Rocks backpack flamethrower. Backpack flamethrowers in the Red Army Backpack jet flamethrowers technical characteristics

At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War The rifle regiments of the Red Army had flamethrower teams consisting of two sections, armed with 20 ROKS-2 backpack flamethrowers. Based on the experience of using these flamethrowers, at the beginning of 1942, a more advanced backpack flamethrower ROKS-3 was developed, which was in service individual mouth and battalions of backpack flamethrowers of the Red Army throughout the war.

Structurally, a backpack flamethrower consists of a tank for the fire mixture, a cylinder for compressed air, a reducer, a flexible hose connecting the tank to the fire-hose gun, the fire-hose gun and carrying equipment.
ROKS-3 operated as follows: compressed air, located in a cylinder under a pressure of 150 atm, entered the reducer, where its pressure was reduced to an operating level of 17 atm. Under this pressure, the air passed through the tube through the check valve into the tank with the mixture. Under the pressure of compressed air, the fire mixture flowed through an intake tube located inside the tank and a flexible hose into the valve box. When the trigger was pressed, the valve opened and the fire mixture rushed out along the barrel. On the way, it passed through a damper, which extinguished the screw vortices that arose in the fire mixture. At the same time, the firing pin, under the action of the spring, broke the primer of the ignition cartridge, the flame of which was directed by the visor towards the muzzle of the fire hose gun and ignited the stream of fire mixture as it flew out of the tip.
The backpack flamethrower was equipped with a viscous fire mixture, the flamethrowing range of which reached 40 m (with a tailwind - up to 42 m). The weight of one charge of the fire mixture is 8.5 kg. The weight of the equipped flamethrower is 23 kg. One charge could fire 6–8 short or 1–2 long fire shots.
In June 1942, the first eleven separate companies of backpack flamethrowers (OPRO) were formed. According to the state, they were armed with 120 flamethrowers.

Units armed with ROKS received their first combat test during the period Battle of Stalingrad.
In the offensive operations of 1944, Red Army troops had to break through not only enemy defenses positional type, but also fortified areas where units armed with backpack flamethrowers could operate successfully. Therefore, along with the existence of separate companies of backpack flamethrowers, in May 1944, separate battalions of backpack flamethrowers (OBRO) were created and included in the assault engineer brigades. The battalion had 240 ROKS-3 flamethrowers (two companies of 120 flamethrowers each).
Backpack flamethrowers were successfully used to destroy enemy personnel located in trenches, communication passages and other defensive structures. Flamethrowers were also used to repel counterattacks by tanks and infantry. ROKS acted with great efficiency in destroying enemy garrisons in long-term structures when breaking through fortified areas.
Typically, a company of backpack flamethrowers was attached to a rifle regiment or acted as part of an assault engineer battalion. The regiment commander (commander of the assault engineer battalion), in turn, reassigned the flamethrower platoons into sections and groups of 3–5 people as part of rifle platoons and assault groups.

Between the First and Second World Wars, the closest attention was paid to flamethrower and incendiary weapons. Including such a “maneuverable” version of it as backpack flamethrowers.

In the USSR, pneumatic jet backpack flamethrowers went through their own development path.

WEAPONS OF THE CHEMICAL FORCES

Having the mobility of an “infantry” weapon, a pneumatic backpack flamethrower could be used both for flamethrowing and for setting up a smoke screen or using chemical warfare agents - in the interwar period, such versatility was considered necessary for weapons of the “chemical forces”. Still, flamethrowing remained the main task. This was the basis for the development of new backpack flamethrowers on the eve of the Great Patriotic War.

The main problem with pneumatic flamethrowers, identified back in the flamethrowers of the First World War, was pressure surges in compressed gas as gas and fire mixture were consumed. By 1940, the design of the gearbox was perfected, making the flamethrower shots more uniform and becoming the basis for the creation of new pneumatic flamethrowers.

In 1940, a flamethrower designed by V.N. Klyuev and M.P. Sergeev, which received the designation ROKS (“knapsack flamethrower of Klyuev and Sergeev”), entered service with the chemical units of the Red Army. The fire mixture was in a flat tank connected by a flexible hose to a fire-hose gun; the incendiary device at the end of the fire-hose contained tow, ignited by a special cartridge. With sufficient compactness and quite modern indicators in terms of fire mixture reserve and flame-throwing range, the ROKS turned out to be quite capricious in operation due to the imperfection of the “lighter” and the low quality of the gearbox. The separate design of the valve and impact mechanism triggers made it difficult for the flamethrower to work. The modified version of the flamethrower received the designation ROKS-2.

