Ukraine Army receives batch of RPO-16 flamethrowers

Ukrainian military have received a batch of RPO-16 jet infantry flamethrowers, the country's defense giant Ukroboronprom reports.

The high-explosive effect of the RPO-16 shot is equivalent to an artillery shell, so the portable weapon is capable of destroying enemy manpower even in powerful shelters at a range of nearly one kilometer.

The State Research Institute of Chemical Products, which is part of the Ukroboronprom defense concern, has fulfilled its contractual obligations ahead of schedule, handing over to the Ministry of Defense a batch of several hundred RPO-16 infantry rocket infantry flamethrowers.

Read alsoUkroboronprom to be reorganized into nine holdings, deputy PM saysLast week, the batch successfully passed acceptance tests, confirming their tactical and technical features.

"During live-fire tests, all targets were hit in accordance with the test program," said Volodymyr Shcherban, Chief of Shostka-based Research Institute of Chemical Products, the weapon's producer.

Memo

• ROP-16 is a Ukraine-made jet flamethrower with thermobaric fuel-air munitions designed to destroy enemy firing points, disabling lightly armored vehicles, and manpower.
• Weighing some 11 kg, a 93 mm flamethrower boasts of a firing range of up to 1,000 meters.
• It can be deployed to engage within 30 seconds.