The RPO-A Shmel is a man-portable, single-use, rocket-assisted thermobaric weapon. While its name directly translates to flamethrower, the RPO-A Shmel is more accurately described as a thermobaric weapon.
The Shmel is designed, produced and exported by the Russian Federation and previously by the Soviet Union. It entered service with the Soviet Armed Forces at the end of the 1980s as the successor for the RPO Rys.
RPO-Shmel and Launcher
RPO PDM-A Shmel-M
A thermobaric weapon, also called an aerosol bomb, or a vacuum bomb, is a type of explosive munition that works by dispersing an aerosol cloud of gas, liquid or powdered explosive. The fuel is usually a single compound, rather than a mixture of multiple molecules. Many types of thermobaric weapons can be fitted to hand-held launchers, and can also be launched from airplanes.
Blast from a US Navy fuel–air explosive used against a decommissioned ship, USS McNulty, 1972
Experimental setup
Finely-ground flour is dispersed
Cloud of flour is ignited