Another important step at this time was the creation of a viscous fire mixture recipe. Until 1940, flamethrowers were equipped with a liquid fire mixture of low viscosity based on gasoline, kerosene and motor oil. In 1939, under the leadership of A.P. Ionov, thickening powder OP-2 (from aluminum salts of naphthenic acids) was developed for the preparation of viscous fire mixtures. The stream of viscous fire mixture was less “broken” by the oncoming air flow, burned longer, as a result, the flamethrowing range and the proportion of the fire mixture “reached” the target increased. In addition, the mixtures had better adhesion to surfaces. In fact, it was a prototype of napalm.

THIRD SAMPLE

The practice of combat use of backpack flamethrowers ROKS-1 and ROKS-2 revealed a number of shortcomings - first of all, the imperfection of the “lighter”, as well as the need to strengthen the structure. In 1942, Klyuev and Sergeev, who were working at that time at plant No. 846 NKMV (Armatura plant), created the ROKS-3 flamethrower. The ignition device was changed, the impact mechanism and the sealing of the nozzle valve were improved, the nozzle gun itself was shortened, and to simplify manufacturing, the flat stamped tank was replaced with a cylindrical one.

The first combat test of ROKS-3 took place during the Battle of Stalingrad. Experience required an increase in the number of flamethrowers in the troops, and here the manufacturability of ROKS-3 affected, which made it possible to organize its mass production relatively quickly.

"ROXISTS" IN BATTLE

On the eve of the Great Patriotic War, platoons of backpack flamethrowers were part of chemical companies rifle divisions. By order of the People's Commissar of Defense I.V. Stalin dated August 13, 1941, units of backpack flamethrowers were transferred to rifle regiments “as separate teams.” There is at least one known case of large-scale use of ROKS - in the fall of 1941 near Orel. At the same time they tried to form separate companies of backpack flamethrowers. However, in general, the use of backpack flamethrowers in the first six months of the war was limited - due to both the insufficient reliability of the flamethrower system itself and the lack of experience in using them in defense and during the assault on enemy fortifications (already in the initial period the resistance of field fortifications increased). The flamethrower companies were disbanded, and only in May - June 1942, at the direction of the Supreme Command Headquarters, separate companies of backpack flamethrowers (orro) began to form again. Each orro included three platoons and had 120 ROKS. The introduction of assault group practice in 1942 and the improvement of anti-tank strong point tactics increased attention to the flamethrower. In June 1943, most of the orro were consolidated into separate battalions of two-company backpack flamethrowers (obro, 240 ROKS). From the beginning of 1944, the obro was included in the assault engineering brigades. Flamethrowers with ROX weapons have acquired the nickname “ROXists.” In the offensive, they had to follow with rifle units to “burn out” the enemy from cover. The actions of the “Roxists” as part of assault groups when attacking long-term fortifications and in urban battles turned out to be especially effective. It is worth noting that in an attack, a flamethrower risked more than an infantryman - to fire a flame, he had to get closer to the throwing range of a grenade, and any bullet or shrapnel hit a tank or hose could turn him into a living torch. Enemy soldiers specifically hunted for flamethrowers. This made it especially important to conceal the advance and cover the flamethrowers with infantry fire.

In defense, the main task of flamethrowers was to fight enemy tanks. The directive of the Main Military Chemical Directorate of September 27, 1942 provided for the use of backpack flamethrowers in defense (with an approximate saturation of one or two platoons of backpack flamethrowers per rifle regiment), in counterattack groups, and garrisons of bunkers and bunkers. In order to compensate for the rapid consumption of the fire mixture, during the battle they exchanged empty flamethrowers for loaded ones - for this, an exchange point was set up at a distance of up to 700 m from the front line, where there was also a reserve of flamethrowers (up to 30%).

ROKS 3 - DESIGN AND OPERATION

The design of a pneumatic backpack flamethrower can be considered using the example of ROKS-3, the most successful in the series.

