leave this question to their conscience.
Today we are interested in something else. Why is the installation of volley fire "Pinocchio", the effectiveness of which is simply amazing, in the arsenal of our army is almost in single copies? In addition, what is this complex all about? To answer this question, this article was written.
What do chemists have to do with it?
In the mid-1980s, work on the creation of thermobaric volumetric explosion shells completely captured the attention of generals. And not without reason! After all, the effect of the explosion of such ammunition in appearance and consequences is similar to the effect of a small tactical nuclear charge. Almost all branches of the armed forces "lined up", eager to accept something like this for service. However, the infantry quickly waited for the portable Bumblebees, but everyone else had to wait for the creation of heavy salvo systems.
Especially for the Air Force, a unique ODAB-500 bomb was soon created . But RKhBZ, oddly enough, decided to go their own way. It is not known exactly why the chemical forces have such a system. We can only assume that it is intended to burn the enemy’s dangerous chemical weapons before they can use them.
Omsk designers and their Perm colleagues from the famous Motovilikha were tasked. In the first version, the new installation was called TOS, but the second - the installation of multiple launch rocket "Pinocchio" TOS-1. Whatever you say, but in vain our military is accused of lack of humor ...
Combat experience
The first "debut" took place in 1988-89 with the actions of a limited military contingent in Afghanistan. Then the Pinocchio rocket launcher (two units) was deployed in the Charikar valley, as well as in South Salang (Typhoon). Even then, regulations were created indicating the inadmissibility of a long stay in a firing position. As a rule, cars struck, and then immediately left the “illuminated” point.
Most often, any operation was carried out only under the reliable cover of three or four tanks and infantry, which were supposed to prevent the actions of enemy grenade launchers. To minimize all the risks of an emergency, the side rocket containers were left empty. All the difficulties were rewarded a hundredfold: it turned out that the action of thermobaric ammunition in the highlands was simply unbelievable. The landscape itself dramatically increased the strength and power of the explosion.
By the way, the Pinocchio installation was highly recommended for adoption after these field trials. In Chechnya, this weapon was first used during the second campaign, in March 2000 (the assault on Komsomolsky). As both sides of the conflict say, the main effect was psychological: the militants were so "inspired" by what they saw that they began to leave positions only when rumors appeared that the Pinocchio installation would be used.
Device Overview
Judging by their appearance, at first glance the Pinocchio resembles the usual chassis of the T-72 tank, on which a package of tubular guides (30 pieces) is installed. Missiles (220 mm caliber, by the way), are fueled by a special volume-detonating combat mixture. Thus differing from MLRS systems (Grad, Smerch), these missiles have a minimum amount of fuel. This is due to the fact that the launch range does not exceed 3.5 kilometers. To improve guidance accuracy, the launcher is mounted on a turntable.
Present day
It was for such a short range that the Pinocchio installation, whose photo is in the article, was repeatedly criticized by some experts. Fortunately, the domestic industry still does not stand still, and therefore, to date, new types of shells have been developed that fly six kilometers.
Aiming at the target is carried out by the crew, which for this purpose uses a laser rangefinder and a ballistic computer. The Pinocchio fire system itself (fire control system, more precisely) is semi-automatic, aiming at the target is carried out in manual mode.
Shooting can be conducted both single and doublet, as well as a burst (30 missiles fly in 7.5 seconds). The power of the installation is really amazing: powerful brick buildings turn into a mountain of steaming rubble in just a couple of seconds. It is better not to think about the fate of the enemy hiding in them.
Secrecy - Above All!
Despite the fact that the Buratino multiple launch rocket launcher quite actively participated in the Afghan events, the weapons were hidden for a long time under dozens of Secret classifieds. After the "Pinocchio" very "pleased" the militants in the village of Komsomolsky, secrecy was removed. There was no point in holding it further, since TOS-1 salvos were broadcast on all federal channels.
Now the description of "Pinocchio" can be easily found even in foreign forums, not to mention domestic resources.
Unrealized prospects
Some sources report that at one time there was a rumor about the creation of a TOS in Omsk on the basis of the T-80 tank - the only one in the USSR that had a gas turbine power plant. Given the characteristics of this chassis, one could hope for a sharply increased mobility and maneuverability of the resulting machine. Among other things, it was planned to additionally arm the Pinocchio with a 30-mm automatic gun and a 7.62 mm machine gun. In this case, the volley fire "Pinocchio" could be supplemented with a "salute" of additional weapons.
Theoretically, all measures taken could slightly increase the combat power and effectiveness of the system. It is not known for certain whether this development has advanced beyond proposals or layouts. However, many experts believe, not without reason, that such a modification would not give anything good. Firstly, the question immediately arises of the appropriateness of placing a combat vehicle on the T-80 chassis, which was far from being used as widely as its "colleague," T-72.
