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Ukrainian FPV Drone Blows Up Russia’s $15M TOS-1 Solntsepyok Flamethrower, Video
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![Photo of Vlad Litnarovych]( "Photo of Vlad Litnarovych")
Ukrainian 102nd Separate Brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces has taken out one of Russia’s rare battlefield weapons—the TOS-1A “Solntsepyok” heavy flamethrower system—using a first-person-view (FPV) drone, Ukraine’s Southern Defense Forces reported on August 25.
The hit took place in the Zaporizhzhia sector and was the result of close coordination between drone operators, reconnaissance teams, and artillery spotters.
🇺🇦🔥 Ukraine’s 102nd Territorial Defense Brigade destroyed a Russian TOS-1 “Solntsepyok” heavy flamethrower system on the Zaporizhzhia front, significantly reducing enemy firepower. #UkraineWar #Zaporizhzhia #TOS1 #BreakingNews pic.twitter.com/oQ1CtPtTuJ
— Conflicthistory and News (@news_and32812) August 25, 2025
The TOS-1A Solntsepyok is a Russian heavy flamethrower system that launches thermobaric rockets from a modified T-72 tank chassis. Designed to devastate light armored vehicles, fortifications, and concentrations of troops, its munitions produce extreme overpressure and oxygen-depleting fireballs that are lethal in enclosed areas.
Each unguided 220 mm rocket is about 3.7 meters long, weighs over 200 kilograms, and carries a fuel-air explosive warhead. A single salvo can obliterate fortified positions in seconds.
Open-source intelligence project Oryx has documented at least 33 Russian TOS-1A systems put out of action since the start of the full-scale invasion—24 destroyed, 6 damaged, and 3 captured. With an estimated price tag of more than $15 million per unit, the systems are considered high-value assets but remain highly vulnerable to precision drone strikes.
Russia has deployed the Solntsepyok on multiple frontlines in Ukraine in an effort to smash through defensive lines.
Earlier, Russia introduced a new robotic weapon system described as a “mini-Solntsepyok,” raising questions about its practicality and potential role in future operations.
The system was developed by the Moscow-based company “Robotic Engineering” and is officially presented as a ground robotic platform equipped with a disposable rocket launcher module.