The main parts of the flamethrower were a cylindrical tank for the fire mixture, a cylinder with compressed air and a fire gun connected to the tank with a flexible hose and equipped with an incendiary device (“lighter”). The ROKS-3 steel tank had a filler neck and a check valve body on top, and an intake pipe on the bottom with a fitting to which a hose was attached. The hose was made of rubber with several layers of special fabric. The flamethrower gun included a valve for releasing the fire mixture and cutting it off, and was equipped with a wooden butt similar to a rifle stock. The incendiary device located in the front part of the ROKS-3 fire-hose gun contained a drum for 10 blank ignition cartridges, made on the basis of a “Naganov” cartridge case, and a percussion mechanism.

The cylinder, attached to the tank, contained air compressed under a pressure of 150 atm, and was connected to the internal cavity of the tank through a reducer, valve and tube with a check valve. The flamethrower was serviced by one flamethrower fighter and was attached to the flamethrower's body using a belt suspension.

The length of the hose gun was 940 mm, weight - 4 kg. For use at short distances in cramped conditions (for example, when storming fortified structures), the gun could be replaced with a shortened pistol.

FIRE MIXTURE

The standard viscous fire mixture, used by the beginning of the war, included gasoline, BGS liquid and OP-2 thickener powder. The thickener, dissolving in the liquid fuel, swelled, resulting in a thick mixture, which, with continuous stirring, turned into a gelatinous viscous mass. This mixture still flew at a relatively short range.

Therefore, more viscous formulations were created: one of the options contained 88-91% motor gasoline, 5-7% diesel oil and 4-5% OP-2 powder. The other is 65% gasoline, 16-17% each of BGS liquid and oil, 1-2% OP-2. Kerosene and naphtha were also used in mixtures.

Liquid mixtures also continued to be used, which had their advantages - ease of preparation, availability of starting products, storage stability, easy flammability at low temperatures, and the ability to produce a wide jet of flame when throwing flames, which enveloped the object and had a demoralizing effect on enemy personnel. An example of a quickly prepared liquid “recipe” is a mixture of fuel oil, kerosene and gasoline.

ROKS-3 operated as follows. Compressed air, located in a cylinder under a pressure of 150 atmospheres, entered the reducer, where its pressure was reduced to a working 15-17 atmospheres. Under this pressure, the air passed through the tube through the check valve into the tank with the mixture. When the tail of the trigger was initially pressed, the spring-loaded release valve opened, and a portion of the fire mixture, forced out of the tank by air pressure, entered the fire hose valve box through the intake tube and hose (flexible hose). On the way, it turned almost at a right angle. To dampen the helical vortices that arose in the mixture, it passed through a plate damper. When you press the hook further, the impact mechanism of the “lighter” located at the end of the fire nozzle was triggered - the striker broke the primer of the ignition cartridge, the flame of which was directed by the visor towards the muzzle of the fire nozzle gun and ignited a stream of fire mixture flying out of the nozzle (tip). A pyrotechnic (“cartridge”) “lighter” made it possible to do without electrical circuits and tow soaked in fuel. However, the blank cartridge was not protected from dampness. And rubber hoses with insufficient chemical and temperature resistance cracked or swelled. So ROKS-3, although it was more reliable than its predecessors, still required very careful attention and careful maintenance. This tightened the requirements for the training and qualifications of “Roxy players.”

SOME CONCLUSIONS

How important the qualitative improvement of flamethrower-incendiary weapons turned out to be during the war and what importance was attached to it can be judged by the fact that deep theoretical work in the field of flamethrowing was carried out precisely in 1941-1945. And they attracted such leading scientists of the country as academicians L. D. Landau, N. N. Semenov, P. A. Rebinder. Several scientific groups were involved in the preparation of fire mixtures - NII-6, the laboratory of the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute for Oil and Gas Processing, and the laboratory of the Neftegaz plant.

ROKS-3 flamethrowers remained in service after the war. However, with regard to jet flamethrowers, there has been a desire to universally use the gas pressure of a powder charge to throw the fire mixture. So the pneumatic ROKS in service was replaced by the “powder” LPO-50.

The FmW-35 portable backpack flamethrower was produced in 1935-1940. It consisted of a machine (tubular frame) with two shoulder straps, to which two metal tanks were vertically attached: the large one contained the Flammöl No. 19 combustible mixture, and the small one, located to the left of it, contained compressed nitrogen. The large tank was connected by a flexible reinforced hose to a fire hose, and the small tank was connected to the large one by a hose with a valve. The flamethrower had electric ignition, which made it possible to arbitrarily regulate the duration of the shots. To use the weapon, the flamethrower, pointing the fire hose towards the target, turned on the igniter located at the end of the barrel, opened the nitrogen supply valve, and then the supply of the combustible mixture. The flamethrower could be used by one person, but the crew included 1 - 2 infantrymen who covered the flamethrower. A total of 1,200 units were produced. Performance characteristics of the flamethrower: fire mixture tank capacity – 11.8 l; number of shots – 35; maximum operating time – 45 s; jet range – 45 m; curb weight – 36 kg.