The negative sides of such a modification
Despite the many positive aspects of a gas turbine power plant, its maintenance and repair are much more expensive. In addition, the woeful experience of 1995 (the storming of Grozny) clearly showed that the use of military service soldiers as operators of this kind of equipment should not be. Given that it is the draftees who are the backbone of the modern Russian army, such a modification would hardly be in demand.
At present, our army still has a significant number of gas turbine T-80s, but still their number is not too significant. It’s rather silly to remake this equipment into heavy flamethrower systems when there are thousands of outdated T-72 modifications in warehouses.
How it works?
Having said many flattering words about the military power of TOS-1 “Pinocchio”, it is time to tell about the principles on which the system’s work itself is based.
To put it simply, the ammunition of a volumetric explosion first creates a cloud of flammable aerosol, and then set it on fire. Both liquids and finely divided powder mixtures of metals can be used. To make the mixture completely homogeneous, special mixing devices are included in the design of the munition, which work until they reach the target. Designers have to solve many difficult tasks. One of the most difficult is to prevent premature ignition of the mixture immediately after the destruction of the shell of the shell.
With this requirement, the Pinocchio missile launcher differs sharply from the MLRS, the shells of which should just detonate immediately after contact with the target.
Differences from conventional ammunition
Aerosol differs from standard explosives, which are usually used in ammunition, by the slow speed of the blast wave propagation (about 3000 m / s), as well as by its long lifetime. That is why such a mixture affects a large area. As for the thermobaric effect, it is associated with the fact that at the time of the explosion all the oxygen that is in the affected area reacts with the components of the aerosol.
The process takes a split second. During this time, the pressure first rises sharply, and then drops just as sharply, reaching a mark of 160 mm. Hg. Art and even lower. If the enemy survives after a sharp rise in temperature (which is already unlikely, since it reaches 3000 degrees Celsius), then at the moment of pressure decrease it will simply break.
Heavy armored vehicles that find themselves in
the affected area become completely unusable, while armored personnel carriers, infantry fighting vehicles and similar vehicles turn into piles of metal trash.
Pros and many disadvantages
In addition to chemists, TOS “Pinocchio” entered service with sappers, which with its help should destroy the fortifications of a well-entrenched enemy. The armor allows you to adjust the installation to a distance of a direct shot, and then completely destroy the reference point with several missiles. An excellent tank chassis gives it mobility comparable to the maneuverability of an armored personnel carrier and infantry fighting vehicle.
Despite all of the above, you should not consider the POC "Pinocchio" as some kind of "miracle weapon". Large dimensions and weak armor are not the best combination on the battlefield. And if the crew is still relatively well protected, the main danger is in the chaotic expansion of missiles from the destruction of the launcher even by a machine gun bullet. Just imagine how many troubles three dozen thermobaric missiles can do, scattered in the arrangement of their own parts!
And therefore, in the same Chechnya, “Buratin” was produced only under the guise of two or three tanks. “Having done the job,” the whole company neatly crawled into cover. However, the work of flamethrowers in the war was never simple: just compare the person with the flamethrower behind him, who carefully crawls to the enemy bunker with the system described by us, and you will understand how much they have in common!
So why are there so few of them?
At present, it is impossible to say with certainty how many TOS-1 “Pinocchio” are in our army, but, by all indications, there are not so many of them. So why is a weapon with such high performance not massively in service? The thing is that this is a specific “tool” for individual operations. With massive military operations, the MLRS is much more convenient and safer, as it allows firing from closed positions.
Foreign contracts
In general, immediately after declassifying the machine, repeated attempts were made to market TOC abroad. At first, things did not go very well in this direction. This was largely due to the fact that an obsolete option was offered for export, which was far from being so interesting to customers.
Already in 2010, in Jordan, the CBT was advertised with new shells (see above), the range of which was already six kilometers. The local army was very interested in a new model of weapons. In particular, it was supposed to study the possibility of modernization by Russian specialists of the M-60 tanks, on the chassis of which the Jordanians wanted to establish domestic development.
In principle, this is nothing extraordinary, since the Pinocchio salvo system is actually a combat module that can be installed on any armored vehicle that is suitable for mass. So, in Jordan, the chassis of the Tariq or Khalid tanks could be used for these purposes. In addition, the chassis of the recently acquired English Challenger 1 (Al-Hussein) also fits perfectly for this purpose.
First customer
Be that as it may, the first buyer was Kazakhstan, which for the past 25 years has repeatedly shown itself as a reliable trading and strategic partner. First, the Kazakh military purchased three TOS. This was a special option: it differed from the base one in that the T-90 was used as a chassis.
However, to date, an agreement has been reached that TOZ will be carried out by Russian specialists directly in Kazakhstan, for which they plan to use the reserves of the old T-72, which are currently in conservation.