Backpack flamethrower Klein flammenwerfer (Kl.Fm.W)

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

Backpack flamethrower Flammenwerfer 41 (FmW.41)

Backpack flamethrower Flammenwerfer 43 (FmW.43)

The flamethrower was produced in 1942-1945. and was the most widespread during the war. It consisted of a special machine with two shoulder belts, a large tank for fire mixture, a small tank with compressed gas, a special fire nozzle and an ignition device. The large and small reservoirs were located horizontally at the bottom of a trapezoidal semi-rigid canvas knapsack-type loom on a lightweight welded frame. This arrangement reduced the silhouette of the flamethrower, thereby reducing the likelihood of the enemy hitting the tank with the fire mixture. To eliminate misfires when igniting the fire mixture in winter, at the end of 1942 the ignition device in the flamethrower was replaced with a jet squib. The upgraded flamethrower was designated Flammenwerfer mit Strahlpatrone 41 (FmWS.41). Now its ammunition included a special pouch with 10 squibs. The weight was reduced to 18 kg, and the volume of the mixture to 7 liters.

A total of 64.3 thousand flamethrowers of both modifications were produced. Flamethrower performance characteristics: curb weight – 22 kg; fire mixture tank capacity – 7.5 l; nitrogen tank capacity – 3 l; jet range – 25 – 30 m; maximum operating time – 10 s.

As a result of further improvement of the design, the Flammenwerfer mit Strahlpatrone 41 flamethrower became the basis for subsequent work on the creation of new backpack flamethrowers - Flammenwerfer 43 (with a fire mixture volume of 9 liters and a firing 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, the Einstoss-Flammenwerfer 46 (Einstossflammenwerfer) disposable flamethrower 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 army units it was designated as "Volksflammerwerfer 46" or "Abwehrflammenwerfer 46". Performance characteristics: weight of equipped flamethrower – 3.6 kg; fire mixture tank volume - 1.7 l; jet range - 27 m; length - 0.6 m; diameter - 70 mm. In 1944-1945 30.7 thousand flamethrowers were fired.

The medium flamethrower "Mittlerer Flammenwerfer" was in service with the Wehrmacht sapper units. The flamethrower was moved by crew forces. Flamethrower performance characteristics: weight – 102 kg; fire mixture tank volume – 30 l; maximum operating time – 25 s; jet range – 25-30 m; calculation – 2 people.

The Flammenwerfer Anhanger flamethrower was powered by a pump driven by an engine, which was located on the chassis along with the flamethrower. Flamethrower performance characteristics: loaded weight – 408 kg; fire mixture tank volume – 150 l; maximum operating time – 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, leaving a disguised nozzle pipe on the surface. The device was triggered either by remote control or by contact with a tripwire. A total of 50 thousand units were produced. Performance characteristics of the flamethrower: fire mixture volume – 29 l; affected area - a strip 30 m long, 15 m wide; maximum operating time – 3 s.

During the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet infantry were armed with the ROKS-2 and ROKS-3 backpack flamethrowers (Klyuev-Sergeev backpack flamethrower). The first model of a flamethrower in this series appeared in the early 1930s, it was the ROKS-1 flamethrower. At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the rifle regiments of the Red Army included special flamethrower teams consisting of two sections. These teams were armed with 20 ROKS-2 backpack flamethrowers.

Based on the accumulated experience in using these flamethrowers, at the beginning of 1942, the designer of military plant No. 846 V.N. Klyuev and the designer who worked at the Chemical Engineering Research Institute, M.P. Sergeev, created a more advanced infantry backpack flamethrower, which received the designation ROKS-3. This flamethrower was in service with individual companies and battalions of backpack flamethrowers of the Red Army throughout the Great Patriotic War.

The main purpose of the ROKS-3 backpack flamethrower was to defeat enemy personnel in fortified firing points (bunkers and bunkers), as well as in trenches and communication passages, with a jet of burning fire mixture. Among other things, the flamethrower could be used to combat enemy armored vehicles and to set fire to various buildings. Each backpack flamethrower was serviced by one infantryman. Flame throwing could be carried out with both short (lasting 1-2 seconds) and long (lasting 3-4 seconds) shots.

Flamethrower design

The ROKS-3 flamethrower consisted of the following main combat parts: a tank for storing the fire mixture; compressed air cylinder; hose; gearbox; pistol or shotgun; equipment for carrying a flamethrower and a set of accessories.

The tank in which the fire mixture was stored had a cylindrical shape. It was made from sheet steel having a thickness of 1.5 mm. The height of the tank was 460 mm, and its outer diameter was 183 mm. When empty, it weighed 6.3 kg, its full capacity was 10.7 liters, and its working capacity was 10 liters. A special filler neck was welded to the top of the tank, as well as a check valve body, which were hermetically sealed with plugs. At the bottom of the fire mixture tank, an intake pipe was welded, which had a fitting for connecting to a hose.

The mass of the compressed air cylinder included in the flamethrower was 2.5 kg, and its capacity was 1.3 liters. The permissible pressure in the compressed air cylinder should not exceed 150 atmospheres. The cylinders were filled using a hand pump NK-3 from L-40 cylinders.

The reducer was designed to reduce air pressure to operating pressure when transferring from a cylinder to a tank, to automatically release excess air from a tank with a fire mixture into the atmosphere and to reduce the working pressure in the tank during flame throwing. The operating pressure of the tank is 15-17 atmospheres. The hose is used to supply the fire mixture from the reservoir to the valve box of the gun (pistol). It is made from several layers of petrol-resistant rubber and fabric. The hose length is 1.2 meters and the internal diameter is 16-19 mm.

A backpack flamethrower gun consists of the following main parts: a lighter with a frame, a barrel assembly, a barrel lining, a chamber, a butt with a crutch, a trigger guard and a gun belt. The total length of the gun is 940 mm, and the weight is 4 kg.

For firing from the ROKS-3 infantry backpack flamethrower, liquid and viscous (thickened with special OP-2 powder) fire mixtures are used. The following components of the liquid fire mixture could be used: crude oil; diesel fuel; a mixture of fuel oil, kerosene and gasoline in a proportion of 50% - 25% - 25%; as well as a mixture of fuel oil, kerosene and gasoline in the proportion of 60% - 25% - 15%. Another option for composing the fire mixture was this: creosote, green oil, gasoline in the proportion of 50% - 30% - 20%. The following substances could be used as a basis for creating viscous fire mixtures: a mixture of green oil and benzene head (50/50); a mixture of heavy solvent and benzene head (70/30); a mixture of green oil and benzene head (70/30); mixture diesel fuel and gasoline (50/50); a mixture of kerosene and gasoline (50/50). Average weight one charge of the fire mixture was equal to 8.5 kg. At the same time, the range of flame-throwing with liquid fire mixtures was 20-25 meters, and with viscous mixtures - 30-35 meters. The ignition of the fire mixture during shooting was carried out using special cartridges that were located in the chamber near the muzzle of the barrel.

The principle of operation of the ROKS-3 backpack flamethrower was as follows: compressed air, which was in a cylinder under high pressure, entered the reducer, where the pressure decreased to normal operating levels. It was under this pressure that the air eventually passed through the tube through the check valve into the tank with the fire mixture. Under the pressure of compressed air, the fire mixture entered the valve box through an intake tube located inside the tank and a flexible hose. At that moment, when the soldier pulled the trigger, the valve opened and the fiery mixture came out through the barrel. On the way, the fiery jet passed through a special damper, which was responsible for extinguishing the screw vortices that arose in the fire mixture. At the same time, under the action of the spring, the firing pin broke the primer of the ignition cartridge, after which the flame of the cartridge was directed by a special visor towards the muzzle of the gun. This flame ignited the fire mixture as it left the tip.

In June 1942, the first eleven separate companies of backpack flamethrowers (OPRO) were formed. According to the state, they were armed with 120 flamethrowers. Units armed with ROKS received their first combat test during the Battle of Stalingrad.

In the offensive operations of 1944, Red Army troops had to break through not only positional enemy defenses, but also fortified areas, where units armed with backpack flamethrowers could operate more effectively. Therefore, along with the existence of separate companies of backpack flamethrowers, in May 1944, separate battalions of backpack flamethrowers (OBRO) were created and included in the assault engineer brigades. The battalion had 240 ROKS-3 flamethrowers (two companies of 120 flamethrowers each).

Backpack flamethrowers were successfully used to destroy enemy personnel located in trenches, communication passages and other defensive structures. Flamethrowers were also used to repel counterattacks by tanks and infantry. ROKS acted with great efficiency in destroying enemy garrisons in long-term structures when breaking through fortified areas.

Typically, a company of backpack flamethrowers was attached to a rifle regiment or acted as part of an assault engineer battalion. The regiment commander (commander of the assault engineer battalion), in turn, reassigned the flamethrower platoons into sections and groups of 3-5 people as part of rifle platoons and assault groups

The backpack flamethrower ROKS-1 was developed in the early 30s by designers Klyuev and Sergeev (Klyuev Sergeev’s Backpack Flamethrower - R.O.K.S). A backpack flamethrower consists of a reservoir with a fire mixture, made in the form of a backpack, a compressed gas cylinder, a fire hose gun connected to the reservoir with a flexible hose and equipped with an automatically operating igniter, and a belt suspension. By the beginning of 1940, a modernized version of the ROKS-2 backpack flamethrower was put into service. The ROKS-2 tank held 10–11 liters of fire mixture, the flame-throwing range of a viscous mixture reached 30–35 m, and a liquid one – up to 15 m.

By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the Red Army troops, in the rifle regiments, had flamethrower teams, consisting of two sections, armed with 20 backpack flamethrowers ROKS-1 and ROKS-2. The practice of combat use of backpack flamethrowers has revealed a number of shortcomings, and above all the imperfection of the incendiary device. In 1942, it was modernized and named ROKS-3. It had an improved ignition device, an improved firing mechanism and valve sealing, and a shorter gun. In the interests of simplifying the production technology, the flat stamped tank was replaced by a cylindrical one. ROKS-3 operated as follows: compressed air in cylinder under a pressure of 150 atm., entered the reducer, where its pressure was reduced to an operating level of 17 atm. Under this pressure, the air passed through the tube through the check valve into the tank with the mixture. Under the pressure of compressed air, the fire mixture flowed through an intake tube located inside the tank and a flexible hose into the valve box. When the trigger was pressed, the valve opened and the fire mixture rushed out along the barrel. On the way, it passed through a damper, which extinguished the screw vortices that arose in the fire mixture. Simultaneously the striker, under the action of a spring, broke the primer of the igniter cartridge, the flame of which was directed by the visor towards the muzzle of the fire hose gun and ignited the stream of fire mixture as it flew out of the tip. In June 1942, eleven separate companies of backpack flamethrowers (OPRO) were formed. According to the state, they were armed with 120 flamethrowers.
In the offensive operations of 1944, the Red Army troops had to break through only positional enemy defenses, but also fortified areas where units armed with backpack flamethrowers could operate successfully. Therefore, along with the existence of separate companies of backpack flamethrowers, in May 1944, separate battalions of backpack flamethrowers (OBRO) were created and included in the assault engineer brigades. The battalion had 240 ROKS-3 flamethrowers (two companies of 120 flamethrowers each).
Backpack flamethrowers were successfully used to destroy enemy personnel, located in trenches, communication passages and other defensive structures. Flamethrowers were also used to repel counterattacks by tanks and infantry. ROKS acted with great efficiency in destroying enemy garrisons in long-term structures when breaking through fortified areas.
Typically, a company of backpack flamethrowers was attached to a rifle regiment or acted as part of an assault engineer battalion. The regiment commander (commander of the assault engineer battalion), in turn, reassigned the flamethrower platoons into sections and groups of 3–5 people as part of rifle platoons and assault groups.

Weight of the loaded flamethrower is 23 kg

The weight of one flamethrower charge is 8.5 kg (viscous fire mixture)

Number of ignition cartridges 10

Number of short shots 6-8

Number of long shots 1-2

Flame throwing range 40 m (with a tailwind - up to 42 m)

Backpack flamethrower ROKS-3: 1. Tank. 2.Carrying equipment. 3.Tube. 4. Cylinder valve. 5. Gearbox. 6.Compressed air cylinder. 7.Check valve. 8. Calm down. 9.Barrel. 10. Fire cannon. 11. Valve. 12.Spring.13.Butt. 14.Trigger. 15.Slider. 16.Valve box. 17.Spring. 18. Drummer. 19. Flexible sleeve

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